In what’s being called the worst attack on a sports team since Palestinian militants killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olymic games, gunmen with rifles, grenades and rocket launchers ambushed the Sri Lankan cricket team today in Lahore. Seven players, an umpire and a coach were wounded. Six Pakistani policemen and a driver for the Pakistan Cricket Board were killed.
<
blockquote>
The attackers abandoned machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and plastic explosives…They carried backpacks stuffed with dried fruit, mineral water and walkie-talkies — provisions also abandoned at or near the scene, officials said.
Sri Lanka had agreed to this tour — allowing Pakistan to host its first test matches in 14 months — only after India and Australia backed out of scheduled trips over security concerns. The assault will end hopes of international cricket teams — or any sports teams — playing in the country for months, if not years.
Tuesday’s attack came three months after the Mumbai terror strikes that killed 164 people. Those raids were allegedly carried out by Pakistan militants, and the assault in Lahore resembled them in many respects. Both were coordinated, used multiple gunmen, apparently in teams of two, who were armed with explosives and assault rifles and apparently had little fear of death or capture.
Authorities will also consider possible links to Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger separatist rebels who are being badly hit in a military offensive at home, though Sri Lankan military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said it was unlikely the group was involved.
Two Sri Lankan players — Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana — were being treated for bullet wounds in a hospital but were stable…Umpire Ahsan Raza was hit in his abdomen…Team captain Mahela Jayawardene and four other players had minor injuries…British assistant coach Paul Farbrace also sustained minor injuries.
Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said little could be done to stop such an attack, saying “there is never enough security to counter a well organized and determined terrorist group.” link
Update: Commenter pingpong points us to this great article in the The Economist that provides context re the Sri Lankan team’s bravery in agreeing to play, and the tragic ramifications for Pakistan.
Hello everybody,
After having read your blog on the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team I would like to express my greatest concerns with the incidents taking place in South Asia. It seems that the region is spiralling out of control; 30 years of war in Afghanistan, the NWFP and FATA regions still boldly refuse to be part of the Pakistani state, the state of Pakistan itself in political turmoil, India being attacked by Islamic militants, Maoists and Hindu’s attacking Christians, as well as a 25 year war in Sri Lanka that seems far from over after the armies recent excursions. This is a time when we the people need to be aware of what’s really happening and we can do this through the power of the internet. I am the South Asian editor for Demotix a photojournalism website and agency that gets your news photography seen and licensed by the mainstream media. This report by Reuters helps to explain what we do: http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=93462. Please visit our website to see what we do. http://www.demotix.com
Wais.
So far cricketers/sportsmen have been spared as target of terrorist attacks. Unfortunately that is not true anyore. The only thing remaining now is an attack on a Bollywood show targeting film stars in Mumbai next.
p4k1st4n1 (comment #55 above), the dying down of Khalistani movement had nothing to do with Benazir Bhutto supplying names to the Indian government. It had everything to do with KPS Gill’s “ten of theirs for one of ours” philosophy (and the numerous human rights violations that followed). He came down very heavily on these terrorists.
Hmm……Interesting analysis. That is why Israelis even more amped up ‘hundred of theirs for one of ours’ has been so successful in ending militancy.
I wonder how the terrorists could have simply disappeared?? There must have been witnesses who saw them as they were fleeing. Such a high-profile attack with a video camera briefly catching them shooting and cops cannot follow them as they get away??
AS @ 21: me / AS @ 60, 61 etc: not me
88 · ptr_vivek said
You know this from your other career in Japanese niche films?
I don’t think stating “failed state” is in any way a cliche. Foreign Policy magazine has been ranking failed states and have different factors that effect a country’s rankings. Somalia followed by Sudan and there are reasons cited that they have ranked No.1 and no.2. Pakistan, unfortunatly has been up there for awhile. For someone who said it’s an Indian’s wetdream for Pakistan to be divided…it’s my hope that Pakistan, whether divided or not, gain peace and prosperity one selfish reason being, I think a peaceful and flourishing Pakistan, Bangladesh will only help India.
Anyways I’m so sad for the Pakistani police officer’s and their families who died during this battle and of course for everyone else that was hurt in this incident. REally sad.
