BREAKING NEWS : Firing on Sri Lankan players in Lahore

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I am saddened by these recent terrifying events. Out of everything my worry is for the families of those brave and courageous security / police guards that struggled and posed concrete resistance and as a result gave their lives away in the Line of Duty.

  • Hats off to their families that have lost fathers, brothers and sons.
  • Hats off to those that have died protecting innocent against the evil.
  • May Allah give their families courage and patience to see off their martyrs.

God knows what those evil mercenaries had planned since they were carrying food products in their packs which was abolished by sheer courage of these Martyrs.

As a courageous nation we should pray for them for forgiveness and help their families in any means possible as our families and loved ones back in Pakistan roam and sleep freely because of Fantastic people like these that carry their lives on the palms of their hands to protect us.

In my opinion Vigils should be arranged all over Lahore and a remembrance day to be marked and dedicated to these martys. They should also be awarded an award for their bravery.

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People who carried out this cowardly attacked should be lashed first and than hanged in public.

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Re: BREAKING NEWS : Firing on Sri Lankan players in Lahore

I know I am going to be unpopular :teary1: for this question but an honest one

Apart from the driver of the bus which was carrying the Sri Lankan players how were the martyrs brave. They were just there and were shot. I do not see any reaction from these policemen.:bummer:

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Re: BREAKING NEWS : Firing on Sri Lankan players in Lahore

^ There was a fight for aorund 10 minutes, they were out gunned and out numbered and were killed fighting not sitting in their vans. Even the bus driver said that he was given cover when he drove his bus away. Broad was covered by a commando who this ungrateful guy thinks he was protecting himself, one of the commandos drove the van in which broad was after the driver was killed. They died but they protected the team and managed to get it to safety via the driver.Dont you think the terrorists would have mauled everyone down if there was no resistance consdeirng how well armed they were.

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Re: BREAKING NEWS : Firing on Sri Lankan players in Lahore

^^ My mistake :smack:

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Re: BREAKING NEWS : Firing on Sri Lankan players in Lahore

Cricinfo - Butt accuses Broad of lies on security

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Re: BREAKING NEWS : Firing on Sri Lankan players in Lahore

:hinna:

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Re: BREAKING NEWS : Firing on Sri Lankan players in Lahore

I am with Broad here. This was nowhere near the presidential level security that PCB promised. When a president travels, all streets are cordoned off. There's heavy presence of police along the route, and no-one is allowed to butt into the convoy. Also, the security detail is not supposed to be outnumbered and outgunned by the assailants. If this is how Pakistan protects president, then no head of state will ever visit Pakistan.

I you look at the video, you will see that the two gunmen on the roundabout are freely firing at the white van (the one match officials were traveling in), and there's a body of one dead policeman lying near the van, but no other police official in sight. The poor policemen who got killed were sitting ducks. There should've been more commandos with specialized training. Everyone knows the ordinary police is unprofessional and not highly trained and could easily be overpowered. I can only imagine what it the players/officials must've felt like to be sitting unarmed in the middle of a firefight, just waiting for a bullet to hit them.

The whole incident was especially disappointing because PCB specifically promised a VVIP level security to allay the visitors' fears but failed to keep that promise.

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^ agreed but forget about cordoning off roads etc. Even the most essential things were neglected or not done properly

1. No bulletproof jackets for jawans (no wonder some of them fled) - we might not have seen even that many casualties (8) if the police had been provided with bullet-proof clothing and proper equipment.

2. The bus was not bulletproof - that despite knowing high security risk to the players was plain negligence and incompetency.

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I wish you would have read the details of the incident. If Broad was a “Sitting duck” with no security guy around him, what stopped terrorists to get on his van and shot his arse! Look at his comments about the guy who shielded this ungrateful man using his own body. This is the maximum extent to which security guy can go.

Yes there were lapses in the security and “officials” security may not have been as tight as “players” security, these people and players should be in bullet proof buses. Pakistan govt can freaking spend millions and millions of Bulletproof Benz for leaders, ministers etc why cant they get 25 men in a bullet proof bus when name was on stake? Question should be asked and people should be punished but cheapster (broad) is just exsaturating things.

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From the same article :

Dominic Cork, who was in Lahore working for the media at the time of the attack, reacted angrily to Butt’s comments. “If Butt believes the security was good enough for international sportsman then he is wrong,” he said. “He should live and die by the words he came out with … he is completely and utterly out of order. When they were getting the teams out of there I witnessed Butt sitting down and doing absolutely nothing.”

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If he is talking about the time of Air lifting, he is wrong. I saw Butt and Salim Altaf right beside the Chopper making sure that everyone of SL team get on board and evacuate to Airport ASAP. If Cork is expecting that Butt will pick each player in his lap and board him to chopper then yeah, he was sitting doing nothing.

