Not so sorry
At the same time, as Butt returns home, another Pakistani cricketer, Danish Kaneria, has been banned from county cricket for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board for his role in spot-fixing at Essex. The two incidents tell us a lot about Pakistan cricket and how it has reached a point where cheating seems almost endemic. Despite the evidence against them, both are continuing to plead their innocence. One reason they may be doing so is that this is a tactic, which served Pakistani cricketers well in the 1990s. For all the allegations of match-fixing swirling around the team back then, no one, including judges, was willing to hold our cricketing superstars accountable.
In a way, Butt’s attitude perfectly sums up the way our elites react when confronted with their wrongdoings. They are either unwilling to accept their mistakes or are unrepentant about them. From corrupt politicians who use the everyone-is-doing-it excuse to venal military dictators who continue to defend their lawlessness as necessary, Pakistan has no shortage of people for whom ‘sorry’ is a dirty word. Salman Butt is only the latest addition to a very long list.
Published in The Express Tribune, 25th, 2012.
COMMENTS (14)
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''no one, including judges, was willing to hold our cricketing superstars accountable.''
Actually justice qayyum did conduct an enquiry into match fixing, and advocated life time bans on three pakistani cricketers along with various punishments to half a dozen others.
Sorry is difficult word all over the world. US refuses to say sorry to Pakistan. Pakistan government refuses to say sorry to to its public for all the inflation, load shedding, and bad law and order conditions.
@A. Khan: Most of the trivial and political cases that the PCO CJ has taken were never filed by any person. In the case of BB there were two major attacks in which over 200 innocent people died and the CJ is waiting for a case to be filed? He took up hundreds of cases from 30 years old to the newest Memogate but would continue to ignore the mass killings in the two explosions. Let us say for the sake of argument, if a lady is killed by her family (a common in Pakistan) and the family does not file the case, there would be no accountability? In case of BB's death there are reports filed and cases in the lowest courts (remember Mush's warrants) crawling not like the cases in the SC against the PPP leaders. The least imp cases against PPP start in the SC but not the BB's murder case! Regards, Mirza
@Mirza
For a case to be heard, someone has to file a petition. When you mention Benazir's case, why is it that her husband never filed a petition but asked the UN ? He could have done both.
@ Mirza: ZAB himself never said sorry to the people for dismembering the country. And there was enough evidence to prove that he was guilty. We, who saw him from close quarters, knew that he was perfectly capable of killing to perpetuate his rule. He got what he deserved.
I am sorry :)
Very precise and to the point. Butt got a very warm welcome and had flowers thrown on him. Showing the fact that our people are extremely comfortable with the notion of corruption and cheating.
Sigh
Love the last paragraph.
the pity is that there are still many who will believe salman butt than believing the court who found him guilty.
Denialism has pervaded into all the sections of Pakistan.
Typical pakistani mentality "i am not wrong"
"From corrupt politicians who use the everyone-is-doing-it excuse to venal military dictators who continue to defend their lawlessness as necessary, Pakistan has no shortage of people for whom ‘sorry’ is a dirty word." Please, also include judges and journalists too in this category. Butt is not alone in reacting to his corruption this bizarre way; Meher Bokhari and Mubashir Lucman have been doing the same for the last two weeks.
The editorial is all fine except the end where you have left the word "judges" among the shameless people. The generals alone could not do anything without the endorsement of judges. Generals did not hang ZAB alone, it were judges who aided and abetted in all their acts of high treason. BB is not killed under Gen Mush's rule; her case would not be heard in the SC even for a minute.