Date:15/03/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/03/15/stories/2004031502981500.htm

National

When Karachi proved the fears wrong

By K.K. Katyal

NEW DELHI, MARCH 14. A surprise, a pleasant surprise. The friendly behaviour of the Karachi crowd at the first ODI between India and Pakistan was too conspicuous to go unnoticed. Recall the apprehension of disturbance at the port city because of which the stay of the Indian team was restricted, at New Delhi's instance, to the barest minimum, contrast it with the conduct of the thousands of spectators, who turned up at the National Stadium to witness the match — and you would realise how wrong the original estimates were.

In practice, it was the other extreme. Instead of tension and acrimony what stood out was the warmth and goodwill of the Pakistanis, their appreciation of the finer points of the game, keen interest in its twists and turns, irrespective of who was at the receiving end. Pakistanis could not have been expected not to have support or sympathy for the home side. Some were even seen praying for its victory but what seemed to matter was cricket. Any sweeping, positive generalisation about the crowd behaviour during the 40-day tour of the Indian team is premature. Like the Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly's remark — that "it is still an open series. But it is a good way to start" — one could say that the beginning of the crowd behaviour had been good.

It is futile to pretend that the Pakistani society is free from animus for India or that the people do not go along with the establishment or main political parties when they take an anti-India stand in a given situation. At the same time, spontaneous bursts of joy and affability in the welcome extended by common Pakistanis to common Indians could not be ignored. One may not get euphoric about it or draw highly rosy political conclusions but could it be dismissed as of no consequence? Here was another manifestation that increased people-to-people contacts, along with other factors, held the key to restoration of amity and normality. It is clear that there is a big reservoir of warmth beneath the ups and downs of bilateral dealings that needs to be tapped.

It is forgotten that the sluice gates of goodwill were first opened by an organisation of journalists, the South Asia Free Media Association, (SAFMA) which had organised the memorable visit of MPs, belonging to all parties, experts and media personnel to Pakistan in August last year. It seemed to have given a fillip to the exchange of visits by a vast variety of groups and associations. On the eve of the departure of the Indian team, there was a pointless controversy in the programmers of one of the TV channels on whether it was the job of cricketers to work for goodwill. The provocation for it was provided by the remark of the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee — when he received the team members — that it was important for them to win the game and also to win hearts.

The job of the cricket team was to play the game to the best of its ability not to work for spreading goodwill, said the critics. Some TV commentators made fun of the goodwill theory.

The critics missed the real point, thinking that the Indian team was required to take specific initiatives to promote goodwill. The goodwill theory was all about the peace dividend of the restoration of the cricketing ties. The mere presence of the Indian team in Pakistan generated tremendous interest. It was a major confidence building measure. The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman had this mind when he said: "These matches are a good backdrop for the dialogue process that we have started as they highlight an area of convergence rather than divergence." The world community, it was pointed out, was watching with renewed zeal the diplomatic initiatives between India and Pakistan in which cricket had once again become a source of people-to-people contact and a tool of diplomacy for sending out messages of peace across the border.