Timepass-Jan 2013
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Re: BREAKING NEWS : Firing on Sri Lankan players in Lahore

Butt PCB chairman hay train station ka quli nahee kay woh hilta rahay her waqt

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Re: BREAKING NEWS : Firing on Sri Lankan players in Lahore

People lost their lives defending them, the least they can do is pay respect to them.

what does the word "RASAD-GAAH" [رصد گاہ] MEAN?
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Re: BREAKING NEWS : Firing on Sri Lankan players in Lahore

I am Indian and I will tell you this much. Unless India and Pakistan form a joint task force to fight terrorism regardless of where it originates, where it strikes and why, we will both be only suffering more and more.

When a terrorist struck in Mumbai, or in Lahore, does anyone affected care whether the terrorist came from Pakistan or tmbuktoo? the problem wa sand is that our security was not good enough. Same thing in Lahore case also.

What is the end price? the rest of thee world simply continues to watch and sometimes stoke the fire when we get into the favorite Indo Pak drama.

What guarantee we have that the attack that happened in Lahore against visiting team couldn't have happened in any location, not just India but UK or elsewhere? World climate is such that gun culture is taking more and more!

I don't what we have to do but somehow we have to get politicians out of the habit turning everything into us ve them. Hindu vs Muslim or Indian vs Pakitsan or this vs that.

We are such advanced and cultured people yet we keep behaving like this

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I totally agree with you on this....I think its third force which is always trying to divide us. We need to understand terrorists are terrorists, they have no religion, no country, no mother, no father. They have no feelings.....

I hope both countries stop the blame game and catch the real culprits and bring them in front of the world......imagine they did this today in the mosque even...people who can throw bomb in the mosque...do you call them muslims...they are not even humans. whoever is doing it....they will suffer for the rest of the life

I hope they catch them and kill them in front of the whole world.

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Yeah - no bulletproof jackets for police.

Were these guys from the elite punjab police force who just like wearing t-shirts with 'No fear'.

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Re: BREAKING NEWS : Firing on Sri Lankan players in Lahore

what is clear through all this is that the level of security that was promised to the visiting team and officials was no where close to "Presidential level"... Someone should sue PCB's ass over their false promises - that ought to teach'em a lesson... what a bloody embarrassment to the entire nation. In the face of criticism and refusals from other teams, wouldn't the PCB want to be more diligent and painstakingly watchful? it's mind boggling really to even think they'd be so relaxed in their arrangements.

I salute the policemen who lost their lives in protecting the team but this was a job for specially trained commandos and use of proper convoy arrangements - the police's job should have been to make sure the civilian areas and routes are sanitized and controlled.

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Uncle Butt strikes back

But is it defiance or besharmi?

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/Dawn%20Content%20Library/dawn/news/cricket/pcb-terms-referee-s-charge-pack-of-lies-hs

Broad’s allegations that there was a conspiracy behind the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan squad and security arrangements made for the Lahore Test were poor.
Mr Broad was quoted on Wednesday as saying that someone had advance knowledge of the attack. He said he had no evidence of a conspiracy but pointed out that the bus carrying the Pakistan team in Lahore departed on its journey to the Qadhafi stadium five minutes after the Sri Lanka bus, in sharp contrast to the first two days when the two buses had travelled together.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Butt said, ‘It is wrong to suggest any conspiracy as a set security procedure was followed.’
Mr Broad had said that players and officials appointed for the Test had not been provided sufficient protection despite assurances given by the PCB and there was no policeman around when they needed them.
Butt said:** ‘It is nothing but a big lie that there were no policemen. In fact, one of the commandos accompanying the security squad had jumped over Broad and saved his life and was hurt and how Broad came out safe when there was no policeman. Six policemen lost their lives and 10 received serious injuries. Our fourth umpire (Ahsan Raza) was seriously injured, and all the foreign guests of the ICC remained quite safe,’** he said.
The PCB chairman said Mr Broad’s allegations were baseless and were not expected from a gentleman of his stature.
Butt said the PCB had lodged a complaint to the ICC about Mr Broad’s statement because he had no authority to say anything in public in this regard.
He said he had tried to talk to ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat on the matter, but the latter was on a flight to Sydney. Therefore, the PCB lodged a strong protest with Mr Lorgat’s office.
Ijaz Butt recalled that it was Mr Broad who decided to go to the hotel from Karachi airport without security after arriving in the city in January for the ODI series.
Answering questions about security, Ijaz Butt said: ‘As two agencies are investigating the sad incident, we should not make any premature comment or blame each other. Let the report come out.’
PCB’s Director for Human Resource and Administration Wasim Bari said providing logistics to the police and security agencies was the responsibility of the PCB, while making arrangements for smooth conduct was the task of police and security agencies.
Butt said it was unfortunate that the plan executed by the Karachi police in January for the two ODIs could not be adopted in Lahore.
He said that 46 cameras had been installed in and around the National Stadium in Karachi and to monitor them a controlling office had been set up. ‘We wanted the same system in Lahore and requested the Karachi administration to give the PCB the entire paperwork about the system, so that we could talk to the Lahore administration,’ he said.
Ijaz Butt said the Karachi administration expected to give a briefing on security arrangements to their Lahore counterparts on the fourth day of the second Test. ‘But ironically the bad incident happened one day before.’

