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About 43 years ago, on a cold night on Dec 24, 1979, Russia’s invaded the area bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, which was later referred as Af-Pak region. The invasion cause a stir whose aftershocks were felt thousands of miles away in Australia.
One reason was that Australia was an ally of the US camp at that time but another reason was the visit of the Australian cricket team to Pakistan scheduled only a few months later. The tour was now mired in uncertainty and Australian media was publishing news regularly to dissuade players from visiting Pakistan.
Australian cricket team under the captaincy of Gregg Chapel paid no need and showed courage. In February 1980, the team came to Pakistan. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry certainly had a key role in ensuring the tour went ahead as scheduled but the role of the Australian Board was unforgettable. As Jeff Lawson, a member of the team at the time, said: “The Australian team had only two options. Go on tour or forget wearing the baggy green forever.”
In the 80s, Australia visited Pakistan twice, first in 1982 and then six years later in 1988. Both times the Australian team’s visit was difficult till the last minute because General Zia-ul-Haq had imposed a martial law government and the Australian media was calling for revoking the tour on human rights concerns.
The Australian team has visited Pakistan twice since 1988 and the tours concluded successfully.
Now 24 years later, the Australian team is busy preparing to visit Pakistan again. But how can the media there forget to play its role? After the recent bombing in Lahore, an Australian newspaper crossed all limits and sensationalised news of the blast with an image of the devastation in Afghanistan.
There is high certainty that the Australian team’s tour can be called off citing the Lahore blast, renewed threats from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid’s statement, or the recent wave of terrorism especially the killing of a Christian priest in Peshawar this weekend.
In other words, nothing has changed in 42 years in Pakistan. The biggest reason for the tour cancellation was the security situation. The same is true today. Australian media was showing the negative side even then and have been doing so since the past month.
The Australian board is still on the right side and has reaffirmed to hold the tour on schedule. New Zealand last year decided to leave Pakistan on the morning of the match. This was followed by England also quitting the tour after which West Indies legend Michael Holding blamed ‘Western ignorance’ for calling off the tour.
Isn’t it a rare opportunity for Australian players to respect the nation that loves cricket and come to Pakistan and once and for all prove Michael Holding wrong that Australia is not part of the West and that Australian players can rule not only Adelaide, Perth or Sydney but also in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.
