At a match as critical as the Pak-Afghan fixture on Saturday at Leeds, the possibility did exist that their supporters get worked up and resort to violence. This was a cliffhanger, with Afghan team putting up a much better performance than it had all through its preceding matches. And even as it lost the match it had won rich kudos from cricket-lovers all over the world for its above par performance. But the kind of hooliganism by a small section of pro-Afghan spectators outside the stadium and inside at the end of the game was of another kind - unlike normal scuffles sometimes following the hotly contested matches. The Afghan players conducted themselves as professionals, putting on display their sportsman spirit. But some of their supporters had a different agenda - they used this platform to highlight their anti-Pakistan campaign. Unlike anything that ever happened, right over the ground there was an aircraft with a banned inscribed with calls "Justice for Balochistan" and "Help end disappearances in Pakistan" slogans. Following the incident all kinds of promises were made by the concerned British authorities and the International Cricket Council (ICC) that it would not happen again and that culprits would be brought to book. But they should have taken some measures to prevent it. A similar attempt was thwarted by a court that disallowed the Manchester-based company to fly a plane carrying these slogans over the cricket ground where Pakistan played against India. So, it is difficult to believe that the same could not be stopped at Headingley Cricket Ground.
But what to do when Britain is said to be a safe haven for thousands of criminals who plundered the national wealth and betrayed their people? Even when it was in public knowledge that some anti-Pakistan elements enjoyed British protection - in the garb of political asylum seekers or for lack of extradition agreement - it is indeed ironic that this privilege was abused to undermine Britain's own cricket. Pakistan is therefore spot on by voicing "deep concern" over the violence on the cricket ground and malicious anti-Pakistan propaganda fly-past over it. Only a week or so before these elements had succeeded in airing their anti-Pakistan campaign courtesy the BBC. "Use of sports venues for such malicious propaganda is unacceptable. We expect all relevant authorities, both sports and law enforcement, to thoroughly investigate the matter and bring those responsible to account," said Pakistan's Foreign Office in a statement issued within hours of the incident. Pakistan feels deeply disturbed also for the reason that only a week before Pakistan had accorded a warm welcome to President Ashraf Ghani and also granted the Afghan refugees a one-year extension in their stay. Pakistan has no favourites in the intra-Afghan power struggle, nor does it host anti-Kabul militants. It is therefore one's expectation that the government in Kabul will thoroughly condemn this incident, and also convey to London that elements involved in it are not loyal Afghans and that they are foreign-funded anti-Pakistan agents. Being a contender for World Cup-2019 the Afghan cricket team was a new dawn of hope for the traumatized people of Afghanistan who have seen nothing but war and turmoil for nearly half a century. It is quite unfortunate that Afghan nation's budding cricket potential has been hijacked by some paid agents.