Personal ego prevailed over national interest as the country’s biggest sports event -- the 32nd National Games -- started in Lahore with a mixture of positive and negative aspects. The National Games have been a regular feature of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) since Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah inaugurated its first edition in 1948.
While inaugurating the games, the Quaid-i-Azam had advised the athletes to maintain unity, faith and discipline in their ranks to win every game. The national gala is a biennial event to be hosted by the provincial Olympic Association of four provinces on their turn.
The POA allots the National Games to the province on their turn. To promote harmony and solidarity among youngsters of four provinces and other parts of the country, such type of events are a blessing because these provide an opportunity to the people to make friends with each other.
Certainly it brings the people of different opinions closer. It is a very simple message that the games are serving the national cause, but this time the personal ego hit hard the true spirit of the national games.
In the past the provincial governments had been supporting their provincial Olympic Association by all means. But this year, the Punjab government has acted differently and raised an objection over the legal status of the PbOA, and the POA, citing a decision of the Supreme Court.
However, the Supreme Court has clearly cleared the POA as a non-affected party of its decision. Earlier, during talks between Sports Board Punjab Director General Usman Anwar and PbOA secretary Idrees Haider Khwaja, the government has not raised any objection over the legal status.
Even the SBP director-general has been insisting on appointing him as an organising secretary of the National Games, but the PbOA was not ready to give him the post.
The PbOA has appointed Hamza Shahbaz as patron of the National Games and it was also offering a key post to Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood, who is now at the helm of sports affairs.
When the PbOA refused to give the post of the organising secretary to the director-general, the process of talks came to a halt.
Then suddenly, the PSB secretary issued a letter to all the concerned with an instruction not to extend any assistance to the PbOA as it was no more a legal body.
On Friday, Rana Mashhood held a press conference and advised the PbOA to postpone the games till he sought a legal opinion about its status from the legal department.
In reply, the PbOA stated that as the contingents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and Balochistan had left for Lahore, while the Sindh contingent was to leave in the evening, it could only delay the opening ceremony for one day from Saturday to Sunday.But both the parties failed to reach any consensus.
Next day, out of total 13 units of the POA, 10 appeared in the opening ceremony. They were Sindh, Balochistan, KPK, Fata, Islamabad, Wapda, police, Railways, Higher Education Commission and the host Punjab.
Interestingly, the government departments like Wapda, police, Railways and the HEC appeared, sideling the stand of the Punjab government about the legal status. But Army, Navy and Pakistan Air Force did not send their contingents, giving an impression that they are following the Punjab government stance.
It seems that everyone has tried to make his own interpretation of the apex court decision. The PbOA had also invited Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to inaugurate the games, but he did not turn up.
Chef-de-Mission of Sindh contingent Mahfoozul Haq in a chat with Dawn said it seemed a conspiracy had been hatched against the chief minister as he had been deprived of an opportunity to grace a national-level function.
He said it seemed someone wanted to confine Shahbaz to the Punjab level. He also criticised the decision of the Punjab government for not providing the playgrounds for athletes.
During the opening ceremony, Balochistan contingent head Afzal Awan staged a protest against the Punjab Sports Department secretary for writing a letter to his government for withholding funds of his contingent. The POA has promised to bear the expenditures of the Balochistan contingent in case its government refuses to release funds. This allows Mr Afzal to bring a huge contingent for the event.
The provincial government has not deployed a required number of policemen at the Railways Stadium. Hardly 30 policemen can be seen at the stadium where a cream of sportspersons of the country has gathered.
Many athletes who had earned gold, silver and bronze medals at the SAF Games to lift the national flag high in other countries are at the mercy of a few policemen. Various women athletes who have come from across the country feel unprotected.
Moreover, the main road leading to the Railways Stadium is under-construction, creating problems for athletes to reach the venue.
One believes had the chief minister been the chief guest of the opening ceremony the road would have been completed within a night.
If a government, which has the claim of good governance and can build flyovers and bridges in few months, fails to get a legal opinion for the national cause in as many as three months then every citizen has the right to doubt about the good intention of the government.
On Sunday, the PbOA officials faced another trouble when the main gate of the Punjab Stadium, where offices of the PbOA are located, was found closed. The security personnel said that gates were closed on the instructions of the high-up.
But despite all odds, the participation of a majority of the POA affiliated units is quite encouraging, sending a message to all that the athletes want sport at all hazards.