"Will you come to Mohali?" Gilani: "Hell Yes. Free ticket to the match FTW!"
The India-Pakistan World Cup semi-final in Mohali, India is in just two days (cricket cup, World Cup, it’s a big cup…), and my Facebook and Twitter feeds are oversaturated with anxiety-riddled , nail-biting discussion about the match. News agencies and leaders alike are gleefully using the term “cricket diplomacy” to describe the well-timed restart of high-level talks between the two countries.
The Express Tribune quoted a government spokesman Sunday who stated, “It was decided in response to the Indian prime minister’s invitation that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will visit India to witness the semi-final cricket match.” On Monday, Prime Minister Gilani (Jadoogar Gilani) further emphasized that his meeting with Indian PM Manmohan Singh during the semifinals will “help improve relations between the two countries,” while the Indian High Commission noted Gilani’s presence will have a positive impact on Indo-Pak talks.
But will it?
I’ve written a number of posts on this blog about sports diplomacy, most recently highlighting the efforts by tennis players Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi and Rohann Bopanna, i.e., the Indo-Pak Express, who showed how sports can transcend boundaries and bring countries together. Last fall, Qureshi told Sports Illustrated,
Obviously we have to look at the bigger picture. Nelson Mandela, Arthur Ashe, all those big legends: Definitely you can change people’s minds through sports. Football does that; there’s no reason tennis can’t do it. Our combination is very rare and we’re getting all this publicity and hype. And I feel like we can use it to change peoples’ minds. Minds are changing anyway. Every time Indians and Pakistanis come and support us, minds are changing.
Do I believe that sports can act as a tool of diplomacy? Most definitely. But there’s a reason why it’s considered a form of citizen diplomacy. This can in turn have some influence on state actors at the top, but its major impact is on breaking barriers and transcending boundaries between people. Despite constant stalls and obstacles in the Indo-Pak peace process, we have seen grassroots efforts take rather positive steps in recent years, from Indo-Pak school exchanges and dialogues (see Citizens Archive of Pakistan), to media initiatives like Aman ki Asha, and Pakistan/Bollywood crossovers.
But it is interesting when state leaders use such tools of diplomacy as a supposed part of their high-level talks. In 2005, Singh invited former President Musharraf to India for a cricket series, telling lawmakers in a speech at the Indian Parliament, “Nothing brings the people of the subcontinent together more than our love for cricket and Bollywood.” In 1987, General Zia ul-Haq also attended a test match between India and Pakistan in Jaipur – “a visit that apparently helped cool a flare-up in tensions,” noted the NY Times.
This time around, though, I’m skeptical how goodwill gestures will amount to more than just gestures. The problems between India and Pakistan are complex, to say the least, and the trust deficit, particularly after the Mumbai attacks in 2008 is wide. Yes, Pakistan freed an Indian national, Gopal Das, who was in a Pakistani prison for 27 years as an alleged spy, as an another goodwill gesture before the match Wednesday, but the two states have to get through talks about the Mumbai attacks and India’s alleged presence in Balochistan. Cricket may be an ice-breaker, but it is unlikely that these issues and distrust will be resolved this time around. According to Al Jazeera English, “some Pakistanis are said to be sceptical that Singh is simply playing to his domestic audience and trying to distract from a string of corruption scandals that have effectively paralysed the Congress-led government.”
For now, here’s to a good match between the two countries. Thoughts on state relations can be left in the comment section.
Thanks for the thoughts!
I just hope that no more animosity is stirred up. I am rather concerned about the security aspects of this world cup.
This particular game is going to make a lot of waves. Probably one of the most watched games in any world cup, ever.
Kalsoom
2004 was still the time of tolerance. Times have changed for the worst. Here’s how I look at it
Most people are already taking it beyond the game. A war between good and evil.
The outcome of the match will only further strengthen the hate, intolerance and arrogance of the public on the winning side. We pakistanis will celebrate this victory not in the sporting sense. Instead we will declare this victory a triumph of good vs evil and will happily bash india and Indians using our typical religious rhetoric based on our usual false sense of patriotism and misleading ideology. I expect Indian public to be no better. It’s a sorry tale of two nations. Only when rare opportunities like this semi ought to be utilised to strengthen bonds, public media and elites on both sides will use to widen the gap. That’s the unfortunate reality. Call me mad but that’s how I truly feel
Butterscotch’
I’ve read your comments over time and find you to be well informed and balanced in view. This time, though, I differ on your take on Indian reactions. Contrary to Pakistani folk perception, the common Indian isn’t frothing at the mouth hurling invectives on Pakistanis, even after Mumbai mayhem. I wonder if you got to see the huge reception your guys got at the Commonwealth Games, it was next only to the Indian contingent. Even for this game, there are TV interviews of Pakistani visitors gushing that they couldn’t get hotel rooms but complete strangers in Chandigarh welcomed them to their homes and that, too, gratis. Some Pakistanis said they were gifted tickets by Indian spectators. So, no! Despite 26/11, the obsessive love saga continues like it did in 2004/5. I can see Pakistan has plummeted into an abyss courtesy the vile shenanigans of the khakis & beards which, sadly, no one seems to be able to crack down on.
