A greatly absorbing series…

The Indian tour marks one of the biggest milestones in a slow and cautious peace process that began almost one year ago. As such, this can certainly be a goodwill visit which has more than one objective. It is certainly an entertainer for cricket lovers…But the tour seems more than mere cricket. It seems the most effective diplomatic weapon employed so far by the two neighbouring governments to draw the goal of peace and friendship nearer. The new situation where people on both sides of the political divide seem to have forgotten the past, showering flowers on each other, fighting for the purchase of ticket for matches, hotels in Lahore and elsewhere have already been booked to capacity and additional air, train and bus services are being pressed for the travel of nearly 8,000 Indians to Pakistan, holds a promise that the process of peace has firmly taken ground. And this is the brightest aspect of the Indian team’s visit…

However, the security arrangements seem an overkill. In our view the Indians do not face the terror threat to the extent of such arrangements… the visitors will for all practical purposes be hostage to the danger. They are said to be ambassadors of goodwill, yet they will hardly have opportunity to meet the people…The only thing relevant is about which of them enjoys a cutting edge. The Indian team has a strong batting line-up while the Pakistani side has one of the deadliest bowling attacks in the world. Both the teams appear evenly balanced which promises that it is going to be a greatly absorbing series…

Excerpted from an editorial in the Peshawar-based ‘Frontier Post’, March 12