Assalaamu 'alaikum,
I was forwarded the following newspaper article by a friend. It’s unbelievable as well as saddening how some Pakistanis have taken to sport so seriously at the cost of others as well as themselves.
… small wonder why Pakistan is in such a slumber!
… too concerned over the conclusion of a game to worry about the dying and distraught victims of Kashmir and Kosovo.
Has life become a game?
peace
sigh
Financial Times, 21st June 1999
Cricket: LATEST HEADLINES FROM AFP
Angry fans burn Wasim Akram effigy after World Cup rout Pakistani cricket
fans furious at their team’s dismal loss to Australia in the World Cup final
burned an effigy of captain Wasim Akram during a protest here on Monday,
witnesses said. In the nearby city of Hyderabad, disgruntled youths burned
tyres and pelted vehicles with stones following Pakistan’s eight-wicket
defeat in Sunday’s final at Lord’s, residents said. Some Pakistanis watching
the final fainted, others burst into tears and one elderly man in the
central town of Jacobabad died of shock, newspapers reported. In the central
Karachi district of Nazimabad, witnesses said two dozen mourners bore a
coffin in a mock funeral procession commemorating Pakistan’s World Cup
demise. Fans in this bustling port city tore up large portraits of several
of the top players, residents said. Some called for an inquiry into the
batting collapse which saw Pakistan all out for 132, the lowest total ever
in a World Cup final. Fans even called for the arrest of those responsible
for the humiliation and an eradication of the “pollution” allegedly
afflicting the national side, witnesses said. Karachi police detained a man
for beating up his brother who last week had named his son after Wasim
Akram. Mohammad Ashraf, a 35-year-old shopkeeper, slapped, kicked and
threatened to kill his brother Mohammad Akram when he refused to change his
son’s name after the World Cup fiasco, police said. The boy was named Wasim
Akram after Pakistan beat New Zealand by nine wickets to qualify for the
final. “My brother has gone mad. I still love Wasim Akram,” a police
official quoted the boy’s father as saying. Police later released Ashraf
after he promised not to harm his brother. The Pakistani skipper’s home was
pelted with stones, his family received death threats and his father was
briefly kidnapped after Pakistan lost to arch-rivals India in Bangalore in
the 1996 World Cup quarter-final. Australia’s crushing win shattered the
dreams of millions of cricket-crazy fans in Pakistan who had prepared
massive firework displays and street celebrations in anticipation of
victory. Tahir ul Qadri, leader of the Pakistan Awami Tehrik Islamic
political party, called for a probe into the defeat and said players should
be punished if allegations of match-fixing and illegal betting were proved.
Several members of the Pakistani side are due to hear their fate soon with
the imminent release of a judicial inquiry into alleged match-fixing in the
past.