My take is why on earth did Singh invite Gilani, he would’ve been better off rolling out the red carpet for M/S Kayani & Shuja Pasha. After all, even Singh’s mai-baap, the Yanks do photo ops with Zardari/Gilani and serious talks with the khakis. Al Jazeera is right, Singh is trying to deflect from the body blows to his Govt which may even go belly up taking along with it several iconic Industrialists and politicians given the hyper activism of Supreme Court.
I agree with Sashi’s take actually – I think there’s been a lot of citizen goodwill at least on either side – my hope is that there isn’t some negative reaction at Mohali and we can both genuinely congratulate the victor of tomorrow’s match.
[...] here to see the original: Some Thoughts on “Cricket Diplomacy” « CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan Posted in General Tags: big-cup, facebook, india, match, mohali, pakistan-world, twitter, world [...]
An interesting follow-up: India, Pakistan Agree to Set up “Terror Hotline”: http://tribune.com.pk/story/139313/india-pakistan-agree-to-terror-hotline/
Sashi
During India’s historic 2004 tour to Pakistan, I was in Lahore and saw both ODIs in Qaddafi Stadium. I witnessed the love, respect and the warmth shown to our guests from the other side of the border. India won the final one day in Lahore and the series 3-2. There is this market which is probably 10 mins walk from Qaddafi Stadium. Its called liberty and has a huge roundabout called Liberty Chowk. Indian fans gathered there and we saw them screaming at the top of their voice Hindustan Zindabad, Indo Pak bhai bhai. It was astonishing because never in my life I thought I’d end up witnessing a bunch of Indians celebrating in the heart of Lahore joined by our mad ecstatic Punjabi men but it happened I was there and experienced it firsthand. Street vendors were distributing whatever they were selling among Indians and for free. Now let’s talk about Peshawar. Pathans went two steps further, cab drivers refusing to take any fare from the travelling Indians, hotel restaurant owners pretty much following the suit. And I don’t doubt you for a second when you tell me about the hospitality by Chandigarh public. However this kind of generosity is usually reserved for the arriving guests where the host public and government are eager to leave a long lasting impression. It doesn’t necessarily reflect the general sentiment of the masses. Also in Lahore on that very night I saw many Pakistani spectators leaving the stadium sprouting all sorts of obscenities, depressed, shattered and refusing to join Indians in their celebrations. So hurt demoralized they were as if they had lost some bloody crusade and the reputation of country was tarnished forever. Interesting mixed reactions.
Lets come to Mohali. I have pretty much followed almost every Pakistani channel’s coverage for the semis build-up. Literally thousands of people ranging from common public, politicians, professionals to students have been interviewed. And here’s a summary of their reactions
1. Mar jaye ge india se nahi harain ge
2. We don’t care about the world cup, this is our final
3. Kisi se bhi harna per india ko maarna
4. India se haar ke bajayee maut manzoor
5. Allah hindu ka moun neecha ker, kafiro (infidels) ko sabaq (lesson) milay and much more. The interviewees also included some of cricketers wives.
Now not one and I mean not a single person had the courtesy to wish it to be a great game of cricket, with win or lose least relevant or stressing no love must be lost regardless of its outcome. It was heartbreaking to see such strong reactions. I may have been ignorant about Indian public reaction considering Times of India has the biggest readership in India and it’s as good GEO Jang and some other right wing Pakistani publications in terms of promoting hawkish agenda. But you may have a point. India has more cultural diversity. And I assure you if Pakistan is to make it to Bombay with our Paki fans there, you will witness even the likes of shiv sena, RSS garlanding Pakistanis wishing them the best of everything:). No one disrespects guests in these times of globalization.
Kalsoom has talked about cricket diplomacy. Again i must tell you majority Pakistani public is ridiculing these efforts calling it another lame shot at diplomacy. Even certain sections in our media find it amusing. Having said all that I sincerely wish it to be a great game of cricket. May the best team win and lets hope for the day when wagah border has no visa stamps anymore:)
I’m appalled at your list of reactions from Pakistani interviewees. I hope what you are saying by way of your generalization is not true for the masses. In fact, I firmly believe it cannot be true despite of impression generated by those few “well-off” representatives from Pak society.
As for India, I usually don’t follow Indian TV channels and it will be very tough for me to swallow if anything similar was shown on those channels. There might have been jingoism about defeating Pakistanis and few might have wrongly tried to link 2008 Mumbai attacks with this match but not to the hysteric levels of bringing religion into it. Moreover, in my understanding, even the ardent Indian haters of Pakistan hate Pakistan as a political entity than Pakistanis as race and when they do they certainly don’t seem to think of Pakistanis as Muslims, for them its just Pakistanis. And well, there are few foolish blind haters for sure but who cares about them. They live a sorry life for making impressions and are going to die a sorry life too.
