Fakir S Ayazuddin

The PCB has once again proved that it is determined to show it is not prepared to mend its ways, and insists upon blundering on, regardless of the damage to the game or the disappointment to the millions of followers. The president himself seems unaware of the havoc being wreaked upon possibly the only happiness that can come the people’s way amongst the misery already being borne as their daily lot.

The PCB has refused to make public the ICC report of the Australian tour, and the deliberate leaks that are fed to the media have now been ‘confirmed’ by unnamed but ‘reliably’ informed source that match fixing did take place.
The ICC does have a representative at all their fixtures, and if match fixing was observed, then it was mandatory for ICC to have reported the incident(s) to the Pakistani management. Assuming that this was done, why was no action taken? From our knowledgeable sources two of the suspect in the games could have been saved.

It also seems strange that our elected representatives do not have the requisite clout, nor command the respect from the PCB officials to be able to get any meaningful response. This arrogance seems to be misplaced and may lead to the people approaching the courts to remove the officers of the Board for causing wilful and deliberate damage to the people of Pakistan. Especially with reference to the news leaks of match fixing (gambling). The fact that no member of the team was specifically punished for this serious crime is a matter of great concern for it shows a sinister complicity of the Board with the members of the betting mafia.

The members of the Sports Committee can and should take action in this, a matter of public concern, as the public is responsible for the revenues that pay for the lifestyles of the cricketers and their ancillaries. Without the fans, the cricketers would be nothing and even the bookies would not be interested.

The courts may soon be moved, as the chairman has already indicated that he has the confidence of President Zardari, and could not care for anyone else, thereby putting himself above the reach of normal actions of the ‘rules of business’. Rumours are rife that he has not met the president in quite a while, and there is certainly no indication that any meeting has recently taken place. The president is already a busy man, and does not have the time to meet a crony’s crony, especially one on a losing streak. As they say no one likes a loser, the incumbent president is one of these. The chairman is not only a loser but also surrounded by hounds baying for his blood.

Much more disturbing is the revelation, according to news reports, that there was a heavy involvement of gambling and the presence of bookies, which was indicated by the ICC rep to the PCB representative, and was part of the final report to the Pakistan Board. Cricketing sources are saying that the dropped catches were part of the scenario. If this is so then the two matches could have been saved or at least one. The other dangerous and sinister effect has been the introduction of our young cricketers to the world of betting and to unscrupulous bookies. This would be a criminal waste of our young talent.
The ICC report to the PCB has not been made public, possibly because highly damaging facts could emerge.

The PCB is certainly not a sacred cow in need of protection, but it certainly needs to be protected from the incompetent and unscrupulous management. Now that a betting link is being hinted at, it is imperative that Pakistani cric-ket distance itself from any such taint for the people. Also if the chairman continues in his unilateral protection of the betting syndicates, who seem to have placed themselves in the power circles as the man who dropped the crucial catc-hes has been named in the new line-up, the future of cricket in Pakistan will not be good.

The Board does not realise that if they do not take action against the syndicate, the ICC may choose to bar Pakistan from participating in the World Cup, on the grounds that they have zero tolerance towards gambling. At the same time, this cry would be taken up by the many enemies surrounding Pakistan. It is time that the possibility of a World Cup ban could help the shedding of these champions of disasters, for it is now extremely likely that the T20 success was a fluke, and cannot be repeated especially by this management.

The writer is a political analyst.

Inayatullah

Pakistan’s politics has worked badly because people who claim to be playing by one set of rules are in fact quietly playing by another.
Emma Duncan in Breaking the Curfew (1989)
“I should have restored the judiciary in the beginning. That is my biggest mistake. Then we would not have wasted our energies on each other. It would have been better if we would have concentrated on the people of Pakistan.” Thus, spoke Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to the Financial Times on Wednesday.

