Strictly by the law

Legendary batsman Javed Miandad has called for match fixers to be hanged

Jingoism is the bread and butter of almost every celebrity and politician in Pakistan and few of them waste time in latching on to any bandwagon to prove that their love for the country is greater than others. It’s hardly surprising then that the players caught in the spot-fixing storm are veering towards the same. The players, in case others forget, are innocent until they are proven guilty.

A few of them are not even suspected of being involved in spot-fixing, just of not reporting being contacted by a bookie. The explanation offered by at least one of the cricketers is worthy of empathy: he was vulnerable because his mind was preoccupied by grief, having recently suffered the loss of his mother.

Yet he, along with the other suspected players, has been bracketed in the legion of the greatest living pariahs. Legendary batsman Javed Miandad has called for them to be hanged; not metaphorically, but quite literally. As heinous as the crime of fixing is, it certainly doesn’t deserve capital punishment.

The players have now been placed on the Exit Control List by the Federal Investigation Agency. This has raised eyebrows from several quarters, with people questioning why corrupt businessmen and politicians, along with dangerous terrorists, roam free while these players are being treated with so much contempt.

The government is justified in investigating the case; spot-fixing is fraud and a criminal investigation therefore is not unheard of. The now infamous ‘tainted trio’ of the 2010 spot-fixing fiasco were also given jail sentences in the UK, while former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns faced a trial in the Southwark Crown Court from which he was eventually acquitted.

The witch hunt surrounding this is even understandable to a certain extent; after all, the general public is sick and tired of this ugly monster rearing its head again and again in Pakistan. However, before we rush to convict and punish them let us be assured of their guilt. That is what the law demands.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2017.

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