One year later, Sri Lankan cricketers still trying to forget Lahore attack

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: March 4, 2010

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Lahore: It’s been exactly one year since the Sri Lankan team was attacked in Lahore and former Sri Lankan skipper, Mahela Jayawardene, said that he does not even want to talk about the incident and that the Sri Lankan team is still trying to forget the horrific experience.

Meher Khalil, who drove the Lankans to safety under a hail of bullets and grenades, also said that he still shivers with horror whenever he recalls the episode.

Jayawardene was the Sri Lankan captain and Khalil was driving the team bus when the militants launched a brazen attack at the Liberty Chowk roundabout, leaving six Pakistani policemen and a van driver dead and injuring five Sri Lankan players, their assistant coach and a reserve umpire.

“It is one year today since that incident and I don’t want to talk about it,” Jayawardene told the Geo super channel. “I don’t want to revisit those horrifying moments, we are trying to forget them.”

Sri Lankan players Tillakeratne Dilshan and Thilan Samaraweera were seriously injured in the attack while Pakistani reserve umpire Ehsan Raza, who was behind the team bus in the van taking the ICC match officials to the stadium, was shot twice and required two life-saving operations to survive.

Meher Khalil remembers that fateful day rather vividly. “I still recall those moments with horror. My life definitely changed after that attack for the better. But I am just thankful to God that no Sri Lankan player was killed in the attack,” Khalil told PTI.

After the attack, Khalil was given a hero’s welcome in Sri Lanka as it was his presence of mind and bravery which prevented the militants from killing the visiting players. “I still feel the attack could have been avoided if the security had been better. But it was an incident which was very bad for Pakistan cricket and it damaged our image a lot,” Khalil said.

Khalil, however, has one complaint that the half a million rupees promised to him by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani have still not be delivered. “Some people came, got their pictures taken and made promises… and they didn’t fulfill those promises,” he added.

Former Test captain Aamir Sohail, who was a senior official in the PCB at the time of the attack, said the incident caused great damage to Pakistan cricket.

“I also feel that the board didn’t do enough to take damage control steps and repair its relations with Sri Lanka and the ICC and its member countries. We didn’t take enough initiative to ensure teams still trusted us enough to come back to play in Pakistan,” he said.

Ehsan Raza, who spent 26 days in hospital recovering from the attack and is now back to umpiring domestic matches, said the bravery of a few people saved the day for the Sri Lankan team.

“I was a bit disappointed at the words used by Match Referee Chris Broad and some umpires about the incident and our policemen. No doubt it was a horrifying incident for all of us but we should not forget the people or not give respect to those who were killed in the attack,” he said.

Raza said he still carried memories of that attack as he and other match officials cramped in the van to save themselves from the hail of bullets. “It is an incident that can change anyone’s perception about life and that is what it has done for me. Now I try to enjoy life as much as I can and be more thoughtful for those close to me,” he said.

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