Hail to the King Baby…..Jacko is Backo! but is he still Michael Jackson or hadn’t he recently reportedly “embraced” Islam as many of the worlds top luminaries do.  Cat Stevens, Jermaine Jackson and Mike Tyson among them and apparently even Britney Spears toyed with the idea before Mel Gibson talked her out of it.  I do believe Jacksons new name reads Chaudhary Malik Butt AKA Mooda to his friends.  Moving on to the tit-bits…

It’s been a few days now since the murderous terrorist assault on the Sri Lankan cricketers.  The Lankans are reportedly recovering from the trauma that was within a whisker of costing them their lives.  Two players were in surgery yesterday due to the bullet wounds they received while supposedly being protected by Pakistani security measures. 

The Sri Lankan contingent was composed of 14 or so players with physios  coaches, managers and trainers in tow.  At least seven of them were wounded in some form or another: from having “bullets fizz by their ears” and actually receiving bullets in the chest and a leg to various shrapnel injuries.  Once we have listed the catalogue of thankfully less than life threatening injuries one can start to perhaps discuss what kind of toll such a trauma would have taken on the players psychologically. 

The attackers conversely carried out their plan, killing indiscriminately and then sauntered off to safety and are probably happily plotting their next attack which is no doubt going to make up for the imperfection of their earlier plan.  After all their rocket launcher failed to hit its target and their grenades failed to massacre the Lankans as planned.  No doubt encouraged and buoyed by their ability to successfully inflict untold terror and then go back home and enjoy watching their work on TV before a good nights sleep, the terrorists must be planning something even more deadly than what transpired on the morning of March 3^rd in the centre of Lahore. 

Pakistani public reaction has been shock and disgust at the contempt with which we have treated our guests.   The match referee and umpires were left totally unprotected while the Eagle Squad were in their nests and the Rangers no where in sight.  Chris Broad who with his fellow umpires remained as “sitting ducks” while the gunfire continued to whistle all around them, were left abandoned.  No Elite Force, no Eagle Squad, no Rangers came to their rescue and none retaliated on their behalf.  The terrorists as we clearly saw on TV were not exactly compelled to flee from the crime scene by any retaliation against them.  In actuality, the pathetically disorganized and equipped police could be seen emerging from behind rickshaws and pillars only after the shooting had taken place.  They were trying to avoid being killed but that left no protection at all, nor any ability to fight back from either the Sri Lankan van or the van carrying the officials. 

To use the death of six policeman and claim that this was evidence of a deterrent force if farcical.  The fact is, the Sri Lankan’s were considered far less important than our worthless leaders and generals who are never short of the type of security that these sportsmen deserved and never got. 

Chris Broad, Simon Taufel, Steve Davis have been lambasted by the PCB for being liars and conspirators against the immaculate image of Pakistan.  Current PCB Chairman has called a man who narrowly avoided being shot and blown up “a huge liar” but then Mr. Butt was washing down his sixth “agg-praatha” with a thick Lassi while Broad, Taufel, Davis and the other thirty or so men were praying for their very lives. 

Javed Miandad has called for the ICC to ban and censure Chris Broad which if I were Chris Broad I would take as a major accolade.  To have a man like Miandad praise you in any way, shape or form is most definitely not a good omen.  Javed Miandad was undoubtedly a great batsman in his day.  Today he is an associate and even relative of a certain Dawood Bhai. 

I have spent a certain amount of time with Mr. Miandad while he was the coach of the Pakistan Cricket team and it was evident that this was a man who yearned for the life of glitz and glamour.   He spoke with pride about how “he could never visit Bombay”, nudge nudge, wink wink expecting me to be in awe of his important friends.  I was and continue to be in awe of Javed Miandad  - for being our version of the Slumdog Millionaire rags to riches and glory tale.  May he find his pot of gold though it’s unlikely to be enough.