Pakistan’s Secret weapon – cricket

Bismillah alhamdulillah.

I don’t think it is an unusual phenomena when talking to people who have some relationship to Pakistan for the conversation at some point to meander onto the subject of politics.  Most Pakistanis will have identified the problems, be ready to offer their detailed political analysis and solutions. Their enthusiasm on the subject is matched by the certainty with which they believe their command of the facts are correct.

Having witnessed many such conversations since childhood across many continents with different people I have always wondered how it is possible for Pakistan to remain united and a single country despite the number of political machinations that take place, if the arm chair pundits and free analysts are to be believed.

Before coming I decided to read the wikipedia entry on Pakistan, perhaps not the most accurate source of information, but a handy one nevertheless. Some basic facts: There are 8 provinces (4 provinces and 4 what are labeled territories) which are made up of people who are ethnically distinct, speaking different over 60 different languages, from the plateaus of Baluchistan which borders Iran, to the fertile plains of Punjab to the NWFP (North Western Frontier Province) and FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) areas where the mountain dwelling Pashtun tribes live and another reputed guest is said to be hiding out. Islamabad a newly built city in Pakistan has its own provincial status as does the ‘free’ or Pakistan controlled Kashmir region. The other provinces include Sindh, in which Karachi falls and North easterly equivalent of FATA called FANA (Federally Administered Northern Areas).

Karachi itself accounts for more than 50% of the GDP of the country and is the financial capital of Pakistan. Perhaps one of the chief reasons for this is its proximity to the sea being a major part and the influx of people over the many centuries the city and its pre-city elements have been around for. It has seen generals such as Alexander of ancient Greece and the young man from Taif in current day Saudi Arabia who changed the history of the subcontinent since his visit, Muhammad bin Qasim. Karachi witnessed the influx of hundreds of thousands of Muslims from current day India during the partition and these were mainly the technical classes who no doubt helped make Karachi what it is today. In the 1990s the second generation children of these immigrants began to express themselves politically and violently so in an effort to gain greater recognition by the state of their needs. Hence were born the Muhajir Qawmi movement and an off shoot called the Muttahida Qawmi movement.

In addition to the well known PPP, People’s Pakistan Party, of the late Benazir Bhutto and the Muslim League of Nawaz Sharif there are other more nebulous forces at play on the Pakistani political scene. The nebulous forces include the military and the various intelligence forces such as the ISI. It doesn’t take a person long to realise there are too many political groupings in Pakistan and there is a constant ebb and flow of loyalties between them. The play makers are the intelligence services but though they may play an essential role they on their own do not possess enough weight to bring about independent change.

So what manages to keep Pakistan together in this pot pourri of a nation? This is the natural question that keeps coming back to my mind. Britishers who find themselves in the company of people from the USA never fail to notice the degree of overt and genuine patriotism that citizens of the USA display to their country, it is a very in-your-face display that the British given their nature detest. The same can be said of Pakistanis, they are very proud of Pakistan yet quick to grumble about the various factions that exist and the misery which they frequently have to encounter. yet their adherence to the identity of Pakistan has no room for doubt or hesitation, whether Punjabi, Sindhi, Pathan or Muahjir they are united when it comes to their identity as Pakistanis.

So I sit scratching my head when the end of the 20/20 world cup brings a family around the television set. The eagerness with which they watch the match and with which they sing the national anthem is surprising. The zeal and spirit which they display is hard to match perhaps anywhere in the world. With every six runs hit by a Pakistani cricketer there is a loud roar of approval and with the winning of the match sweets are being distributed and the fire of what I am assured is gunshots peppers the night air. Even the nightly electricity cuts have been ordered to stop for this important occasion by decree of non other than the leader of the nation.

So what can I conclude from this? It seems to me cricket is a secret weapon in the fight for Pakistan’s survival. While the USA has considerable expertise and success in running their backyard in South America with a divide and rule policy they have no idea about the game of cricket and the degree of passion it induces in Pakistanis. Further as a function of the historical nature of cricket, Pakistan is effectively the only Muslim nation that plays cricket. All the other competing nations of note, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, UK, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe are all non-Muslim countries. Every time an important match is played it is not uncommon to see people earnestly praying to Allah to make the Muslims win. Even the imam in our local masjid made an extra dua after the late night Isha prayer, and there was a suspicion that it had something to do with the cricket. The players duly obliged in playing their own on-the-field expression of their Muslim-Pakistani identity by prostrating towards Makkah in thanks to Allah for their victory.

All this together results in perhaps the most effective instrument to engender and inculcate a united Pakistani identity in the general populace. While cricket has been described as a game played by 22 fools watched by millions of fools the unintended consequences of this game are not in any measure trivial for the survival of Pakistan as a nation. 

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