Why must our patriotism be hostage to a bunch of half-baked players winning or losing a game?
KARACHI: As expected, the Lord did not come to the rescue of our cricket team. Notwithstanding colour or creed, He stuck to his age-old principle of siding with the better squad. The artificial sky of exaggerated hopes and hypes began to fall through from the very first ball and completely collapsed in the next few overs. The “boyez” will be welcomed home with garlands of the stuff that we wear on our feet. There will be consequences, inquiries and resignations. The nation will mourn for 40 days. Every channel will dedicate half of its airtime to repeating, over and over again, how every batsman met his Waterloo. The sickening tamasha will go on ad nauseam. After all, losing a cricket match is far more serious than losing a war — a feat we managed to perform in the same city some 43 years ago.
Pakistanis ought to reassess their media manufactured cricket hysteria — largely sponsored by commercials, consumerism, corporates and bookies.
Why must our patriotism be hostage to a bunch of half-baked players winning or losing a game? Why is our patriotism is not hurt when we are told that thousands of schools are closed in Sindh (and other provinces) while the teachers get their salaries sitting at home? Why is our patriotism is not hurt when we find our political parties patronising gangs of private militias? Clearly our patriotism does not hurt when our little girls are raped, our churches bombed, our temples burnt and our minorities massacred. Time to rethink and reframe our “patriotism” in a more meaningful context.
Naeem Sadiq
Published in The Express Tribune, April 5th, 2014.
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