BHOPAL, 7 January 2005 — “Cricket To Aik Bahana Hai, Dosti Ko Badhana Hai” (Cricket is just an excuse, bond of friendship has to be strengthened). With this banner in tow the 22 Pakistani street children along with three officials and two artists completed their whirlwind two-day tour of Bhopal, the city of lakes and mosques, under the South Asia youth exchange program.
The “Cricket for Peace” match between the underprivileged and physically challenged children of Pakistan and India last week end here at Baab-e-Aali Stadium gave a fillip to the ongoing peace process between the two countries.
The Pakistani and Indian teams were christened “Aman” and “Shanti” respectively — both meaning peace which was the ultimate winner. Both the teams had a mix of Indian players as well as some from the Pakistani delegation. “Shanti” won the match by three wickets. Sona from Pakistan got the best fielding award, Rizwan from India won the best bowler award, Rafiq from Pakistan was declared the best batsman and Ravi was declared the best all-rounder.
English cricket board official Khwaja Basharratullah accompanying the team said “it’s not a matter of winning or losing any of these encounters so we had ‘mixed’ teams. At every city, a few of the Pakistani kids were made part of the host team and vice versa so as to minimize the idea of winning.”
Meanwhile, he described the Indians as “very good hosts”. He seemed to drive home the cultural similarity of his native Pakistan and India when he waxed nostalgic about the city of Hyderabad reminding him of Karachi and Bhopal’s weather being similar to that in Lahore.
The official felt there is a need for greater national-level exchanges at college or university level. Pointing at the underlying sameness between the south Asian neighbors, he said that Pakistani households are not dissimilar from Indian ones while there are distinct similarities in language as well. “People to people, there are neither any differences nor hard feelings,” he emphasizes while making an oblique reference to prime minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf by adding, “people ruling India were born in Pakistan and vice versa. We are brothers.”
“Pakistan Meri Ma Hai Aur Hindustan Meri Mausi. Kabhi Kabhi Mausi Ma Se Zyada Ahmiyat Rakhti Hai (Pakistan is my mother while India is my aunt and at times the latter assumes greater significance),” Basharratullah said.
The match was part of an endeavor initiated by New Delhi-based NGO Leapfrog and supported by Plan India and was hosted in Bhopal by “Arushi”, a local organization working for disabled children. Some of the children in the contingent from across the border belonged to very poor families. Some came from families just freed from bonded labour.
The delegation came to Bhopal after visiting Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Hyderabad. Drummers-cum-folk singers Tanveer Hussain and Saghir Ali were also traveling along with the troupe and they have been enthralling the children and other audience with their compositions.
Rohit Trivedi and Anil Mudgal of Arushi in collaboration with Shailendra Uniyal of Leapfrog made the children’s visit to Bhopal a memorable one with the visiting kids cherishing it for a long time to come. A bonhomie environment prevailed all over during their sojourn as they won the hearts and minds of one and all. Dost Mohammad, the youngest member of the Pakistani contingent, was so overwhelmed by the Indian people’s love showered on the delegation in different cities that he never felt missing home.
One of the young delegates, Shakeela, a Class X student said, “I heard from my parents that Bhopal is a beautiful city and has pristine natural beauty within it. So I came here to see the city myself.”
Nazia, one of the girls in the delegate, aspires to be a policewoman after completing her education. She said, “I wanted to be in the Pakistani Army but our Army doesn’t recruit women so I would join the Pakistani Police Service. I would try to promote the friendship between the two countries.”
Sanaullah, a senior correspondent with Associated Press of Pakistan, (APP), talking to Arab News informed that though the visiting children may belong to the underprivileged strata of society but some of them are second to none when it comes to the bigger stage in life.
He narrated an episode of Mumbai encounter with the governor of Maharashtra. The governor was taken aback when one of the Pakistani child wanted to know as to why India and Pakistan governments are rearing children of the people of United States of America by buying arms and ammunition from there. The two governments of the sub continent thus spend their resources in buying arms and ammunition and ignore their own children who are left in the lurch.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani kids called on Madhya Pradesh Governor Dr. Balram Jakhar and Chief Minister Babulal Gaur during their stay here. Speaking to children on the occasion, the Governor said that children of the two nations could play a crucial role in bringing them closer to each other. Group leader of Pakistani children Mohsin Dar presented a shawl to the Governor on the occasion.
The Chief Minister also talked to the children, who were impressed by his simplicity.
“Bhopal is a beautiful city and its residents are modest and hospitable.” This compliment for Bhopal came from Ms Nusrat Sheikh as a response to the Chief Minister Babulal Gaur’s question about Bhopal visit. Ms Nusrat, who belongs to Lahore is working for an NGO at Islamabad.
