Honour national heroes

The Pakistan cricket team made an early exit from the recent World Cup tournament after getting thrashed by the USA and India. The nation is disappointed and rightly so. In this time of crisis when political polarization is at an all-time high and economic stability is yet to hit the shore, we need some wins that can give a healing touch to our people from Karachi to Khyber. The country desperately needs an athlete who can create glorious memories for the nation under pressure perhaps from everything under the sun.

Sports have the power to heal a nation. Mandela used the 1995 Rugby World Cup for South Africa as a force for reconciliation between a battered and polarized country. Our 2009 World Cup win under Younis Khan gave a glorious moment to a nation that was battling intense terror attacks. Today, the nation’s need to win major tournaments is more than ever before.

But while our prayers and wishes are for our national athletes competing in major international tournaments, especially for javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, who will be featuring in the forthcoming Paris Olympics, one should also ask whether our nation gives due respect to the national athletes as they deserve.

All over the world, the top-notch athletes of popular sports are put on a special pedestal as the ‘legends of the game’. They are cherished and celebrated for bringing laurels and their achievements are linked to national pride. In Pakistan, we do have such athletes who secured the honour of raising the national flag after winning tournaments. Be it the Olympic champion hockey team, squash maestros, or sprinters, it is not as though Pakistani athletes never win anything. It may not be frequent but it does happen. So why are those winning moments not in our national memory? I am asking this question as a politician who finds the growing hopelessness and despair in society the most concerning challenge of the country.

There are no two opinions on the fact that the state of Pakistan needs to better support our athletes and bring the private sector on board if the financial constraints limit them from providing the required assistance. The buck stops at the state. No questions about that. The people of Pakistan should also ask: are we honouring our heroes the way they should be honoured? Let me cite two examples so that the readers may better connect with the questions.

Younis Khan won us the 2009 Cricket World Cup. He retired from the game with over 10,000 runs in Test Cricket and a career with stainless financial integrity. A talented athlete with character, he is the best athlete to be framed as a national hero but perhaps because Khan doesn’t market himself well through PR agencies, the nation does not honour him as a World Cup winning captain who brought national pride. Should the state be blamed for that? Certainly not.

Shahid Khan Afridi was bashed on Twitter a few weeks back after a photo went viral on Twitter showing him standing with two Zionist men in the United Kingdom. The men used the photo to give the message that Afridi stands with Israel and Zionism. Our national hero who gave us countless moments of joy was bashed on digital spaces by trolls to the extent that Afridi had to come out to give explanations that he has got nothing to do with Zionists and the state of Israel. The men asked for a photo like many others and as an athlete he agreed.

A man, who is undoubtedly a national hero now working as a philanthropist, faced a troll attack from the nation on a baseless accusation that even those leveling it knew had no substance. Afridi is in the line of fire from multiple quarters mainly because he refused to join the bandwagon of a populist political party. Such is our political discourse that we are willing to throw a national hero under the bus on baseless, false accusations just because he is not part of our mob.

That the country is in crisis is a cliched statement that we have been hearing for many decades. It is our duty to honour and respect those who gave us moments of joy. Politics should be way above and beyond mud-slinging national heroes. Perhaps it is time for lawmakers to at least discuss this on the floor of the house: that there need to be some red lines drawn to honour the name of the ambassadors of our country who have brought nothing but pride to the nation.

The writer is a senior member of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).