OK, this is a headline purely to grab the attention. Mr Insensitive himself, Ijaz Butt (Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board) is having a bit of an argument with the Pakistani government.
Clearly possessing the kind of confidence matched only by his sheer lack of sensitivity, Butt has decided that the Pakistan Government Senate has no powers to investigate the PCB and its fitness for purpose. He has written to senate chairman Farooq H Naek and is challenging the senate’s authority to probe national cricket affairs.
Pakistan’s attorney general, Latif Khosa, has a different view. The Pakistan government has the right to summon and investigate any individual according to Mr Khosa. This seems to be something of which Mr Butt is unaware.
So where does the sedition bit come in? As Cricinfo reports:
Butt is already facing a privilege motion filed by five senators last month after he said at a press conference that the committee had no powers over national cricket affairs. The panel said last month that the current PCB management was incompetent and recommended to president Asif Zardari, the Board’s chief patron, that a new set-up should be appointed.
Soon afterwards, the Pakistan senate’s standing committee on sports moved a resolution for an “immediate change” in the PCB management.
If Butt is found guilty of a breach of privilege, he would be asked to apologise. Tahir Mashhadi [member of previous sports commitee] said anyone found guilty of breaching the senate’s privilege could even be tried for sedition.
It is my belief that this confirms irretrievably the argument that Ijaz Butt is not suitable for the position of leading the Pakistan Cricket Board. His conduct in the aftermath of the Lahore attack nailed that for me. This is just the icing on the cake.
Pakistan cricket needs positive leaders. It has one on the field in Younis Khan. It desperately needs an off the field leader who can conduct himself with dignity, openness yet with passion which matches that of the Pakistan cricket supporters.
That is not Ijaz Butt.