Sam’eer
With India and Pakistan all set to resume the high drama in cricket stadiums, the most impatient place on earth for the proposed Indo-Pak cricket series is Kashmir.
People in this conflict ravaged zone where over one lakh lives have been lost, are eagerly waiting to see the blue shirts (India) up against the green shirts (Pakistan).
Who is cheering for whom is a separate debate?
But if the ground situation is taken into account, the bitter reality for the Indians and their some 8 lakh troops and paratroopers manning the streets of Kashmir, is that Kashmiris have always cheered for green shirts. They invest lakhs to buy crackers and burst them to celebrate the victory of Pakistan. For many hardcore Pakistani supporters winning a cricket match against India is not less than a freedom.
And at times, if Pakistan loses, many households in Kashmir don’t eat lunch or dinner…some people fight with their family members and the reason is simple-loss of Pakistan. There are less words to narrate the love of people of Kashmir towards Pakistani cricket team…
Every run scored by Pakistanis is cheered like anything by Kashmiris and every wicket of India that falls is welcomed by bursting the crackers. The cracker sounds go high and high as if an encounter rages between the Jihadis and Indian forces- a game Kashmiri youth often play with the Indian forces-they don’t have a bat and a ball in hand but Ak 47’s and gun-grenades…
Both India and Pakistan are responsible for the bloodshed in Kashmir, but India is more responsible than Pakistan because of its rigid approach to solve the conflict which got its birth in 1947-when the two countries achieved freedom from British.
Now, let’s not discuss politics and the conflict here. Thousands of books and articles have been written on Kashmir and the miseries Kashmiris have experienced at the hands of Indian forces in Indian Occupied Kashmir, and if not at the same magnitude, Pakistani forces have also silenced many voices and showered numerous miseries in Pakistani side of Kashmir-whom many call Azad Kashmir.
But until our freedom comes, let’s all get ready for another Indo-Pak cricket series and cheer for our favorite teams.
And without any generalisation, in Kashmir-it is go green!
According to reports, India and Pakistan will play a short limited-overs series comprising three one-day internationals and two T20 Internationals from December 24 to January 5 in Sri Lanka, according to a report on NDTV.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has also confirmed the series.