Bangladesh, the next Cricketing Pariah

“Pakistan is not a safe place for an international sports event. No other international teams are travelling to Pakistan. Why should Bangladesh go? These words were used in petition filed in Bangladesh high court that ultimately led Bangladesh Cricket team to call off a scheduled tour to Pakistan for a limited overs bilateral series in April 2012. Then Bangladesh Cricket Board didn't even think that they could also face similar situation at home when foreign cricket teams would refused to travel their country citing security concerns.

In October 2015, Cricket Australia had scrapped a scheduled tour of their team to Bangladesh after attacks on westerners besides their under-19 team also did not play at a World Cup in the country a few months later for security fears. And, now the recent terrorist attack by ISIS in Dhaka at the midnight of 1st July 2016 that left 20 dead in a popular westerners cafe is compelling the England cricket team to cancel a Test series in Bangladesh, scheduled in October 2016. 

The England and Wales Cricket Board has issued a statement that it will "take appropriate steps" and called the tour off if security for the team is not guaranteed or the British government warns them it is not safe to travel.

Reacting to this development Director of Bangladesh Cricket Board Sheikh Sohail states “It’s very disappointing. What happened is a very bad news for the entire nation. Never before did we witness something like this in our country. It’s a shocker for not only cricket, but every sector of the country. I don’t know what will happen in our cricket. This is a sensitive issue, and if something like this continues to happen, we will become abandoned by other cricket-playing nations."

                                    

Pakistan has not hosted international cricket since the Sri Lanka team were attacked by terrorists in 2006 and, if Bangladesh goes the same way, it will shrink an already small cricketing world further.

All of the world sports bodies need to realize that terrorism is a global phenomenon as it is not limited to one or two states. Neither terror politics is limited to political or social platforms only. As a matter of fact, sports and other cultural events like music concerts and festivals, offer terrorists much bigger platforms to flex their muscles and earn maximum notoriety.  

Over the English team security concerns, the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Nazmul Hassan now has similar views “There is no safe country in the current world. Terrorism is happening everywhere. You never know, in the next three months, England could also face a similar kind of situation. No one can be certain about it. What we can do is to increase the security level. If that’s done, there is no reason to call off the series."

   

By  M. Wasim

mwasim.370@gmail.com