After the London triple bomb blasts, in which 52 persons were killed and about 700 wounded it can be assumed that no country, area or city is safe from militancy or terrorism, be it America, Europe or Oceania. Australia is nowadays touring England and after the one-day series the Ashes Tests have started.
However, due to security concerns the cricket officials of England and Wales Board have but to rearrange the venues of the side matches and the schedules of their own county fixtures.
The investigations are still continuing and it is not clear who were the masterminds behind the London tragedy. Maybe it was the spillover of the killings in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq. However, after Washington, New York and Madrid during the pre-Olympic hockey competition last year it was England's capital that plunged into turmoil and grief and its police and other officials are trying to tighten its security arrangement and system.
A day before cheering Londoners had been dancing in the streets at the Olympic triumph but an eerie silence fell over the city after the tunnel bombings.
One finds that after week-long inspection from north to south of Pakistan the England and Wales Cricket Board officials and security experts have thought that Karachi, the main centre of sporting activities in this country, is not a safe place for a five-day Test match. The British police and security functionaries may allow their players the shortest possible stay in the metropolitan city of Pakistan to play a limited-overs tie but under no circumstance the itinerary may expand to more than one match in Karachi.
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were not afraid to fulfil their commitment of featuring in both the one-dayers and the Tests.
They were satisfied with the security arrangements provided to them. However, the Englishmen have taken notice of a few isolated cases and are adamant that only a one-dayer (or if agreement is reached on another one) can be staged in the city whatever may be the top-level safeguard promises for the visiting pack. In this way Karachi will be deprived of its chance to hold a Test or a second nascent version of the duel.
Karachi's case was spoiled by its former Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, who recently came out with a statement that bloodshed was feared in Karachi during the upcoming local bodies elections.
As an administrator of Karachi, though his tenure had ended he should have supported Karachi's cause and given full assurance of calm and peace to the visiting team and their security personnel. Cricket is not politics and he should have refrained from such an abominable and condemnable statement when he knew that the polls will be over in August and the English visitors will set foot on Pakistan's soil after two months in October.
The cricket board high-ups, sitting in their cosy and air-conditioned rooms at the Qadhafi Stadium, were also non-serious about the main nursery of the game in the country. The Director of Cricket Operations and a former fast bowler, Salim Altaf, told a news agency that the board had not proposed Karachi as a Test venue but wanted a one-day to be staged in Karachi.
This shows how lightly they argued Karachi's case. If at all Multan and Faisalabad are preferred over Karachi are in the two cities full facilities for the foreign team, their officials and the media representatives?
The fans were always misled by the home cricket officials that the PCB Chairman, Shaharyar Khan, was holding talks with the Lord's officials and perhaps Karachi will get its pound of flesh.
Former cricket legend and captain, Javed Miandad, expressed disappointment over English authorities decision to leave out Karachi as a Test venue. He was dismayed over the England and Wales Board taking a unilateral step despite the government's full promises of iron-cast safeguard measures.
"If Karachi is not safe then no other centre in the country is safe", Miandad said.
"By refusing to play Test in the southern city the visitors are damaging the image of Pakistan", Miandad added in a sorrowful vein. In a later interview after the underground blasts Miandad said the London tragedy showed that no place was safe from terrorists and England should reconsider their view point regarding Karachi.
It is regrettable that former all-rounder, Imran Khan, had supported England's stand.
However, it cannot be denied that the PCB functionaries did not properly tackle the Test issue and stooped before the English cricket officials and security personnel.
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