AV,
To quote someone else’s comment, copy and paste the comment, highlight it, and then click the ” symbol above. I believe this is how its done. 🙂
Hey look, Sri Lanka’s only #20 on the failed states list! We beat Haiti! Woo hoo!!
51 · razib said
While there’s probably a connection between the viability of a state and the size of the economy that it can sustain, I think it has more to do wtih whether political elites can cobble together an effective combination of ideology (nationalism), force (repression), and economic buyoffs (social welfare) to sustain a faction that encompasses the whole country’s population or be deft enough to engage in the kind of statesmanship that industrialisation takes (political + economic microsteps) while not tearing the country apart. The idea that an even smaller country would be better off has some strength under this analysis (and you can point to Britain and Japan and South Korea for evidence of the benefits of insulation from the world), but it doesn’t note that every state operates in a regional and global context.
Pakistan’s internal institutions have been problematic from the beginnign in part because of its geopolitical position (see Ayesha Jalal on Anglo-Imperial rivlary and Pakistan, for example) and because of lack of a coherent long-lasting nationalist movement and idea, not just because it had no industry at independence and inherited political and economic problems in 1948 and its statesman like Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan were clumsier with ethnic politics than their circumstances allowed them to be.
Your argument also ignores that industrialisation, which is the goal of virtually every political elite in the Global South, is inherently violent and so you are going to have violence either way, whether internal (like the Maoists in INdia) or separatist. So simply carving up the state into smaller and smaller states doesn’t make it any safer for the people without other factors.
Further, there are other factors we should take into consideration in forming prescriptions about places we know not enough about. For example, Sri Lanka’s demographics, mode of politics, and the ways in which the politics has been carried forward after independence have a lot to do with why it is basically at the point where genocide to create a homogeneous (and militarised) state is a real possibility. Which will also accomplish the goals you cite – and is a solution I assume you wouldn’t support, hence the need to take into account other factors for policy choice.
In other words, the political-economic analysis needs to have some “nuance” to quote some of my friends up above.
this attack could not have come at a worse time for Pakistan since the country is already struggling to reconstruct their international image
Lahore Murder Mystery
AS – In my opinion, religion has no place in a national cricket team, particularly if it happens to be the majority religion. Overt and aggressive display of religion [Inzmam ul Haq: exhibit A] on and off the playing field leads to an environment where non-Muslim players like, Yousuf Youhana feel pressured to convert to Islam. Indeed, Youhana aka Mohammad Yousuf converted to Islam from Christianity after being convinced of Islam’s superiority by his team mate, Saeed Anwar, a part time preacher for the proselytizing group, Tablighi Jamaat.
p.s. A year or so back, a Pakistani cricket player had the nerve to publicly proclaim that South Asia’s Muslim population was praying for the Pakistani team, which at the time was playing against India, in India. A highly loaded statement, which might as well have been drafted by Narendra Modi or Bal Thackeray.
p.p.s. Personally, I, and most females from the cricket playing world who are thirty plus, would prefer a playboy Imran Khan over the fundoo Imran Khan any day.
Do the ones under 30+ prefer the fundoo Imran Khan? Because there go my chances.
Yoga Fire – I had no idea that ladies under 30 even remembered the Imran Khan of yore.
Kumar – While I agree that the world needs to do something about Pakistan, I don’t see how a Mccarthur plan will work: in case you haven’t noticed, Japan circa 1945 [homogenous, high literacy rate, modern, industralized, willing], is very different than Pakistan circa 2009 [low literacy, mostly rural, various ethnicities and religions, very volatile region, etc]. More importantly, which Army is going to baby sit Pakistan for half a century?
Actually 37 year experiment. The initial 1947 experiment ended after 24 years.
The Western elite countries divided Arab world in the early 1900s for their oil/economic security. i think they’ll do the same with Pakistan for their physical security in the near future.
