Daily Sun
January 20, 2013
M. Serajul Islam
After
some degree of suspense, the Pakistani cricketers withdrew from the Bangladesh
Premier League (BPL) literally at the eleventh hour. The largest number of foreign cricketers
contracted for the BPL was from Pakistan. In the 20/20 format of the game in
which the BPL is structured, the Pakistani cricketers are a special attraction
because of their style of playing the game and brilliance. Thus their absence
will take away a great deal of attraction from the BPL that had earlier also
run into other problems that were overcome after great difficulties.
The
withdrawal of the Pakistani cricketers has just not spoiled the quality of the
second season of the BPL; it has left in its trail implications that the senior
officials of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said could affect bilateral
relations between the two countries. The PCB decided not to allow its
cricketers to participate in the BPL in retaliation for the BCB’s decision to
cancel its tour of Pakistan to play limited overs games at the 11th
hour. The tour to Pakistan was scheduled for early this month. The latest cancellation is in fact a second
one. In November, 2011, Bangladesh had agreed to tour Pakistan in April 2012 despite
International Cricket Conference’s (ICC) recommendation against tour to Pakistan
for security reasons as a quid pro quo for Pakistan’s support for the
candidature of the BCB President for the post of Vice President of the ICC.
That tour was aborted by an order of the Banagladesh High Court.
Ever
since the Sri Lankan cricketers were subjected to a terrorist attack in Lahore
while playing a Test match in 2009, no foreign team has visited Pakistan. The
decision not to tour Pakistan for security reasons was made by international
cricket’s regulatory body, the International Cricket Conference or the ICC
after that terrorist attack. In fact, as
a result of the terrorist turmoil to which Pakistan has been subjected in
recent years, aggravated by President Bush’s war on terror, cricket teams from
outside were reluctant to visit Pakistan
. Thus they were quick to accept the ICC decision not to tour Pakistan. As a
result, Pakistan adopted the UAE as “host country” to play international
cricket but nevertheless desperate to encourage and lure foreign teams to play
cricket in Pakistan.
For
Pakistan, the ICC’s stand was more than an issue of cricket. It reflected a bad
image for the country that was impeding its goals and objectives in
international politics outside the realms of cricket. Thus the Pakistanis have
been trying their best to encourage other nations to send their teams to
Pakistan, assuring them of the best security cover. Unfortunately for Pakistan,
no nation except Bangladesh was encouraged by Pakistan’s efforts and the
country became a pariah as far as international cricket was concerned.
Therefore
for the sake of transparency and setting records straight, it is essential for
those who have the responsibility of overseeing the affairs of the BCB, if
there is indeed any such body, to
inquire why the Board decided twice to visit Pakistan despite the ICC’s
recommendation against such visits to Pakistan. Those who are aware of what is
happening in the cricketing circles of course know too well that it was not
cricket that was the reason why the BCB made the first or the April, 2012
effort to visit Pakistan knowing full well that the security situation in
Pakistan was deteriorating and that such visits would be unacceptable to the
ICC. The reason was a matter of personal interest of then President of the BCB
to become the Vice-President of the ICC in 2012 that would ensure him to become
the ICC President in June, 2014, a post that was very lucrative, one that
former Prime Minister of Australia John Howard aspired to assume but
failed. The ICC charter has since been amended to be
effective from June, 2014 when the top and the most prestigious position in the
ICC would be that of the Chairman and not the President whose role would thereafter
be ceremonial.
Pakistan
is a major player in ICC politics. It played a significant role in helping
Bangladesh achieve Test status. In fact the two have always sided together in
ICC politics. Therefore the former BCB President had a good reason to make
Pakistan happy by deciding to send the Bangladesh team to visit Pakistan in
April, 2012 overlooking the ICC’s recommendation against tours to Pakistan. He however
had a more personal reason in the decision. His interest was to receive
Pakistan’s support to become the ICC Vice-President and eventually the ICC President
in 2014. He thus even
went on a personal visit to Pakistan to see the security arrangements and in
fact had also expressed satisfaction at the arrangements while on that trip to
Pakistan. Unfortunately for him,
sentiments in the country ran into conflict with his desire to become the ICC
President by pleasing Pakistan. A writ
was filed in the court by a Dhaka University teacher against the tour.
The
Bangladesh High Court reacted positively to the writ against the tour and deferred
the tour by 4 weeks that led to the cancellation of the April, 2012 tour.. The
cancellation was taken as a snub and
rightly so by Pakistan not just in its cricketing circles but in its highest
government circles because in Pakistan, the PCB, though an independent body, cannot
function independently of the government on issues that have foreign policy
implications. The BCB unfortunately does
not seem to feel that it has any such compulsions. Thus the former BCB President
was able to visit Pakistan and make the commitment to send the Bangladesh
cricket team to visit Pakistan in blissful ignorance of any foreign policy
implications. He was able put his personal ambition to become the ICC President
ahead of the need to consider the interest of the country without anyone to
tell him and the BCB that it was treading into areas that were none of its
business.
The
current BCB President revived the aborted the April 2012 tour and agreed to
send the Bangladesh team to Pakistan on a shorter tour in January this year
just before the BPL because of the written commitment made by his predecessor
to PCB. This time also the BCB failed to consider the foreign policy
implications of reviving the decision to tour Pakistan. The BCB failed to
consider the reasons for which the Prime Minister had declined to visit
Pakistan for the D8 Summit in December, 2012. Although her health and
preoccupation were given as reasons for not undertaking that visit, the foreign
policy objective was no doubt to send Pakistan the message that Bangladesh
expected an apology from it for the events of 1971. If the Bangladesh Team had
gone on its planned visit, it would have directly contradicted the message that
the Government of Bangladesh has been trying to send to the Government of
Pakistan. Although it did not come out in the media as such where the BCB said
the tour will take place when security situation in Pakistan improved, the
January tour to Pakistan must have been cancelled on instructions from higher
authorities in the country
The
lesson of the BCB’s failed efforts to send the Bangladesh Cricket Team to
Pakistan twice is that henceforth the BCB must not be allowed for the higher
authority to intervene in the eleventh hour to stop it from committing mistakes
that impinge upon the country’s foreign relations. It is time to bring the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs into the loop in BCB affairs, not be to interfere into its affairs but
to assist it positively so that it does not tread into foreign affairs matters without
even the faintest clue and end embarrassing the government and creating
conflict in the conduct of the country’s foreign relations.
The writer is a retired career
Ambassador and Secretary
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