Peace.
match can be fixed or not
Indian security analysts and politicians regularly blame Pakistan for the failure of past bilateral diplomatic efforts by citing what they believe is the adverse role of Pakistani military in framing Pakistan’s policy toward India. This rationale, however, does not explain why the diplomatic initiatives undertaken by Pakistani military leaders from General Zia to General Musharraf have not borne fruit.
A more rational explanation for the policy failures has recently surfaced in secret US embassy cables leaked by Wikileaks and published by The Hindu. After a meeting with India’s National Security Adviser and former Indian intelligence chief M.K. Narayanan in August 2009, American Ambassador Timothy Roemer concluded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was isolated within his own government in his “great belief” in talks and negotiations with Pakistan.
Roemer said that although Narayanan’s hawkish stance on Pakistan was well known, his willingness to “distance himself from his boss [Manmohan Singh] in an initial courtesy call would suggest that PM Singh is more isolated than we thought within his own inner circle in his effort to “trust but verify” and pursue talks with Pakistan particularly in the wake of the hammering his government took from opposition for the July Sharm al-Sheikh statement with [Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza] Gilani.”
http://www.riazhaq.com/2011/03/india-pakistan-cricket-diplomacy-at.html
Pakistan and India…..the best two teams in the universe …meeting each other….. oh my god…its only a few hours from now…..
…… puff….pant…must…breathe……!!!!
Butterscotch,
WOW! I mean WOW!!! I didn’t know the Pakistani sentiment is so volatile. Agreed, it is a huge game today and the TV chaps are having a real go on air but to spin it religiously is completely bizarre. How do Hindus or Kafirs figure in the mix? This reminds me of Shoaib Malik’s asinine apology to ALL muslims for losing to India in the first T20 World cup totally overlooking the fact that the Pathan brothers & Zaheer were right in front of him grinning joyously in celebration. Seriously, what on earth did Sania see in this dope!
Ok, even the Indian TV channels are over the top for this match but beyond jingoism, its all good natured bragging. Not a single Indian on TV has uttered anything obnoxious or out of order. Why does religion worm its way into every discussion in Pakistan?!?! I have this dear friend of mine who runs a successful Advertising agency who is a muslim with firm roots in Multan, married to a Hindu. When I asked her opinion on why Pakistani muslims are so fixated on religion, she told me that while Christian, Hindu and other societies wouldn’t bat an eyelid if someone from their fold declared he/she is an atheist or agnostic, it is unthinkable in most muslim societies. Sounds too simple an explanation for such a profound issue, doesn’t it?
Just read that a 20 sec advt spot for today’s match is a whopping INR 2.2 million! Anyway, let’s enjoy the match, warts and all.
I hope that this match brings out the more positive rather than the negative in us all… regards cricket diplomacy – whatever they are going to discuss and talk about can also be done any other time… why do they need the cricket as an excuse to call one another to their country…
Its only thru people to people contact where people are working on solutions to common issues that the perceptions of masses will change and just cricket matches (they just confirm nationalistic sentiments)…
Althought the jappi brigade is necessary, its time to go way beyond that and allow doctors, lawyers, socialist, lecturers, people working on development issues, and other ordinary folks to come and meet, this is the only way to counter the constant negative tripe that our govt.’s and their cronies put out on TV… when people are not hostile and working together then the govt.’s too will eventually catch up…
I would love to see a documentary on an Indian teaching or human dev team come to help their coutnerparts in Pak, or a Pak team going to Kolkata to look at how that city has used ecological solutions for sewerage and protecting the city…
This may sound mundane, but it is in this everyday mundane working that true long lasting relationships can be formed and opinions changed…
I’m not that bothered about cricket players going to each others country, who i would rather invite and meet are those hard working Indians who trying through all adversity to improve the lot of their people and from whom we can learn so much and apply in our own country…
Cricket might be fun, but it doesn’t bond and create long term advances…
So although it will be nice for Pakistan to win, i’m not really bothered and wish the best team wins…
perceptions of masses will change and just cricket matches
should read
perceptions of masses will change THAN just cricket matches
It was a wonderful match..We won..the celebrations in India is amazing.. it’s as if we have won the world cup
Good show, old egg, but I’ll be rooting for Sri Lanka in the final–uh, only b/c I feel guilty about their team getting attacked in Lahore!
yeah…..supporting Sri Lanka maybe your best shot at a ‘second chance’ in many ways….
Yes, the Sri Lankans deserve support specially since news reports indicate Murli & Mathews won’t be playing and they have drafted the old warhorse Vaas and the oh so erratic Ranadiv in place. If ever India has the best shot in lifting the cup, it is now. But all said and done,the Lankan team are nice, good natured blokes- eminently likable! Its a shame they were targeted at Lahore.
I agree to Butterscotch’s opinion , i think its true that when ever we have a match between two countries, especially India vs Pakistan its always a match filled with hatred , i live in Bangalore and I am sad to say that my friend was attacked during the India Pakistan semi finals,just because he was a Muslim, they did not even bother to ask whom he was supporting. winning the world cup , hardly matters than winning with Pakistan. sorry to tell but sports diplomacy is creates more and more hatred and its no more a game it becomes war.