In my opinion, religion has no place in a national cricket team, particularly if it happens to be the majority religion. Overt and aggressive display of religion [Inzmam ul Haq: exhibit A] on and off the playing field leads to an environment where non-Muslim players like, Yousuf Youhana feel pressured to convert to Islam. Indeed, Youhana aka Mohammad Yousuf converted to Islam from Christianity after being convinced of Islam’s superiority by his team mate, Saeed Anwar, a part time preacher for the proselytizing group, Tablighi Jamaat.
This is so eerily similar to an interview yesterday of John Kitna (QB Lions). When asked what he would miss about his stay at Detroit. After mentioning the tough times that the city was going through and his feeling that the city was only temporarily down, he spoke about his ministry and baptising 6 other Lions last season. Considering that they were 0 for 16 last season, religion is what losers turn to when they are down.
Lashkar-e-Taiba’s considered opinion on cricket.
It is disgusting to see the depths to which these neanderthals have sunk. The hypocrisy itself is mind boggling. Cricket is haraam, but electricity, satellite phones, AK-47s and medical procedures to save their pathetic lives are not. Their misogyny and suppression of women is nauseating. Truly, these evil morons would have been misfits in most world cultures even in the 7th century that they want to recreate.
(The above rant was directed at the L-e-T’s views on cricket and other other miscellaneous issues as mentioned in Swamy’s linked article)
PAFD @103, you are right. My analysis was over simplistic, what I should have said that KPS Gill’s heavy handed tactics was “one of the reasons” that the Khalistani movement petered out. Anyway, my point that Bhutto’s “giving” of the leaders names to India had nothing to do with the Punjab returning to normalcy still stands.
This is getting really scary–they who must not be named or identified are attacking with impunity in Pakistan’s 2d largest city, and now we learn they are poised to take over Karachi. Chilling. India needs to double its defense spending ASAP.
This is so eerily similar to an interview yesterday of John Kitna (QB Lions). When asked what he would miss about his stay at Detroit. After mentioning the tough times that the city was going through and his feeling that the city was only temporarily down, he spoke about his ministry and baptising 6 other Lions last season. Considering that they were 0 for 16 last season, religion is what losers turn to when they are down.
The religion thing has not hurt Kurt Warner that much. As for Kitna he was much better QB in Detroit when Mike Martz was calling the plays, but was awful last year without Martz help.
123 · rob said
heh, heh…so true, you islamophobic
This is getting really scary–they who must not be named or identified are attacking with impunity in Pakistan’s 2d largest city heh, heh…so true, you islamophobic
Manju and Rob: Hahaha, so funny! Islamaphobia so funny! Hahahahaha…..Lets salute Rob for daring to go where no one has gone before…….tada ‘ a subtle reference to the Islamic nature of the terrorists in Pakistan’. March on Soldier. Let them know that you are a PC buster, standing on the Gates of Vienna in your historic role where you finally came out and made the connection between Islam and terrorism.
Yeah, what is needed is to have the ‘boyz’ kick some butt video game style. Only question is, after so much butt kicking, how did the Taliban get stronger, especially in Pakistan? Never mind… it is scary indeed that Karachi could look like Kabul, but I wouldn’t count on those who we know too well (and can name) to fix it. Bring back Cheney and Rummy, I say.
Honestly, old egg, you don’t find the the “turban’d and scimitar’d Turk” to be haunting the West??? Personally, I find it to better by going by being always, absolutely, over-educated
126 · Pagal_Aadmi-for_debauchery said
Well, PaFD…what’s funny is those who oppose labels label the labelers islamophobes. Do you not see an even worse bigotry in this very thread?
Keep complaining–I am enjoying my daily videos of Taliban being killed.
24 · Hasan said
Those cricketeers have an oppressive foreign policy.
But seriously, this incident hasn’t garnered much attention in the western press, despite “that which should not be named” being one of the great issues of our time. i recall something similar happening during the mumbai train attacks. as dr a would ask, who benefits from this? the liberal media…uneasy with themes not easily categorized as responses to US foreign policy? just askin’.
127 · Nanda Kishore said
Well, Nanda…How’d the Soviets get stronger after WWII. Never mind…
I’m going to go out and do a little cowboyin’. You know what that is? Cowboying is getting in a motor home or a van or something like that and you just let the air blow in your hair and you wind up in some little bar in Arizona someplace…. You shoot one-handed nine-ball with some 90-year-old Portuguese woman who beats the hell out of you.
