The Hindu : Game or war?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 22, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

Game or war?

The stakes are high and not just for diehard cricket fans, writes B. Muralidhar Reddy.

"IT IS a tragedy that in this part of the sub-continent, we treat war as a game and a game as war," read a letter in one of Pakistan's leading English dailies at the time of the World Cup cricket clash between India and Pakistan in 2003.

Nothing could have summed it up better. With the Indian team set to tour Pakistan for over five weeks from March 10, there is much excitement in both the countries.

The two countries have embarked on a peace initiative and the tour is projected as a step forward. But there are also those on both sides of the border who tend to see it as a proxy war.

The Indian cricket team is touring Pakistan after 14 long years, marking the end of a vanavas of sorts. It was also 14 years ago that militancy really flared up in Jammu and Kashmir.

Now Islamabad has an opportunity to demonstrate to the rest of the world that Pakistan is not just about Kalashnikov-wielding militants and scientists involved in nuclear proliferation.

The tour offers both sides a chance to convey that winds of change are indeed sweeping the subcontinent and that rivalries are a thing of the past.

The series could also help break the ice and change the manner in which the people of the two countries view one another.

Or can it? Today India-Pakistan cricket offers a striking case study of a political conflict trickling down to the mass level and saturating the collective psyche.

Concerns about the threat from jihadis is evident in the elaborate measures the Pakistani authorities have planned for the Indian teams security. Hostile crowd reactions are another area of concern.

However, there is also a groundswell of excitement in Pakistan about watching the Indian stars who are quite popular. This could offset any negative trends.

The politics apart, the economic dimension is crucial. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been in dire straits for the last few years as several scheduled matches in the country got cancelled due to concerns over security.

According to one estimate, television and advertisement revenues alone are expected to net $15 million during this tour.

The PCB is leaving nothing to chance. It has have drafted two up-and-coming pace bowlers in its camp ahead of the series.

A spokesman said Mohammad Khalil and Zahid Saeed had been invited to train with the national side to benefit from coaching clinics given by former Test stars, Imran Khan and Wasim Akram.

It is indeed a tour with a difference. The stakes are high not just for diehard cricket fans but also for peaceniks.

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