Pakistan: Terror Hits Cricket!

Today morning a dozen of gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team ahead of a cricket match with Pakistan team in Lahore. This bloody onslaught has left seven people including five Policemen dead and six Sri Lankan players were amongst the number of injured. The terrorists were armed with latest weapons including hand grenades, rockets, rifles etc. Luckily, there were no casualties among the Sri Lankan players and they are on the way back to their country.

I was in classroom when we heard the loud bangs of those firings. We got curious and started making speculations about what really was happening and one of my friends even passed on a joke as we carried on. But I was sensing that something is really wrong and something terrible has happened. After just five minutes I received an SMS from a friend and learned about the attack.

Everyone including our instructor got scared and he was kind enough to let us go. My University is just near the place of attack, Liberty Chowk. We could already see the traffic jam and a panic situation on the road outside my university. Rumors kept on coming from allover that there was a huge casualty in this attack, few said that Sri Lankans were also amongst them.

I immediately ran to the Internet lab hoping to watch the live TV streams about what had really happened. I was shocked to see the bloody fight between terrorists and the Police as SAMAA TV were airing the footage of the attack. I got relieved to know that Sri Lankans are safe, but at the same time, I was sad to hear about the casualties of the local Policemen.

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AlJazeeraEnglish uploaded the following video at YouTube including footage of the attack:

Naeem Sidhu breaks the news with the following words:

On Tuesday morning, our revered Cricketing friends from Sri Lanka were attacked in Lahore, leaving the whole nation embarrassed, shocked and with our heads shaken in disbelief. With the approval of the Colombo Government, SL team decided to tour Pakistan despite security fears and they courageously defied the advice by other Cricketing nations. India was more vocal against the tour by SL team. Due to our security lapse, Tuesday shooting has helped in vindication of their stance and has resulted in  closing doors of International Cricket in Pakistan for many years to come – the worst set back to game in its history.

Yasir Imran tries to wake up the current government with these words:

یہ ایک انتہائی افسوس ناک واقع ہے، جو یقیننا پاکستانی کرکٹ کے لیے بہت خطرناک ثابت ہوسکتا ہے ، مگر حکومت وقت کی کچھ توجہ اس خطرے کو کم کر سکتی ہے، پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کو اپنے مفادات سے کچھ ہٹ کر اس قوم کے لیے بھی کچھ وقت نکالنا چاہیے کیونکہ بھٹو کے بعد سےپیپلز پارٹی کا کوئی بھی دور حکومت پاکستان کے لیے اچھا ثابت نہں ہوا، پیپلز پارٹی کے تمام ادوار میں مہنگائی میں اضافہ ہوا کرپشن بڑھی
“This is an extremely sad incident, that can certainly be proved as quite bad for Pakistani cricket. But the current government's attention can lower this danger. Pakistan Peoples Party should think beyond their own benefit, to spare some time for the nation because after the rein of Bhutto's Rule, none of the Peoples Party governments have been proved good for the country. In all of their governments, inflation and corruption has increased”

Pakistani Housewife blog expresses frustration:

What has happened to the world we live in? Is there an end to this madness? The situation in the world in general and in Pakistan in particular is getting worse everyday. These are the streets we walk in, the roads we drive on with our kids but nothing seems to be the same. I think these terror attacks kill a few people but terrorize the minds of hundreds and thousands of us. They make us numb, takes away the desire to live and the hope for a happy future is missing from our lives, in these terrible times.

Teeth Maestro says:

It is now certain that this tragic event marks the end of Cricket in Pakistan for sometime, the blame game with India is already nearing a frenzy, analysts like Kamran Khan on Geo and Hamid Gul have pointed fingers towards India already. One must note that the attack looks erringly too similar to the Mumbai attack but logically one must understand that this could very well be a cover up to instigate a war of words between India and Pakistan. Our politicians, intelligence agencies and media were blood thirsty looking for an excuse to kick back at India for the Mumbai assault and todays events in Lahore might serve them with an opportunity.

Kamran Abbasi at cricinfo summarizes:

The least of the consequences of this disaster is that those who have advocated the continuation of international cricket in Pakistan – including me – have been proved wrong. No international team will now visit Pakistan, and the Pakistan Cricket Board should voluntarily arrange all future tours at neutral venues for the next year, may be longer. This the darkest day in the history of Pakistan cricket and it occurred in a pleasant suburb of Lahore, a once great city of gardens and tranquility,

15 comments

  • Hardcore Facts

    TAKE A LOOK AT FACTS

    1)NO BULLET PROOF GLASS in the Sri Lankan team bus as bullet holes can be seen clearly.

    2)NO COMMANDO PROTECTION to Sri Lankan team.Commando protection is NATURAL considering the number of terror attacks in Pakistan..

    Above two are very basic security requirement MISSED BY SECURITY AGENCIES.

    3)How did terrorist KNEW THE ROUTE of the SL team bus??Thats a MAJOR point since routes of team bus are normally kept secret.

    4)How could ALL 12 TERRORISTS escape in BROAD DAYLIGHT?????????

    5) Not even one got caught or killed. VERY STRANGE.

    6) How could terrorist roam the streets of lahore with ROCKET LAUNCHERS and GRENADES with nobody noticng . That too in BROAD DAYLIGHT!!!

    Make your own observations.

  • karze

    Mullahs, Madrassas, Madness and Mayhem.

  • The question that needs to be asked is who stands to gain from these attacks and why now. Answering both questions leads to the US/India alliance in Afghanistan to destabilize Pakistan and pave the way for Martial Law, before their upcoming plans for Iran. The first stage of this destabilization began with the Bombay attacks that were similar to these ones in methodology of street firefight which has not occurred before in the various suicide blast incidents.

    Any local group seeking to gain support by attacking Pakistani cricket shoots themselves in the foot. This is not the work of local groups. An attack on Pakistani cricket has greater symbolic value than the intended bloodshed. Why the Sri Lankan team was chosen also points to India. These attacks Mumbai and Lahore, point to the unholy alliance between the CIA/India and their common cause viz-a-viz Afghanistan to the destabilization of Pakistan.

  • Simple answers, they were better trained and equipped than the police probably. The routes are no secret when you know the stadium and only one road passes through it, and the claim that they were
    oaming the streets with rocket launchers is an unverified assumption. That none of them was killed or captured is no surprise either. The Pakistani police are not special forces commandos and those people had probably worked out their escape plans beforehand and were better equipped and trained than the police, which again points to an international connection. Life in Pakistan carries on as usual, it is not as depicted by the U.S. media, you don’t need bullet proof glass or commando protection, there is visible security and police everywhere and suicide blasts after Musharraf resigned have not taken place. More people die on the highway in the US than get killed via terror attacks in the major cities of Pakistan.

  • […] Pakistani bloggers are are uniformly distraught. […]

  • This will be end of cricket every where, Cricketers Will be in Tension.

  • Thank you for adding my comments.

  • The Ugly face of indian politics is out, first they get self pity and sympathy of the world by attacking themselves in Mumbai and blaming Pakistan and generate the concept of 26/11 like 9/11 and then, attack the Srilankan players in Pakistan to defame Pakistan and avenge Tamil deaths against Srlanka and set a rivalry among srilanka and Pakistan, it is like killing two birds with one shot

  • Christine Carter

    Leaving aside the responsibility for this terrible and cowardly attack and the failure of security services – the cricketing community now needs to step in and give the families of those killed some cash to alleviate the hardship if not the heartache.

  • karze

    Its ironic that Pakistan has challenged million plus highly trained Indian Army but failed to provide security to a dozen cricketers.

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