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Nice email from an Australian

SAAD SHAFQAT IS A DOCTOR (NEUROLOGIST) AT THE AKUH-KARACHI. HE WRITES REGULARLY ON CRICINFO & IN DAWN ON CRICKET. HE IS THE AUTHOR OF JAVED MIANDAD’s BIOGRAPHY “CUTTING EDGE”. SAAD IS MY CLOSE FRIEND AND RELATIVE.

**-Raju
**----------------------------------------------
Thursday, March 5, 2009 12:14 PM
From: "saad.shafqat"
To: [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected]

From: saad.shafqat
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 10:35 AM
To: 'James Dunn'
Cc: Osman Samiuddin
Subject: RE: Lahore attack

Hello James

Thank you for your email. It feels really good to receive such a warm and supportive note. Australia and Pakistan are both proud cricketing countries, and Australia is the one cricketing force Pakistanis hold in high regard over all others. Not just because it has been such a professional outfit, but because cricket is an alpha sport in Australia , like it is in this part of the world.

What happened in Lahore was a horrendous blow, no doubt about it. But if we throw our hands in the air and pronounce the death of Pakistan cricket, we will be giving in to the terrorists. The need of the hour is to absorb this upheaval without bitterness or despair. This is our fight. We will fight it and win it.

There is hope on the cricketing front. South Africa endured 20 years under the apartheid boycott, and they had no international cricket whatsoever, either home or away. At least we will have neutral venues. Already there is talk of Australia and Pakistan playing at English Test centers such as Old Trafford and Headingley. There is so much Pakistani support over there, the arrangement could end up being quite innovative.

And who knows? Maybe one day peace will return to our beloved land. Maybe one day soon we will have the honor of hosting Australian guests such as yourself to see the likes of Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi live at National Stadium, enjoy the atmosphere, get a flavor of the catcalling from the stands, and top it all off with samaosas and kebab rolls washed down with cardamom tea.

Many thanks for the feedback on the writing – much appreciated.

Warmly

Saad

PS: Osman has been off getting married in Delhi and is probably currently on his honeymoon. I’ve copied him on this.

From: James Dunn [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 6:30 AM
To: saad.shafqat
Subject: Lahore attack

Hi Saad,

I greatly enjoy your articles on Cricinfo.

I wanted to write to you to express my sorrow at what those people have done to your country. As an Australian cricket lover, my heart goes out to you. We respect Pakistan cricket greatly and always look forward to playing your team. It has been particularly good to see Younis Khan and Umar Gul playing in Australia this summer. I speak as someone who will never forget getting the autographs of some of your team, Imran included, at Adelaide in 1976 when I was 14.

Until very recently I was about to go to Pakistan , to conduct a course in financial journalism in Islamabad under the auspices of the Securities & Investments Institute of Asia-Pacific (SIIA). I am not going on that trip, for reasons unconnected to this week's attack. But when I was thinking that I would be going, I was excited to think that I would be talking cricket with Pakistanis in their own country. I just know that it would have been wonderful. In fact there was a letter published in The Australian this morning from someone who has recently been working in Pakistan and she said exactly that.

One of my friends played cricket in Pakistan , with Australia Under-19. I remember him describing how beautiful a place Aitchison College was at which to play cricket.

I was following the Test on Cricinfo, hoping that you would be able to get back into the match. Then came the attack.

As we all know, terrorist attacks can happen in New York , Paris , London , anywhere you care to name. But it is desperately sad for you to think that no cricket team will go to Pakistan again for the foreseeable future. I can't imagine how bad that makes you all feel. And that people like me, who should go to Pakistan to follow our team, and sit in the stands and meet fellow cricket lovers like you and your friends, and have a fantastic time, won't do it either.

I had actually had that discussion with friends who go all over the world to watch Australia - why don't we go to Pakistan next time the team goes there, with our MCC (Melbourne Cricket Club) cards, and see what hospitality awaits us? Everyone understood that we couldn't do that in Karachi , which is famous for its danger, but Lahore .....everyone thought for some reason that was safe.

I grieve for you, and the people that died in the attack. More importantly, I grieve for what seems to be happening to Pakistan , and the Muslim world in general - that a minority of nutcases use your religion as a pretext for mass murder, in the name of a mindless, barbaric fanaticism. We can't fathom what drives those people: maybe we live in a cocoon.

So greetings to you, all Australian cricket lovers are thinking of you. It is sad that we will not get to sit together and watch our beautiful game - watching Ponting and Clarke light up the Gaddafi. And that I will never meet Shahid Afridi, and get to commiserate with him at how badly your selectors have treated him.

And if you know Osman Samiuddin, whose writing I also enjoy, please pass this on to him.

Best Wishes,

James

James Dunn | Director | DunnMedia | 24 Denman Avenue , Glen Iris | Victoria 3146

T: +61 3 9809 4058 | M: +61 413 536 304 | E: [EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected] |