Statement from actor Robert Blake after he was found not guilty of killing his wife. Maybe it time for some of the people in Pakistan to do alittle cowboyin.
Zainab@116,
When the analysts say we need a MacArthur plan for Pakistan, they don’t mean the same plan that was used for Japan, but something similar keeping in mind the dynamics of Pakistan.You have mentioned some of those factors in your comment.
But look at it this way: If as we all say and believe, 99% of Pakistanis are against the jihadi ideology, against the medieval provisions of Sharia law (some aspects of Sharia may actually be ‘progressive’, like ethical banking for example), then it means Pakistan has been/is being ruled by an in-house occupational force (Pakistani Army and ISI) all these years.
Any plan for Pakistan should essentially de-fang the military-jihadi complex, and set about establishing robust civic institutions, and comprise a significant number of progressive Pakistani citizens.If the 99% Pakistanis see merit in moving away from the current occupational force, there should be no reason to doubt their buy-in for such a plan.Of course there will be resistance from some sections, and that needs to be engaged with as per internationally accepted norms of ‘rule of law’.
And one of the important things that need to be done (along with de-nuclearisation) is to purge the school curricula from all the Islamo-fascist garbage that got introduced during Zia Ul Haq’s reign.
A lot of ‘aam’ Pakistanis believe that the US is directly responsible for the current status of their nation.What they don’t perceive is the very cynical, self-serving role by China is another reason for the mess.Sadly, even the policy makers in US, and all the think tanks seem to believe that they can solve Af-Pak problem through NATO.No, without China’s buy-in and help, nothing’s gonna workout in Af-Pak.
It may be beyond US’ current capacity to bring China to the table and hammer out a consensus on how to resolve the mess.But they must atleast approach China.It is best for India to offer advice and take up any developmental projects in Pakistan, and not get into the nitty-gritties of the McArthur Plan for Pakistan, unless Pakistanis themselves see a value in India’s involvement.
What I have outlined may not be the perfect solution, but I am interested in knowing if there are any other worthwhile approaches possible.
LOL–this kind of pie-in-the-sky thinking is why India keeps losing on every front–when will India learn that, tragically, 99% of people are not nice??
That is absolutely true, but extremists are generally incapable of logical thinking, and are prone to making huge generalizations and false analogies, leaping from century to century in their bid to write monolithic factually bankrupt histories:
I fail to see what is enjoyable about watching duty-bound young men who must risk their lives to kill misguided zealots. Does watching violence make you feel more masculine? What an escapist coping strategy — to watch other individuals muster guts, courage, and face the physical and psychological scars as you cheer smugly on the sidelines.
perhaps this poor appraisal of humanity might have something to do with your own mentality.
Right. It seems like a fashion now to blame Zia for all the troubles of Pakistan as if its history is something different.
“Objectives resolution” is passed just after 1947 that effectively made religious minorities as second class citizens of Pakistan with the full support of the majority of the population. This is rich coming after Jinnah and Muslim league’s eloquence of how Muslims as minorities would be treated as second class citizens in Hindu dominated India and doing exactly to minorities what he feared Hindus would do in united India.
And the “secular” leader Mr. Bhutto is the one who made “Ahmediyas” as non-Muslims in 1974. Zia was nowhere there when these things happened. It is quite naive to believe that only a minority of Pakistanis carry ill will against India.
Rob,
Agree to your point@135.
What is your solution, then? Will be happy to read a critique of the MacArthur Plan idea.
Ponniyin,
My point is that Wahabisation of mainstream school curricula was started as a State-directed program by Zia.Those school children have grown up now and leading the global jihad.
But yes, even before 1947, the Muslim elite started playing this card quite cynically.Jinna was as European as any Anglo-Saxon, but whipped up religious fanaticism through calls for direct action.But there were some Khan Abdul Gaffar Khans.I don’t see them now.Are they cowering somewhere? Can they lead a transformatory movement, supported by friendly forces?
