The bad... and some good

Saudi Arabiarsquos Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz alShaikh while delivering the Haj sermon on Wednesday said that some people were trying to enforce their own agenda through violence and giving Islam a bad name ldquoDaesh ISIS is pursuing a path meant for destruction of the Muslim ummah It has not spared even mosques and peaceful citizens They are disfiguring the image of Islamrdquo said the Grand MuftiA boy at the site of protest held against the Taliban militant attack on an armyrun school in Peshawar Pakistan on December 31 2014 The Taliban may be a regional problem for some unlike ISIS that has become a global phenomenon but the Taliban and their ilk are as bad as the ISIS PicAFPIt is good to see that even a hardliner Islamic country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is taking a strong position against ISIS but as a Pakistani citizen one wonders if the Saudis could have been so thoughtful when it came to funding madrassas in my country which have churned out not just jihadis but hardcore religious extremists In their sectarian wars they have made my country a pawn and we the people of Pakistan are bearing the brunt ISIS is not the only group that has attacked mosques and peaceful citizens The Taliban have done the same They have not even spared innocent children the APS attack in Peshawar is still fresh in our minds The Taliban may be a regional problem for some unlike ISIS that has become a global phenomenon but the Taliban and their ilk are as bad as the ISIS It would have been great to hear the Grand Mufti condemn all terrorists including the Taliban We cannot differentiate between terrorists andor murderers just because of our vested interestsOn another note there is some good news regarding cricket As a cricket enthusiast and as a Pakistani cricket fan the launch of the Pakistan Super League PSL is great news The tournament will be held in the UAE next February It is not being held in Pakistan due to security issues as it would have been nearly impossible to get renowned international players to be part of the PSL if it was being held here Our cricketers have not been part of the Indian Premier League IPL since the Mumbai terror attacksAfter the terrorist attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009 international cricket stopped in our country until this year when Zimbabwe finally agreed to play in Pakistan The Gaddafi Stadium was packed during the entire Zimbabwe series Pakistani fans came out in full force to support their own country as well as Zimbabwe as a gesture of their gratitude Now that the PSL has been launched it will bring more excitement for Pakistani cricket fans As Ahmer Naqvi wrote recently ldquoThe T20 format found a natural home in street cricket and the culture of night matches during Ramzan and these were hugely popular in Pakistanrsquos cities from the lsquo70s onwards and later caught the imagination of the rural population too In a way Pakistan had a T20 culture at least 30 years before the format was invented The fact then that the country has still not had a proper internationalclass tournament since is nothing less than a tragedyrdquoThe PSL is a great Eid gift for millions of Pakistani cricket fans Here is to hoping that we can one day bring the PSL to our own cricket grounds back homeThe writer is a Pakistani journalist Reach her at mehmalsgmailcom