Our cricket players did nothing wrong...

You and I have no right to tell our players what to do since they are doing what we have been doing. They are following a growing national trait of corruption.

Salman Latif September 10, 2010
From outright fatwas of 'hang them' to milder sentences of life-time bans to the conspiracies - everyone seems to have been taken by surprise with corruption in cricket. However, does the occasion really call for such disgust? Is it really that shocking for us to learn of the down-payments on no-ball guarantees?

I, for one, am not surprised at all. In fact, I thought people would have treated it like a regular episode and moved on. The contrary response rather amazes me. Young players involved in the scandal and I think they simply did what we told them to do.

In a country where parliamentarians hold fake degrees, the president is branded Mr Ten per cent, the judiciary and democracy maul each other whenever the opportunity rises, mobs lynch innocent boys, three brothers are killed over Rs30, foreign aid is misappropriated, protests are registered through shoe-hurlings and mainstream media thrives upon sensational journalism, this just fits in perfectly. Don't puff yourself up in an air of self-dignity with delusions that we are not a part of it all. Something clicks in the back of my mind - an oft quoted Urdu saying ‘yahan naik wo hai jis ko mauqa nahin mila.’ How neatly this describes the state of our society.

We all want our cut

All of us make our 'ten per cent' whenever the opportunity comes. We derive our per cent when we bribe a policeman to save us the trouble of a ticket for over-speeding or when we vote for people after having secured promises of personal benefits from them. Even when we pursue career with total single-mindedness and without giving a damn about the nation at all we add to the problem. We participate in corruption, misappropriation and embezzlement whenever we get a chance. Honesty comes by cheap these days and it's only in larger stakes that most of us dither. That way, even the president is exempt of charges - at least from the ethical view-point.

If you're having too much of an adrenaline rush because you were a die-hard fan of Asif or Aamer and feel the impulse to punch them just ask yourself this question: would you have passed the opportunity if you were in their place? If you were a star player and were asked by someone to simply deliver a no-ball in return for huge sums who would really say no? Let us get out of the cocoons of artificial piety and admit that most of us would have gone for it! Let us give up the portended hypocrisy and accept the fact that we are angry because we haven’t had our chance yet.

Corruption is who we are

From parliamentarians who mint hundreds of thousands of rupees in return for fake degrees to army top-dogs who run military corporation to an average policeman which one of us can say our hands are completely clean? Perhaps those who are clever enough to cover their tracks!

It always ends up with a public trial of the victim and a discourse which is divorced of all decency. We take all this trouble simply to reassert the perpetual state of denial that we live in: that of our own actions. We continue to assume our own innocence and vent out all justice upon others. The new definition of justice today is the treatment we decide for others. It never is about us. It's always 'they.'

Our cricket players simply did nothing wrong. You and I have no right to tell our players what to do since they are doing what we have been doing. They are simply following a national trait and are as much a 'true Pakistani' as any of the zealot patriots out there! If we must blame lets blame ourselves. Stop blaming the products of a corrupt machinery, rather blame the machinery itself.
WRITTEN BY:
Salman Latif A blogger who blogs at http://salmanlatif.wordpress.com/ and tweets @salmanlateef
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (7)

Salman Latif | 14 years ago | Reply To all those who had a we-are-awesome-take-your-criticism-elsewhere for me, here's my response: With due respect, we are a nation that's ranked among the top in the list of most corrupt nations. My pleasure if you have a problem believing me, take the stats of UN! Next, someone said that empty criticism is no good. Indeed!! That's precisely the point I am making. When it comes to us, we don't really give a damn about the rules and regulations and when it comes to others, we can lament and criticize as much as we can. That's what we do and need not to. Same applies to the case of our cricketers. Let's not pretend that we are all puritans and admit we, as a nation, are more or less rotten and NEED TO CHANGE! P.S. Don't jump to conclude any criticism as nation-bashing. Such attitude only reasserts our state which is to live in denial, never realize our mistakes and hence, never be able to correct them. This criticism is simply to bring to fore what is ignored, intentionally or otherwise. And my apologies, I have no sweet-candy posts for you filled with tales of false glory and greatness. Let's open our eyes to the bitter reality and read the writing on the wall. It reads: YOU NEED TO CHANGE!
Mawali | 14 years ago | Reply I beleive the author is speaking of a culture of corruption. Hard not to generalize or stereoptype in a nation with a 5% tax base. Lying by most is considered acceptable behavior and morality remains elusive in the drive to subsist and survive. I just cannot condemn the average schmo for a lack of a moral code of conduct and thus in a way hard to condemn. Get rid of the Mulla culture and get people a job and perhaps then you will see some sense of normalcy. An idele mind is a mulla's masjid.
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