Eight people are dead and seven wounded, but the wider fallout from yesterday’s terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore is still surfacing, with ripples being felt both within the sporting world as well as the broader political arena. Here is what the world is saying:
Lahore strike may spell total isolation for Pakistan. It will be a long time before anybody comes to play anything in Pakistan. It’s a deeper blow because cricket is akin to religion in Pakistan as it is elsewhere in the subcontinent. It’s also Pakistan’s only claim to being a credible host. And Sri Lanka considers Pakistan to be a friend. — Times of India
The day cricket changed forever. Cricket changed forever yesterday. The attack on Sri Lanka’s team in the centre of Lahore went far beyond Pakistan in particular and the Asian Subcontinent in general. Its thunderous effects could be felt everywhere the sport is played. The game cannot and will not be played in Pakistan for the foreseeable future, a period that could last five years or 15 years. — New Zealand Herald
Terrorising cricket. It is hard to overstate the position of cricket in regional life. Almost anywhere you look in south Asia – beside a gorge in Kashmir, down a slum alley in Mumbai or on the beach at Galle near Colombo — a game is going on, even if it is with a piece of wood and a rag ball. In times of relative detente, it enables the arch-rivals of the subcontinent, India and Pakistan, to continue warring by other means. After this, Pakistan is most unlikely to be one of the hosts of the 2011 world cup. — Financial Times
Echoes of Mumbai? In the wave of terrorism attacks that have scarred Pakistan over the past two years, the perpetrators have normally used improvised explosive devices, bomb-laden vehicles and individual suicide bombers. A full-frontal assault is new. The resemblance it bears to the Mumbai attacks, with young men carrying backpacks and openly brandishing their weapons, suggests to some analysts the possible involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group based near Lahore. — TIME
Who will save Pakistan? The audacious attack on Sri Lanka’s cricket players as they travelled through Lahore has underscored fears that politically fractured, economically destitute and militarily challenged Pakistan, if not already a failed state, is heading rapidly towards the status of international outcast. — The Guardian
Decision not to tour is justified. Australian cricket’s security adviser yesterday described the deadly attack on the Sri Lankan team as a “tragic vindication” of the decision to cancel Australia’s last two tours to Pakistan. Dave Woodman, a former member of the Australian Defence Force, said it was always difficult to advise against a tour when so much money and public interest was at stake. — The Australian
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