The military-jihad complex in Pakistan must be eliminated.If not today, then within 2 years, the world has to consider the idea of a friendly occupational force in Pakistan.That seems to be the only way we are all headed.
131 · Manju said
I am absolutely certain it has nothing to do with the fact that what is newsworthy in the American press is if some harm befalls American targets.
129 · Manju said
Clever! Opposing an argument made by no one on this thread, by introducing a label used by no one on this thread (till comment #125)! Is that the style that Dear Porcine Leader Rush Limbaugh has ordered all true believers to adopt?
Does this actually work in inspiring outrage among those who are not reading challenged? (The surprising thing is that I found this article with this excerpt, after I wrote the comment!)
134 · Kumar said
I think you need to separate the two: there are probably large swaths of Pakistan that are dominated by tribes and are deeply conservative (for eg. Swat and FATA), and do believe in sharia, but at the same time, are not jihadi warriors. (I am not saying that sharia is a reasonable way to organize a plural society, or any society where women should be treated decently, but this is aside from the question of terror.)
Kumar et al – Short of an imminent take over of Pakistan by the fundamentalist element, I don’t foresee the west using their armies to remedy Pakistan. They just don’t have the stomach for it. And the Mullahs, Army Generals, and the Politicians of Pakistan know it all too well. They also know that, it’s only a matter of time before the coalition gets tired and cuts a deal with the Taliban: Osama is handed over to the Americans, who then announce “mission accomplished” and exit Afghanistan, leaving the wretched country for the Taliban [of course, the talibs will be warned to keep their act local, otherwise uncle sam will be back to bomb you into what ever preceeded the stone age]. With this outcome everybody, except the women, children and minorities of Afghanistan, NWFP and FATA [and as long as we don’t see their plight on CNN, they don’t exist], is happy.
As cliched this may sound, Pakistan’s and our only hope are the Pakistani people. Only they can fix the situation. Really.
What happened?
Afghanistan used to have the reputation as one of the most hospitable places in the world, and Afghanis as amongst the most sweet and kind.
I think the best way to counter “terrorism” is to bring industry to Afghanistan so that these young men may busy themselves in work and making money. Afghanistan needs to be irrigated so that more produce can grow there and be exported. Get the people farming and let that farming produce real financial results for them and I’m sure the number of disenchanted youth will go down drastically. Also tighten the borders so that weirdos from surrounding areas have a tougher time getting in.
There’s no reason why in this day and age any region of the world has to be poor and unproductive.
Rob wrote: Peshawar is the first target; it’ll fall to the Taliban by the end of March
Ok, I’ll take you up on that prediction, Rob. If the civil administration of the City of Peshawar is violently taken-over by a Pakistani or Afghan Taliban Group by March 31, 2009, I will make a donation to your favorite extremist hate-group, the VHP-America. If it does not, you can make a donation to an American organization most opposed to your way of thinking — say, Nice People That are Against Being Crazy (NPTABC)?
when will India learn that, tragically, 99% of people are not nice??
Speak for yourself, Rob.
141 should read:
Kumar et al – Short of an imminent take over of Pakistan by the fundamentalist element, I don’t foresee the west using their armies to remedy Pakistan. They just don’t have the stomach for it. And the Mullahs, Army Generals, and the Politicians of Pakistan know it all too well. They also know that, it’s only a matter of time before the coalition gets tired and cuts a deal with the Taliban: Osama is handed over to the Americans, who then announce “mission accomplished” and exit Afghanistan, leaving the wretched country for the Taliban. Of course, the talibs will be warned to keep their act local [Afghanistan, Pakistan and India only], otherwise uncle sam will be back to bomb you back into what ever preceeded the stone age. Everybody is happy with this outcomey, except the women, children and minorities of Afghanistan, NWFP and FATA. And as long as we don’t see their plight on CNN, they don’t exist.
P.S. As cliched this may sound, Pakistan’s and our only hope are the Pakistani people. Only they can fix the situation. Really.
Sherni-e-Kabul –
“Afghanistan used to have the reputation as one of the most hospitable places in the world, and Afghanis as amongst the most sweet and kind.”
