| July 14, 2002 | Sunday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 3, 1423 |
Hockey team selection shows lack of planning
The selection of the Pakistan hockey team for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games and Champions Trophy shows total lack of planning and farsightedness and above all sincerity to the national game.
THE good news is the president is harmless and not in the least power hungry. He admitted as much in his televised address to the nation last week. As presidents go, he explained, rubber-stamps are the dangerous kind. Now that is an original one. And, one must give credit where it is due, not far from the mark either. Remember Iskander Mirza, particularly after having proclaimed martial law, Yahya Khan, notably after the famous one-man one-vote election, Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Farooq Leghari after the 14th amendment to the Constitution, Rafiq Tarar? Crises and catastrophes was all they brought us. Who wants another of their ilk? Perish the thought.
And Ayub Khan, Ziaul Haq and Ghulam Ishaq Khan? Of course there were problems with peace, sustaining democracy, distribution of wealth, elected legislatures and the judiciary but when have these sectors and institutions been trouble-free? There were certainly no problems with the bureaucracy and no intervention by the military. Let him who can deny this speak.
The problems, the president says, were due to the lust for power, which is the root of a lot of mischief. Fortunately, he has no craving for it. This, he explained, was plain from the fact that he was willing to appoint a prime minister to succeed him as chief executive. How many prime ministers have been willing to part with office? Nawaz Sharif? But did he not take the president with him? Was it not indeed on account of his power hunger? Earlier, Gen Ayub had left the coveted office in only three days after taking the oath. But then it was to replace the president. No such motive for Gen Musharraf.
Look at his progress since October 99. He had been contentedly eating his curds and whey as chief of the army staff and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, when a power hungry prime minister’s reckless adventurism forced his hand. Once the perils of rubber-stamp presidency became obvious, he promptly neutralized the threat. When Gen Powell offered the schoolchild’s two-finger choice, he not only guessed the right way but was also quicker than a Jeopardy contestant. That brought him international recognition, status and power that has been the envy of not a few Third World leaders. On the home front, a PCO necessitated by the likes of Zafar Ali Shah, a purge of the Supreme Court and combined efforts of the NAB, the NRB, the NADRA and the Election Commission not to mention political and NGO stooges, have given him all the power of a priest king. He has reason, if anybody ever did, to be sated. Who needs more power? Come to think of it, what other power is there to be had? Why should he grudge his handpicked prime minister, whom he can dismiss whenever he chooses, the power to carry out his commands? Is this not reassuring? Addicted notoriously to pointless jokes, several Lahoris recalled instead the unhappy story of the poor man who wanted the honour of feting the mohalla Maulvi but feared his famous appetite. Thinking furiously he came up with a clever solution — invite the Maulvi after he had already been ‘just’ to a seven-course feast. His neighbours, however, had the last laugh when accepting a post-Alhamd-o-Lillah invitation out of courtesy, the Maulvi swallowed everything his host had prepared, including what the family had expected to eat.
THE president also said the country was on the road to prosperity. That, of course, has been a sore and contentious point. Even as the government announced debt relief and claimed improvement in foreign exchange reserves, the opposition pointed to unemployment.
Help now seems to have come from an unexpected quarter. Who could have thought of creating jobs through amendments to the electoral rules? But this is precisely what the graduation requirement for office-bearers of political parties, upheld by the Supreme Court last week, has done. Should the Election Commission enforce it in letter and spirit, there is a whole new job market for the educated unemployed in a hitherto ignored sector.
THE details of the Chak Jhumra lynching case, emerging after the police finally decided to prosecute the killers, make it even more frightening.
The man killed after being charged with blasphemy, it has now been learnt, was known for mental imbalance. Who in his right mind accuses an insane person or wants him to be prosecuted or punished?
Muhammad Yousuf, killed earlier in a Lahore prison, had told journalists, given the country’s blasphemy laws, one had to be insane to make the kind of claims and remarks attributed to him. Could there be more to what he said then a denial it was generally taken to be?
Various forms of insanity have been recognized throughout human history as a cause of controversial claims and unacceptable behaviour. Civilized societies have always been careful not to judge the afflicted like responsible citizens. Living on the fringes of society they have few rights. They have no say in any matter of consequence and cannot own property or conclude contracts. They cannot even be heard in evidence. In the bargain, they are not liable for anything. Not even Hudood, the no-human-discretion laws apply to them. Our history and literature are replete with accounts of sometimes amusing, sometimes intriguing cases of insane behaviour and how wise people not only tolerated it but also found non-violent ways of handling it. Lapses in this respect have also been recorded to the eternal shame of those involved.
When bigoted Christian monks in Andalusia started defying the Muslim monarchy by abusing the Holy Prophet in public, the first concern for the courts was to determine whether those being prosecuted were sane. While recording execution of a sufi by the Sultanate of Delhi, the historians have recorded latter day scholars’ regret that nobody had ventured to point out that the man was not in full control of his faculties. Today, courts all over the world recognize not just clinical mental ailment but also temporary pressures like grave and sudden provocation and executive burnout as legitimate causes of diminished responsibility.
Why could the Chak Jhumra zealots not pause to consider their action? Could it be on account of a peculiar sensitivity to the nature of the alleged offence? Could it be that they could tolerate insults, even abuse targeted at them but not blasphemy? It’s a tempting proposition, but what exactly is blasphemy and why do people need to be so sensitive about it? What sets blasphemy apart, as it did for the mediaeval Christians, is apparently the notion that it is the kind of offence which if tolerated would bring the wrath of God upon the entire community. That adequately explains the haste and the frenzy that readily lends itself to be exploited by vested interests to mount a witch hunt. Taken to extremes, fear of God can result in dreadful acts.
