New Delhi’s strange political obsession with Pakistan

Till a moment earlier, the entire nation had been holding its breath; the night air was still and tension high. Suddenly, this stillness was cracked open.

The burst of crackers was simultaneous and it wasn’t just in Delhi and Chandigarh; the celebrations were spontaneous and nationwide. For a moment it seemed like it was Diwali.

From high ticket-paying in Mohali stadium to the villager in the remotest corner of India it was a victory to relish. The delight and the glee had to be shared and exhibited. For once, the normally cool Sachin Tendulkar was also affected by the national mood; he was uncharacteristically excitable during the last stages of the match. Undoubtedly this was a great victory. But this wasn’t the only time India had defeated Pakistan.

There have been great contests in the past where India had won. What then is new? Why this frenzy now? Why did an entire nation stock up on fire crackers in anticipation of a victory? 

Well, the difference this time is that it was a catharsis. It was a message from terror-wounded people to its leadership that while it may not have successfully pushed Pakistani establishment to take action on terror, our boys settled scores on field.

Afridi and his men played the game fairly, fought hard, and were gracious in defeat then. But the celebrations were not over humiliating eleven cricketers from across the borders. The national joy was a symbolic message, as much to Pakistanis as to our own political masters, that the wounds of repeated attacks on Mumbai have not healed.

It was also to confirm that people remember the loss of hundreds of lives to terror from across the border, and that stone walling by Pakistan has blocked every Indian plea, since that first attack on Mumbai in 1993, that the guilty be punished.
In that sense, the celebrations were a new Diwali; a triumph symbolically of good over a modern-day evil represented by terror from Pakistan. But there was also a collective query by the nation? Why were the president and the prime minister of Pakistan invited by prime minister Manmohan Singh to watch the match with him when the national wounds are still raw?

It could be said that there were earlier precedents; Zia and Musharraf too were invited on previous occasions. But there is a big difference; on previous occasions the desire to watch the match had come from the other side.

As experience also shows, the Pakistani intent was for grand standing; to reach out to the Indian media and people over the heads of politicians. Yet, despite double-speak, Musharraf had publicly spoken against terror from Pakistani soil during his cricket match visit.

Terror indeed is the big difference now.  Earlier, the nation had not suffered from 26/11. There is also the issue of invitation and the manner of response by Pakistan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lost no time in issuing his invitations; almost as soon as the winning runs had been scored against Australia and thus setting up the semi-final match with Pakistan. But the Pakistani leadership was far from spontaneous in its response. It mulled over the invitations. It waited a full four days before accepting the invitation to Prime Minister Gilani; obviously the internal consultations on what it could squeeze out of the visit must have been the reason.

Now that the cricket diplomacy is over, it might be fair to ask if the hullabaloo over the Pakistani prime minister’s visit was worth it. And in that context, isn’t it worthwhile to enquire if a spontaneous invitation was also extended to the leaders of Sri Lanka  and Bangladesh to see the finals in Mumbai because the two along with India are the co-hosts of the world cup? The Sri Lankan president did visit anyway, of his own volition.

Both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are important neighbours; their people and governments would have deeply appreciated such a gesture from our side. Yet we do not seem to include them in our list of the specially chosen. Sadly, in the neighbourhood, that list for us seems to begin and end with Pakistan.