This admission of a costly blunder on Mr Gilani’s part merits notice and analysis. First, why did he deliberately indulge in the folly of stubbornly refusing to restore the judges, for so long? Was it really his fault or was he being dictated from the presidency? If he was so constrained, why is he taking all the blame on himself? Sometime back he claimed that it was his decision to restore the judges. No sir, it was not your decision. The long march and COAS’s intervention did the job. The PM’s belated announcement was a mere formality. The delay was clearly due to reluctance on the part of the “boss” to concede defeat.

Moreover, Mr Gilani realises that a lot of precious time, more than a year, was wasted and the energies thus wasted could have been put to better use for people’s welfare. Having admitted this serious fault on his part, what has Mr Gilani done by way of redeeming himself and atoning for the serious lapse? All that he has done is to add to his defaults by dragging his feet in complying with the court’s judgment. Therefore, his expression of regret has to be taken with a sizeable pinch of salt. The way the court directives have been disregarded, in particular about specific action against NAB officials and Ex-Attorney General Malik Qayyum as well as Swiss cases raises question marks about the sincerity of the PM’s much delayed expression of regrets and his declared commitment to honour the verdict of the highest court of the country.

Delay, dilly-dallying and dragging of feet appears to be the hallmark of this government. Take the case of the supply of electricity. Huge damage has been caused by its shortage and frequent extended outages. Industry has been badly hit and colossal losses incurred. People made miserable and countless workplaces and institutions seriously, adversely affected. No action has been taken against the minister for water and power for the failure to fulfil his repeated promise of ending loadshedding by the end of December 2009. We are now being told that heavy loadshedding will continue throughout the sizzling summer.

Flabbergasting indeed that there is no sign of a sense of urgency in the corridors of power, in Islamabad, to do something immediately to add to the power supply. The past two years have been wasted. Why couldn’t a few dozen small dams been built on suitable sites during this period? What exactly are the plans in hand? Why is the installed capacity not being fully utilised? Why have the rental old plants being commissioned in the face of a critical report released by the Asian Development Bank? Why have even these plants not been operationalised so far? Why has the manageable “circular debt” issue not been speedily addressed? Is it correct that corruption is a major factor in all this mismanagement? Why is there so much delay in the construction of Diamer-Basha Dam, allowing the cost to go up from $5.9 billion to $12 billion? And why has the gas supply agreement with Iran delayed for so long? Although it is reported that the agreement has been signed finally, because of the pressing need to meet power shortages, why has it taken this government more than two years to finalise this arrangement? Has there been any serious effort made at the highest level to import a substantial amount of power from Iran, in addition to the existing limited supply to Balochistan? Shouldn’t one come to the conclusion that the government has been negligent of its duties and insensitive to meeting the people’s essential needs?

Taking note of a preposterous increase in the country’s debt during the last two years, it is horrifying to learn that as per Dr Ashfaq Hassan Khan, a former senior official of the Ministry of Finance, there has been an increase of Rs 928 billion in the public debt during the last six months of which Rs 181 billions have been added because of the fall in the rupee’s value. The most worrying fact in this respect is that during the last 62 years, the total stock of public debt amounted to Rs 4814 billions, while in the last two years it has nearly doubled reaching the amount of Rs 8470 billion. As for foreign debt, it now stands at $55.7 billion with an increase of $15 billion during the last two and a half years.

Is Mr Gilani aware of this rapidly mounting unbearable burden thrust on the generation to come? Are loans being utilised economically and effectively?
Why is the opposition a passive spectator of the government’s irresponsible conduct in recklessly adding to future liabilities? Their passivity and lack of concern is indeed most regrettable. One wonders how much more corruption and misuse of authority would have been perpetrated by the government if the media and the judiciary had not taken up the role of watchmen and monitors?!

It is the poor performance and corrupt practice of the incumbent government which will ultimately bring in boots marching into the civilian domain, throwing politicians out in the gutters.
The writer is an ex-chairman of the National Commission for Literacy and Mass Education.

Email: pacade@brain.net.pk