President Farooq Leghari is to be commended for halting the BCCP’s slide into administrative and financial chaos. A criminal enquiry by the FIA into the BCCP’s wheeling-dealings has rightly been ordered. The culprits should not be spared.
Some people, however, believe that Justice Nasim Hasan Shah, the ex-BCCP president, should not have been sacked in such a summary fashion because he also happens to be the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Justice Shah, it is argued, ought to have been given the graceful option of quitting his post before the President’s axe fell.
In theory, there is merit in the argument that a judge ought never to be treated in a cavalier manner by the executive. Judges are presumed to have an exalted status in civil society and governments should show due respect to them. In practice, however, it takes two hands to clap. Judges are also expected to maintain a low profile, remain dignified and shun controversy at all times. They should never, as a matter of principle, accept positions of executive authority. When they act otherwise, they must be prepared to shoulder the burdens of accountability.
Justice Shah’s brilliance as a man of jurisprudence is overshadowed only by his passion for cricket. So it is perfectly understandable that he should have wanted to be closely associated with the game in Pakistan. Indeed, there is a precedent when another Supreme Court judge ( A R Cornelius) presided over the fortunes of the BCCP some decades ago. But alas, the game and the judiciary have changed beyond recognition.
Cricket, for one, is no longer what it once purported to be — a charming game for unhurried amateurs lorded over by soft-spoken gentlemen in tweed jackets with leather elbows. It is a maga-buck industry in which all the dirty tricks of the trade are employed to get ahead — by players, officials and sponsors alike. Surely the worldly-wise Justice Shah knew the facts of life when he donned the hat of the president of the BCCP. And if the BCCP is in a royal mess today, its president should be prepared to answer a lot of unpleasant questions rather than take refuge behind the flowing robes of a judge. The irony is that Justice Shah has consistently fought for the separation of the judiciary from the executive even as he has relished his prospects as the chief executive of cricket in Pakistan.
The judiciary, too, has not remained above the fray as in the time of Justice Cornelius. These days judges may publicly attend to politicians in power; they may preside over functions where heated political arguments are bandied about; they may accept government patronage in the form of plots and perks; and they may make sweeping statements and comments in court which betray their social prejudices or political leanings. If Justice Shah is unhappy for being kept “in total darkness” by President Leghari, the fact is that the President’s action shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him. It is time judges learnt to address some of their concerns to members of their own fraternity rather than to the wicked government in power.
That said, it is clear that the leading officials of the BCCP had become increasingly authoritarian, irresponsible and capricious. The Board was at war with local cricket associations, especially in Karachi and Gujranwala. Allegations abounded of a string of illegalities and irregularities in its dealings with the private sector in matters of sponsorships and contracts without transparent bidding procedures. Kickbacks have been mentioned. The cricket selection committee is said to have played favourites and fueled discord among players. Managers and coaches were appointed and dismissed without due process. And so on. It was high time to stop the rot.
An ad-hoc committee led by former captain Javed Burki is now trying to salvage the mess. It has suppressed the revolt in the cricket team against Wasim Akram by appointing Salim Malik as the new skipper and Majid Khan as the disciplinarian manager. Whether this strategy will work or not depends on the cooperation of the two fast bowlers Wasim and Waqar, both of whom think they’re the cat’s whiskers and deserve to be captain. Then there is the question of the suitability of Saleem Malik for the top job. If he doesn’t display the temperament of a skipper, he won’t be able to get the best out of the boys. If he also fails with the bat, it is curtains for everyone.
The exclusion of Javed Miandad has raised eyebrows. No matter. Javed may be the stuff of folklore but since his ouster as captain a couple of years ago his heart hasn’t been in the game. Now diminishing returns have set in. Mr Burki may be advised to take a longer term view from the pavilion and resist the temptation to fly him out at the first sign of injury or failure in the Pakistani camp. Far better to groom the youngsters by persisting with them than trying to cling to an ageing war-horse. We might lose the series to New Zealand in New Zealand but we could well live to win from the West Indies in the West Indies.