Boria Majumdar
Everyone I know has now seen the visuals of a 16-year-old Pakistani footballer celebrating his penalty goal against India with the tea celebration, mocking Captain Abhinandan Varthaman. He thereafter went on to do the same aeroplane celebration as Haris Rauf. And yes, he is 16 going on 17. The moment you see it, you know the rot has set in deep. It is indoctrination of the worst sort and these young men and women are growing up without even knowing what is good for him or her. The sporting edifice is rotten and you shudder to think what these people will do in the future.
The worst part in all this is the fact that these teenagers think they are doing something really fantastic. That they are standout individuals and will be lauded by their cohorts and the state and most importantly, on social media. In reality, they are plain dumb. The only thing is there is no one to say that to them in their face.
If you read social media discourse a day after what Sahibzada Farhan and Haris did, you will see that there is a section in Pakistan who are gullible enough to say India may have won but these players have won hearts. The question to ask is, really? How moronic can you be to fall for this narrative? And it is because of this gullible domestic constituency, that youngsters under 17 years of age are encouraged to do what they are doing.
So what’s the way forward and is there a way to stop this level of indoctrination? The unfortunate answer is no. The reason being the ones who could have taken remedial steps are all complicit in the process. Have you heard a single critical voice coming out of Pakistan, condemning what was done by Farhan or Haris? Has anyone sat that young footballer down and told him that what he is doing is plain wrong? Is there anyone to hold up the mirror?
What Pakistan desperately needs is to get rid of its India obsession. We in India have already moved on from the game on Sunday. We will play Bangladesh and that’s the focus here in Dubai. For Pakistan, India remains the reference point. The ultimate ambition is to show India down and that’s when you “win hearts”. Such delusional reality can only lead to societal ruin and that’s what we are seeing with the young 17-year-old.
Coming to the Asia Cup, Pakistan are set to play Sri Lanka tonight in Abu Dhabi. Sri Lanka, despite their loss to Bangladesh, have looked a solid team and it will take some doing on the part of Pakistan to beat them. And if they lose, it could well be the end of their Asia Cup. In fact, I’d go ahead and say unless Pakistan are able to bring their focus back on the game and recalibrate, Sri Lanka might just be too good for them. If they lose, it could be the worst that Pakistan cricket has seen in a while. They are on a downward spiral and a defeat against Sri Lanka will mean there is no way that the rot can be stemmed.
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