Beware of cricket-loving dictators
This is no time to invite General Musharraf to watch a cricket match
The war in Afghanistan caused the United States to make an ally out of the otherwise repugnant military dictator in Pakistan. India, caught up in its irrational habit of peace-process euphoria, was discussing confidence-building measures with Pakistan. Of course, this included playing cricket. The smiling general hopped across the border to watch the cricket match. And soon after, launched Operation Topaz — a proxy war that lead to more than a decade of terrorism in Kashmir.
That was in the late 1980s, and even before that war has come to an end, India started playing cricket with Pakistan. And again, the smiling General next door intends to hop over — all India has to do is ask (and keep the cameras rolling).
Musharraf knows that the Indian media is a powerful publicity tool and can give him much of the international credibility he craves, without having to give away anything substantial in return. Some good photo opportunities are all he needs to show the world what a good boy he really is.
As opposed to Musharraf, India has very little to gain from his appearance in the stands. Ordinarily, in such circumstances, a deal could be made if the beneficiary is agreeable to pay a price, in advance or in arrears. General Musharraf is’nt. More importantly, his ability to change his tune outstrips his ability to keep his promises, making his paper worthless. And then there is that ugly business of Kargil.
Past experience in handling Pakistan’s generals suggests that the best way to go about it is with a ten-foot pole. The cricket series is being organised as part of the process to encourage people-to-people contacts. As Pakistan’s army chief and president, Musharraf simply does not qualify.
Related Link: Secular-Right has some suggestions for Musharraf in case he wants to catch up on the score.
reserved for Pak nationals (around 10000) are not sold and 4500 of them are returned. I wonder whether General Musharaff has bought any of those sold tickets or just waiting for Indian board and Govt. to offer him a free ticket. ! Also read Acorn(Nitin Pai) on this issue.
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“Lesser of the Two Evils”, Go Home
But he is not welcome in MY India. Cricket diplomacy gets a shot in the arm once again when Musharraf visits India, presumably for the final ODI between India and Pakistan. But does cricket and diplomacy go well together,
[...] In the two years since cricketing relations were restored, Pakistan and Musharraf were early beneficiaries. This was well-known to Indian policymakers then and very likely intentional. The hope, on India’s side, was that cricket will make the people in either country less hostile to each other and that this will lead to the softening of their government’s position on the tough issues. On the part of the Indian government, this was a delusional extension of the “people-like-us” hypothesis. Delusional, because even if the Pakistanis were “people-like-us”, their society and political organisation is hardly like ours. The upshot is that for India the political and security-related benefits of cricket remain elusive. [...]