There have been heartening reports of lack of what earlier appeared to be a consensus in the community on the ghastly course of action. The latest news, however, is that a majority of villagers have resolved to jointly defend the suspects in case of a trial. Can their plea be collective insanity? —- ONLOOKER
Now hockey is being played more in the drawing rooms and in the print and electronic media. As a result people have lost interest and gone are the days when the whole nation used to show sentiments in success or triumph at international level. It is all because of the acts of the Pakistan Hockey Federation which has lost interest in the game.
It is unbelievable that the Chairman of the PHF Selection Committee, Col (Retd) S.K. Tressler, Federal Minister for sports was not present at the trials and the team was finalised by just one selector and Secretary PHF, Brig Mussarratullah and Brig Sajjad Khokar. The other member of the selection committee, former Pakistan captain Abdul Rasheed Jr also absented himself from the trials.
The PHF has somehow formed the notion that only people in uniform are most capable to run the affairs of the country. It has appointed Col Zafri, as manager of the senior team and Col Rauf as manager of the Junior team and Brig Musarratullah as the PHF Secretary.
People in uniform may be good administrators, good disciplinarians but it does not guarantee that they have the technical know how of each and every field.
One would like to know what was the wisdom in recalling centre-forward Kamran Ashraf and goal-keeper Ahmad Alam for the Commonwealth Games.
The PHF should have thought twice, whether they will be good enough for the next World Cup or Olympics. One at least expected that this point should have been raised by former Pakistan captain Islahuddin who was the sole technical person present when the team was finalised.
The PHF which had set a precedence for recalling Shahbaz Ahmad for the World Cup when he had retired and was serving the PHF as national coach. It has no parallel in Pakistan history. What Shahbaz had produced is anybody’s assessment.
The biggest question is what is at stake at Commonwealth Games. The competition has little significance if seen in the overall contest of world hockey. The PHF has chalked out a lengthy 53 days tour which includes Test series against Spain before the Manchester Games followed by about three weeks stay in Europe to prepare for the Champions Trophy.
All the money that will be spent on the old horses will go down the drain when the older players on return home will be dumped.
This was a most opportune moment to pick youngsters who would have got good exposure and experience of playing in different weather at different places facing different kind of crowd at every place. They would have learnt the playing styles of European teams who are at the moment dominating a world hockey.
The PHF has preferred senior players over budding youngsters without realising that it must have dampened the very spirit of the youngsters who will lose interest thinking that they stand no chance of donning the national colour in presence of senior players. Secondly, it is a established fact that we have great dearth of talent and when talent is denied, encouragement is bound to die. So the PHF in fact has killed two birds with one stone. It has killed talent as well as youth.
The PHF should have taken some inspiration and guidance from the German team which just a year before finished sixth in the Champions Trophy but persisted with youngsters who paid them back by winning the World Cup. The PHF feels very pleased and honoured by winning minor tournaments like Azlan Shah Cup which though is an FIH approved and recognized competition but has little or no impact on the seeding of the teams.
A competition of merit and standing, The Asian Games too is very close to Cologne (Germany) Champions Trophy which the PHF, it appears has not targeted. If the PHF would have selected a team blended with youth and experience it would have immensely gained from the busy hockey calendar.
It has wasted a golden opportunity of cashing it for building a new combination. With some enterprise it could have taken into account age factor of all the players and anybody who could be a doubtful starter for the next World Cup and Olympics should have been dropped at this stage.
If the seniors are dropped after these competitions newcomers will have little time and exposure to polish their game and gain experience which one gains through exposure only. There is no short cut to it.
The PHF has developed a liking for FIH Master Coach, Tayyab who is a Pakistani but living in Macau and has become the hot favourite.
God knows where Tayyab played his hockey. In the past four decades one never even heard of him. He appeared on the Pakistan hockey horizon a couple of months back and is busy travelling all over the country, giving lectures to players and coaches one day in Lahore and the other in Karachi. One really does not know from where this ‘wonder’ man has landed in the world of Pakistan hockey.
In Pakistan we have Olympians of highest stature but they cannot get the PHF nod as they are not likely to toe the line of people who have no standing in the game. Can anybody in the PHF explain the credentials of Brig Musarratullah, Brig Sajjad Khokar, a hockey expert and a boxing expert and Col Rauf now manager-designate of the Pakistan junior team and track record of Tahir Zaman, coach of the senior team and Ayaz Mahmood as coach of the junior team.
No wonder hockey today has reached this stage. Just comprehend the performance of all the coaches and managers and it will tell the reason for the decline Pakistan’s hockey.
It is time that the PHF President Gen Aziz takes note of the performance of all the coaches and managers with an open mind and sack them all stock and barrel as they have simply showed total incompetence in the task assigned to them.
Call back the team after Manchester Games, hold fresh trials under the guidance of highly reputed Olympians of the past and send a totally new combination to Cologne for the Champions Trophy and the Asian Games.
Pakistan may not be able to win the titles at Cologne and South Korea but by the end of the Asian Games we will have a bunch of youngsters who will hold promise at least for the future. The ball is now in PHF chief’s court!