In Waziristan, craze for cricket knows no bounds

Tribal youth are just as mad about cricket as anyone can get.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Waris Khan yanks back the bolt and his ‘machine’ sprays its confetti of bullets across the sky. Shahid Afridi has just made a century and this is how his 27-year-old cricket fan from Karikot village celebrates – 10 kilometres from Wana.

Afridi is so well loved here in North and South Waziristan, mainly because of his Peshawar origins, that if he’s out, the television set is switched off and a dejected stream of men leaves the hujra. Men will move mountains to make sure they catch the match. It is difficult to get the game on television as not every home has a set.

And even if you do own one, there is no guarantee you will have electricity given the long and regular power cuts. The transmission could also be disrupted by sketchy signals. PTV boosters are installed in the Sheshi Mountain in Wana and Alexandria Mountain in Razmak, North Waziristan, but often they don’t function. In a bid to work around these constraints some die-hard fans have installed satellite dishes or bought cards for specific sports channels.



You’re not even supposed to watch TV in the first place. The Taliban don’t like it. But as one repairman and electrician in South Waziristan puts it, “These days a majority of our clients who ask us to arrange for a TV connected to a generator are the Taliban.” This is seconded by young Wana resident Haroon Khan: “The locals and even the cricket lovers [from among the] Taliban think up ways to watch the match on TV.”

An elaborate system is put into place to ensure the viewing is uninterrupted. According to a youngster from Ghawakha village in Wana, who wishes to remain unnamed as he wants to continue to enjoy cricket, they used a generator that was fixed to a tube-well that irrigates the fields. “We moved this generator to our hujra. [Then] my group of friends, 21 of us, arranged for the fuel and TV.” He proudly adds: “We have not missed a single match in the ongoing India-Pakistan series.”

This is the very same series that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan had called “disgusting” because the Pakistan team had visited ‘arch rival’ India.

For those who have access to fewer resources, there is the option of mass exodus. “Dozens of vehicles carrying locals go to Hangu from Mir Ali,” explains Liaquat Ali from Mir Ali. “They watch the match there in mini-cinemas set up in cafés and hotels, [paying] Rs50 to Rs100 per person.” South Waziristan fans usually head for Dera Ismail Khan, and the ones from Mir Ali in North Wazristan go to Thall in Hangu and from Miranshah to Bannu. Even the displaced Mehsuds in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan don’t miss a game. If all else fails, there is radio.

In Wana they laugh indulgently about the fruit dealer Lolgai who subconsciously inches closer and closer to the television set with each Afridi shot. When he is finally so close that he’s blocking everyone’s view, pairs of hands grab him and pull him back to his original seat. But God help you if Afridi is out. Then you stay away from Lolgai if you value your life.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2013.