We definitely need sports, what we don’t need are Jakhrani, MA Shah and Ijaz Butt

By Mohammad Malick

ISLAMABAD: Nobody can argue with Tuesday’s house resolution demanding raising of standards for sports in the country and creation of sports facilities for youngsters. The perfect beginning could be made by terminating the shameful innings of PBC chairman, Ijaz Butt who brings nothing but shame to the country and losses to the national cricket team. The next best thing would be the sacking of sports minister Ijaz Jhakrani who did not even bother turning up for the discussion, and anyway who wants a sports minister who only landed in the rough of the pitch after being hounded out of the health ministry due to lot of corruption talk in the power corridors. And of course the latest entrant to the hall of shame is the Sindh sports minister, Dr Shah who literally stole the national flag from the heartbroken athlete anointed to carry it in the opening ceremony of the ongoing Commonwealth Games. Once the national sports arena is cleared of such old debris and the new hubris, we can get on with the much delayed and badly needed task of putting our youngsters in the playing fields and away from the prying hands of criminals and religious exploiters.

The power of sports is evident from the fact that on a big day like Pakistan playing India or the like, even the suicide bombings stop. When Aisam Ul Haq wept with joy at the governor’s reception, millions of watching Pakistani’s got teary eyed. When we won a cricket match recently, the national mood shrug off desperate despondency like nobody’s business. But when you see the government putting a man like Jhakrani in charge of a vehicle that could literally galvanize the youth and transform the national mood then you know it’s nothing but a cruel joke, another golden opportunity squandered. Sports, and lots of it is not an option but a necessity in a country where almost 65% of the population is under 25 years of age, where 40% live below poverty line and real literacy runs in single digits. We can channelize the bursting energy of the youth positively or let it be exploited by those with guns in one hand and the promise of heaven in the other. Hardly a sporting thought.

On a lighter side though, the press gallery hacks could be heard chuckling when a smiling Speaker, Fehmida Mirza squeezed all the seriousness of the world in her voice and proposed the revival of parliamentarians sports teams. To be fair to the lady, parliamentarians used to play cricket and other games in the good old days and the leader of the opposition Ch. Nisar for one used to be a formidable cricketer. But despite all the talk about tolerance and policy of coexistence, we know the underlying political realities and the simmering rages so the matches would be one hell of an entertainment fiesta. Imagine the prime minister coming in to bat and refusing to hit the ball thrown in by Ch Nisar out of his compassion for consensus and no-offense strategy. Imagine Babar Awan keeping the wickets behind a swashbuckling Khwaja Asif, only for Asif to turn around and find out that like the zillion overnight amendments, the number of his wickets too have been amended to provide a larger target to the bowler. And we could have some equally interesting pairing in some other games including Sherry Rehman and Maulana Fazlur Rehman teaming up for playing mixed-doubles in a tennis match. In fact our imagination is the only limit.

But sharing her serious passion for reviving parliamentary sports later in a conversation, Speaker Fehmida Mirza was spot on when she talked of the “fund raising potential” of say a friendly sports match of a good parliamentary team with a media team or a team comprising a celebrity mix, with the proceeds going to the flood victims. It’s definitely a doable thing, rather a must do thing but before embarking on such a venture the parliament must grant constitutional immunity to players of the other teams for causing any injury to a legislature.

magine a delivery bowled by a Jang group guy hitting a PPPP chap on the head, he would instantly be accused of leading a campaign against the government (though he should be credited for knocking some sense into senseless heads). But all said and done, it’s a good day and we are game if the parliament is, and the parliamentarians are still around in the cricketing winter season.

FOOTNOTE: Law minister Babar Awan presented a good documented defence against the opposition allegations about him sneaked in a dirty NAB ordinance while hoodwinking an unsuspecting prime minister. But numerous angry opposition speakers and his irritatingly calm rejoinders later the key issue still remained unanswered: what was the unholy emergency that caused the promulgation of the arguably controversial ordinance in the first place? If only the minister can explain this because rest is all procedural rigmarole. What do you say minister?