Three weeks ago, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said that his country is in a battle for its survival. Nothing — not the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, not the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, not the creeping Talebanization of the country, not the shattered economy, not the present political crisis following from the court ban on Nawaz Sharif and his brother from holding office — demonstrates the scale of that struggle more starkly than yesterday’s shocking terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.
Cricket is about the only thing left that unites Pakistanis. Whether Balochi or Pashtun, Punjabi or Sindhi, Sunni or Shiite, supporters of the Pakistan People’s Party or of the various branches of the Pakistan Muslim League, cricket brings them together as nothing else can. The game is revered by all. When the Pakistan team plays against another country, all divisions vanish. Cricket is a national treasure — more so than ever at the moment. It is the only thing that takes Pakistanis away from the everyday worries about the economy, the electricity cuts or the rising prices — not to mention the country’s growing instability.
It is too early to say who was responsible. Inevitably, there are Pakistanis who have rushed to blame India for the atrocity, although there is not a shred of evidence to back them up. Inevitably, too, Indian officials have rushed to criticize Pakistani security. That may be the case, and former Pakistan cricket captain Imran Khan has said much the same thing. But it ill-behooves Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram to lecture Pakistan about “hopelessly inadequate security” given the failings in Indian security over the Mumbai terror attacks. Such willingness to use this appalling outrage to insult and attack each other is a scandalous diversion from the battle against the real villains — a battle in which Pakistan and India should realize they are on the same side, facing the same enemy. Their refusal to accept that basic truth is profoundly shocking.
The governor of Punjab province has effectively pointed a finger at the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), saying that those responsible are the same terrorists who attacked Mumbai; Pakistan has accused the LeT of involvement in the Mumbai attacks. On the other hand, the Pakistani government says foreigners were involved — which would contradict the governor’s assertion; the LeT is thought to be a purely Punjabi organization. If foreigners are involved, the Tamil Tigers can almost certainly be ruled out. Their participation in an operation that must have had local involvement would mean that Pakistani security is in worse state than anyone could ever imagine. For his part, the chief of police in Punjab province has said that those involved “looked like Pashtuns.”
Whether foreign or Pakistani, the choice of target indicates the aim was to humiliate the country — government and military alike — by demonstrating that it cannot protect the game that Pakistanis revere. It may do that. More likely though is that the attack will revolt Pakistanis and convince them that the terrorists are rotten to the core and fundamentally un-Pakistani. It may even knock some sense into the warring politicians and make them understand the dire necessity of working together to save the country.