I am surprised that a woman is saying this. Even when they were sweet and kind, Afghan society was highly tolerant of misogyny and pedophilia. Females were chattel, to be awarded to rivals for settling disputes. To be born a woman in Afghanistan, particularly in an economically disadvantaged family, pretty much condemns you for life.
However, this doesn’t mean that the Afghans deserve what is happening to them over the last few decades.
p.s. cool handle……sherni.
Just to elaborate on what Razib said, I think South Asia, Africa and maybe even much of the rest of the formerly colonized are better off being reconstituted nationally along lines that are more reflective of internal ethnic/linguistic makeup as appropriate. This would mean much more cohesive states more capable of eradicating poverty. The current national regimes in place globally are all mostly British and European constructs that have never been prior to European domination.
India itself is ultimately fated to either being reconstituted to be more like the EU (absorbing the rest of South Asia in the process) or be completely Balkanized (again along with the rest of South asia).
India has already been through that process about 50 years ago. Ever heard of the States Reorganization Act 1956? And all the language riots and ethnic riots that accompanied that messy process toward streamlining state borders? I am not completely in favor of any further reorganization. It doesn’t make any more administrative sense to do so, but intra-state separatist movements keep popping up, e.g. Gorkhaland and the Naga unification movement at the expense of other northeastern states. Perhaps it’s time for Pakistan and Bangladesh to apply the same Act to themselves.
147 · Sharmishtha said
India has only begun the process with that act. By reconstitution I was referring to a much greater devolution of powers. Keep defence, foreign affairs and certain other aspects under centralized control, while allowing the states to have total control over their economic and political future. This would be as close as possible to a confederation. This will be messy but it will be up to the state governments to negotiate and broker state borders. Compromise is crucial here. A small part of the reason why India has so much widespread poverty (half of the world’s poverty and hunger is the extensive bureaucracy and corruption that comes with too much centralization of administrative structures.
One of the many reasons why Europe outpaced China past the 14th century was the diversity of worldviews and ways of thinking embodied across the region whether it be political, economic or cultural. India will only out-turtle China if and only if it embraces and enhances its internal diversity as much as it can without endangering the unity of the monopoly on violence.
At the same time I think democracy at the ‘federal’ level shouldn’t be done by mass voting but rather equal or slightly in-equal number of representatives from each internal state. If the population of a people or a size of the state is too small, make them a canton (as exists in parts of Europe, specifically Switzerland) and give them some sort of appropriate representation at the ‘federal’ level. This will allow for certain states to be broken up further as to recognize the wishes of the people on the ground. This also avoids the bouts of majoritarianism that are bound break out more often as the demographics of individual states further diverge.
Such extensive reforms will also allow an avenue for the rest of South Asia to be integrated into such a supra-state of sorts without risking their autonomy. Only true power to the people(bottom-up) will allow India to eradicate the inexcusably high levels of poverty, hunger and inequality, thereby allowing it out-turtle homogeneous autocratic China(top-bottom).
We are moving beyond the topic of the attack on the cricketers. The only thing I want to add is that too much devolution of power is not necessarily the answer either. States’ rights have been the cover for all sorts of gross abuses of power including slavery, segregation (would the southern states of the US ever have de-segregated voluntarily without the Supreme Court’s Brown vs. the Board of Education verdict?). In India, too much localism leads to all sorts of problems. Here I agree with B. R. Ambedkar who led the Constitution Committee when he argued for a more not a less centralized system. The oppression of caste, for example, is the hallmark of a society that has devolved power to the village unit (caste atrocities are rare in urban locales). These little so-called village republics are also nests of parochial backwardness, they are not little Gardens of Edens. And as for allowing too much financial autonomy, most of the states got into their fiscal and debt crises by arguing that they should have direct negotiating power with multinational corporations and funding agencies. Andhra Pradesh is a prime example of how greater financial decision-making power at the state level has not led to wiser or better decision-making. For myself, given the current security situation in the region, there is no alternative to maintaining a strong, federal union with a strong center. OK, that’s it on this discussion for me.
Ijaz Butt is a disgrace. that’s not exactly a revelation but crystal clear now.