Pakistan reach India as militants back off
Kuldip Lal
21 January 1999
NEW DELHI, Jan 21 (AFP) - Pakistan's cricket team arrived here
Thursday for their first Test series in India in 12 years as Hindu
militants suspended their violent campaign to disrupt the tour.
``It's great for us to be in India,'' team manager Shahryar Khan, a
former Pakistani foreign secretary, told a crowded press conference
soon after Wasim Akram's men arrived here amid tight security.
The 16-man squad, surrounded by gun-toting commandos, was whisked away
from the airport to a downtown hotel, which resembled a fortress.
``Never in the history of cricket has a team arrived in such a daunting
atmosphere. I hope they get the welcome they deserve across India,''
Khan said.
``It is a tribute to this team to come here despite the threats against
it,'' Khan added, referring to firebrand Hindu leader Bal Thackeray's
call to disrupt the matches.
The threat was withdrawn a few hours before the tourists landed
following an emergency meeting in Bombay with Indian Home Minister
L.K. Advani.
Advani later had a half-an-hour meeting with Pakistani cricketers in
New Delhi.
The home minister told reporters that he was satisfied with
Thackeray's decision to call off the threat.
``I talked to those who had reservations, I had discussions with them
and ultimately they agreed. They withdrew ...dropped their protest. I
feel satisfied that things have been sorted out.
``These are the areas, the field of sports, of fine arts, of culture
where interaction between India and Pakistan would be advantageous for
both nations.''
Pakistan, who last played a Test on Indian soil in March 1987, will
play a two-Test series, the Asian Test championship opener against the
hosts and a triangular one-day series also featuring Sri Lanka.
Khan said Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had met him before the
team's departure and urged him to ``promote goodwill between the two
countries'' during the tour.
Indian cricket officials voiced delight over Thackeray's announcement
not to create trouble.
``I am relieved this has happened. The game of cricket has won,'' Board
of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Raj Singh Dungarpur
told AFP.
BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele said: ``It's the best news I've heard for a
month. Let everyone enjoy the cricket now.''
As late as Wednesday evening Thackeray had been insisting his Shiv
Sena members were mobilising support across the country, saying
Pakistan ``won't be allowed to play.''
The Shiv Sena, which is allied to the India's ruling Hindu nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party, was opposed to the tour because of Pakistan's
support for Moslem separatists in the disputed Himalayan territory of
Kashmir.
As part of their protest, Shiv Sena activists dug up the pitch at one
of the Test venues two weeks ago and ransacked the BCCI national
headquarters in Bombay on Monday.
The Shiv Sena's New Delhi chief, Jai Bhagwan Goyal, promised calm
after Thackeray's announcement.
``We now give full guarantee that the match in the capital will not be
disrupted as our leader has given us a direction in this regard. We as
disciplined soldiers of Thackeray will do what he asks us to do.''
Indian Home Secretary B.P. Singh, however, stressed there would be no
relaxation of the heavy security put in place for the Test series.
A government statement released in Bombay said one of the reasons
Thackeray gave Advani for calling off the campaign was that he did not
want the main opposition Congress party ``to take advantage of any
difference of perception'' between the Shiv Sena and the BJP.
Nevertheless, Congress party spokesman Ajit Jogi was quick to heap
scorn on Advani for dashing to Bombay and ``prostrating'' himself before
Thackeray.
Pakistan travel to the central city of Gwalior on Friday for the
three-day tour opener against India A from Saturday.
The first Test starts in the southern city of Madras on January 28 and
the second will be played at New Delhi from February 4.
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