They pulled it off. The Pakistan Super League (PSL) final on home soil. And the event went rather well. A large, colourful and boisterous crowd smilingly went through layers of security checks to reach Lahore’s legendary Gaddafi Stadium, packing it to capacity.

Pop stars sang and danced on a stage, cheered by over 20,000 people, many of who were holding some telling placards: ‘We Love Peace;’ ‘Welcome Foreign Players;’ ‘See This Terrorists!’, ‘Pakistan Wins Today.’

As the architects of this event, COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa, CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, PSL president Najam Sethi and the Punjab police heaved a sigh of relief with the successful and incident-free conclusion of the final, while the majority of Pakistanis at the stadium along with those watching the action on TV in the country and abroad, exhibited a rather radiant strand of patriotism and nationalism.

The PSL final in Lahore was not just about cricket. It was about a bold, inclusive and decisive national attitude that reflects a better and different future of Pakistan

This nationalism was largely devoid of the many unfortunate clichés which, over the last three decades or so, have made their way in the country’s nationalist narrative. As I spent hours monitoring the many tweets, Facebook posts, on-the-spot interviews of spectators on TV and the placards being waved in the packed stands of Gaddafi Stadium, I noticed that the wave of nationalism and patriotism which swept the country at the conclusion of the PSL final was entirely inclusive, bold and decisive, as opposed to what it had become i.e. exclusivist, narrow, demagogic and even paranoid!

That evening, most Pakistanis became Pakistanis first, before being members of a particular faith, ethnicity, sect or class. This is how it should have always been and, in fact, was supposed to be the moment the founder of the country, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, proclaimed in his first address to the nation: “ … you will see in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims (in Pakistan), not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state … .”

During the entire hubbub, there was also some commotion about those who had decried the holding of the PSL final in Pakistan, calling it an irrational idea. My take on this is that it was a risky undertaking, but not an irrational one. The rationale behind the decision was rather clear: to kick-open at least some of the doors that have been closing on our face ever since Pakistan became embroiled in a terrible existentialist battle with ogres which we ourselves once created, and behemoths who now seem to be willing ‘proxies’ of some not-very-friendly governments.

That evening, most Pakistanis became Pakistanis first, before being members of a particular faith, ethnicity, sect or class. This is how it should have always been and, in fact, was supposed to be the moment the founder of the country, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, proclaimed in his first address to the nation: “ … you will see in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims (in Pakistan), not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state … .”

After the event, many thumbed their noses at the naysayers. But since the worrywarts had concluded that the idea of holding the PSL final in Lahore was irrational, one can assume that they believed their grumblings were rational and justified. Fair enough.

But the truth is, they were also rather defeatist, and maybe even cynical. These two attitudes are exactly what had once left the government, state and people of Pakistan paralysed in the face of some horrific episodes of carnage where thousands of civilians, soldiers, policemen and politicians were killed.

Then there were also those who claimed that the idea of holding the game in Lahore was egoistical. That it was born from the collective ego of PM Nawaz, CM Shahbaz and Mr Sethi. This is absurd. To begin with, the idea, though initially hinted by Sethi (after the February 16 suicide blast in Lahore), was first loudly aired by none other than COAS Gen Bajwa. It was the general’s announcement which seemed to have got the ball rolling and encouraged Shabaz and Sethi to go all-out and hold the final in Lahore — to do the ‘impossible’ and push open various positive possibilities.

After the event, many thumbed their noses at the naysayers. But since the worrywarts had concluded that the idea of holding the PSL final in Lahore was irrational, one can assume that they believed their grumblings were rational and justified. Fair enough. But the truth is, they were also rather defeatist, and maybe even cynical. These two attitudes are exactly what had once left the government, state and people of Pakistan paralysed in the face of some horrific episodes of carnage where thousands of civilians, soldiers, policemen and politicians were killed.

The reason was quite clearly existential: We do this now in the most careful manner and swing open at least one of the doors out of the many which have been closing on us as a nation; or we retreat once again, proving that even a single terror attack can undo the good work done by an extensive military operation and stall the people’s social, professional and cultural mobility.

There are still many among us who, I believe, remain stuck on the wrong side of history. Some have actually rationalised their existence there, after discovering a comfort zone. But this is certainly not the side to be on if one wants to become part of a possibly better and different future of Pakistan, a glimpse of which we witnessed during the PSL final in Lahore. A future carved from an attitude which is bold, inclusive and decisive. Not defeatist, cynical or timorous.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, March 12th, 2017