Afridi ‘delays’ action against Islamabad’s cricket grounds

State minister for interior summons meeting of all stakeholders

ISLAMABAD: An operation against those forcibly occupying cricket grounds in the federal capital was postponed by the State Minister for Interior Shaheryar Afridi on Tuesday morning, just days after his office had moved the civic agency of the city to address the issue on merit.

The operation was halted after a special assistant to the prime minister called the state minister. The official, however, stated that he did not request for the operation to be halted.

The Enforcement Directorate of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) was supposed to conduct an operation to retrieve possession of eight cricket grounds built in the federal capital apart from removing five other cricket grounds built illegally on greenbelts.

“…communicated by Sports and Culture Director of Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) that subject [cricket] academy is functioning without any legal permission hence, occupation on green belt and further requested for its earlier removal,” read a letter from CDA Enforcement Director Faheem Badshah to the Interior Division secretary on January 20.

The letter further said that there were seven other cricket grounds in the federal capital which were under illegal occupation and needed to be retrieved in light of directions from the Supreme Court. Moreover, there were five additional cricket grounds which had been illegally established on green belts and were “required to be removed” to maintain the green character of the federal capital.

The CDA sought support from the division in the form of necessary magisterial and police cover for the operation on January 29.

Subsequently, CDA teams arrived outside one of the cricket grounds in Sector G-8 on Ninth Avenue on Tuesday morning for the operation.

However, reliable sources in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration said as the operation was about to begin, it was halted on the directions of Afridi.

When contacted about the matter, the state minister for interior confirmed that the operation had been postponed.

He added that when teams from CDA’s enforcement directorate arrived outside the cricket grounds on Tuesday morning, he received a call from the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Media Iftikhar Durrani.

“I have summoned officials of the CDA and the ICT administration to my office for a meeting,” he said, adding that he wanted to first understand the issue before giving a statement.

He reiterated this at an event in the federal capital during the day, noting that he had called a meeting of all stakeholders.

Curiously, the letter from the CDA dated January 20 stated that a complaint on the illegal occupation of the cricket grounds was “forwarded by PSO to Minister of State, Ministry of Interior for considering the matter on merit”.

When asked why his intervention led to a halt in the operation, Durrani clarified that he had merely called to inform Afridi that the operation was about to begin but had not made any request to halt the operation.

Protest by cricketers

Meanwhile, as the CDA teams arrived outside the ground, cricketers of the club staged a protest against the civic agency and the IMC.

The funeral-shroud donning cricketers staged a sit-in against the operation and urged Prime Minister Imran Khan — the captain of the national cricket team during his playing days — to take effective measures for the restoration of cricket in the federal capital.

“Imran was himself a player and he should take action against the injustice with cricketers,” demanded the protesters and announced that they will march on to the Prime Minister House.

Officials of Islamabad Cricket Association said that the CDA and the IMC have failed to build new grounds in the city while the existing grounds have been forcibly occupied.

They termed the operation a conspiracy against cricket in the federal capital.

The protesters, however, dispersed after Afridi called off the operation. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2019.