Should Bangladesh cancel the forthcoming tour to Sri Lanka ?

[abherath]

I have seen some threads here which question the safety of BD touring Sri Lanka, given the unfortunate killing of the Sri Lankan foreign minister Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar. These are the main points raised:

• killing of the minister
• frequent explosions
• state of emergency declared
• surveillance by security personnel

The killing was aimed at one individual, the minister. It was by a sniper, aiming at him who was standing inside his own premises. This was not in a public place, in a way that could affect the general public.

There are no explosions taking place in Sri Lanka except for some solitary incidents in the North and the East, which are areas not involved in cricket schedules. The terrorists do not target civilians and public places as the international opinion is against such attacks after 9/11 (attack on the WTC in New York).

The state of emergency has been declared to aid the government to take quick action against any sort of violence, without sticking to long procedures. This should not affect the general public in any way.

True enough, there was high security and surveillance soon after the killing in strategic places in the city of Colombo. This was to protect people, not to harm them. This is nothing to be scared of.

Hope this would give BD the confidence required to go ahead with the tour. I would be glad to help with more information on the situation, if required.

So what do you think of BD going ahead with the tour of Sri Lanka ? Please express your frank opinion.

Cheers.

Edited on, August 16, 2005, 8:20 AM GMT, by abherath.

Edited on, August 16, 2005, 8:52 AM GMT, by abherath.

Edited on, August 16, 2005, 8:53 AM GMT, by abherath.

[capslock]

Thanks for the insight.

[shaad]

Personally, I think we should go on with the tour. We have occasionally had similar problems ourselves, e.g. explosions at political rallies, and it would be a shame if other nations used those as an excuse to avoid playing matches in Bangladesh.

[abherath]

Thank you very much for your replies, friends.

The situation is very calm in Colombo. Hope the weather would be fine too.

The Bangladeshi team is eagerly awaited here. With your new found confidence, I am sure BD will put up a great show.

I see a lot of posts here on the SL tour. If it is cancelled, all the BD fans here too would be disappointed.

[kaisermatin]

Nope. No way. Cricket should be played. But security should also be rigorous. I hope Mahatma Gandhi was here today.

[Spitfire_x86]

The tour must go on.

[kalpurush]

We must go to show our solidarity to our Sri Lankan friends.

[Padosan]

Colombo is one of the most beautiful cities in Asia. India never had a problem whenever they visited Srilanka. I think Bangladesh should and they definitely would go ahead with the tour.

Let bring some cricket on !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Umar]

We can't criticise other country, Because we will be the next one.

We hav to be friendly with others. we hope by the time Bangladesh arrive in SL, the situation will be calm.

[AsifTheManRahman]

no we shouldn't cancel the tour. we're not BCCI or NZC or ECB

[Carte Blanche]

Correct. We played in Zimbabwe when other teams refused to. The situation in SL can't be any worse than Mugabe's land.

The show must go on.

[rDawg]

For a country like Bd even the idea of cancelling the tour should be considered hillarrious. SL has always been a good friend of BD cricket. And such brutal incidents occur daily in this part of the world. Cricket shud not be a part of politics. I don see Tamil tigers having any reason to harm the BD team, unless the team gets in the middle of a crossfire. Any physical harm to the team can come only from the pace of malinga and dilhara but lets hope not.

[ReckmyBack]

arek pagol e koi ki ? Haashtey haashtey pet faita jaitasey . :P

[Fazal]

Originally posted by rDawg
For a country like Bd even the idea of cancelling the tour should be considered hillarrious. SL has always been a good friend of BD cricket. And such brutal incidents occur daily in this part of the world. Cricket shud not be a part of politics. I don see Tamil tigers having any reason to harm the BD team, unless the team gets in the middle of a crossfire. Any physical harm to the team can come only from the pace of malinga and dilhara but lets hope not.

Don't be so sure. One tiger doesn't like another tiger in their neighborhood. Our tigers should be more worried about Tamil tigers before invading their country.

And about fear of physical harm, I think we should be more worried about Malaria and Diarrhea than Malinga and Dilhara.

[istiak]

Originally posted by Carte Blanche
Correct. We played in Zimbabwe when other teams refused to. The situation in SL can't be any worse than Mugabe's land.

The show must go on.

Are you from England? with super brain-washed by BBC and CNN?

Did you ever visited Zimbabwe personally?

What kind of problem happend in Mugabe's land with any touring team?

Before making any comment about Zimbabwe please know the truth? What you mean by other teams? Any non-white one? I personally have no problem with white people and even living in Europe for a while but what they r doing with Zimbabwe especially what i saw visiting that country is very different than what you listen from BBC....

[al Furqaan]

BD should play...these things are 3rd world realities.

can't blame the kiwis, brits et al for gettin scared...they aren't used to random violence.

but security should be stepped up anytime any country visits any other country. these are the new post 9-11 realities.

[oracle]

Having been there, ( and that at the peak of the war) , I would'nt mind going there right now if someone passes me a free ride and ticket for me.


By the way, yeah, this was mildly funny:

And about fear of physical harm, I think we should be more worried about Malaria and Diarrhea than Malinga and Dilhara.

[Zobair]

Nope! I don't see any reasons whatsoever not to tour.

[Carte Blanche]

Originally posted by istiak

Are you from England? with super brain-washed by BBC and CNN?

Did you ever visited Zimbabwe personally?

What kind of problem happend in Mugabe's land with any touring team?

Before making any comment about Zimbabwe please know the truth? What you mean by other teams? Any non-white one? I personally have no problem with white people and even living in Europe for a while but what they r doing with Zimbabwe especially what i saw visiting that country is very different than what you listen from BBC....

Am I from England? No

Brain-washed? Which part of my post made you believe I am brain washed?

Did I visit Zimbabwe? Nope I didn't. What is your point?

What is The Truth? Do educate us.

What do I mean by other teams? You may not have been following the cricket tours too avidly then. Read al furqaan's post.

Where in my post did I say that any touring team had trouble IN Zimbabwe?

What's with the white/non-white issue? Did I mention anything racial in my post?

And lastly, what is your problem?

Oh, by the way, CNN is an American network. Welcome to the Board.

Edited on, August 16, 2005, 9:39 PM GMT, by Carte Blanche.

[PoorFan]

• killing of the minister
• frequent explosions
• state of emergency declared
• surveillance by security personnel

A bit of tightened security for Bangladesh team, provided by Srilankan government will be good.
I am looking forward to our Srilanka tour.

[Beamer]

Offcourse we should visit our friendly neighbor Sri Lanka. We can't let terror stop our way of life!...Borrowed the last line from T.B and W.

[abherath]

Thank you once again friends.

It is touching to see Bangladeshi solidarity with Sri Lanka.

Security will be tightened for the Bangladeshi tour party, no doubt. There should be no problem with that. All visiting foreign teams receive VIP treatment in Sri Lanka and it will be no different in the case of Bangladesh.

"Malaria and diarrhoea instead of Malinga and Dilhara...." in one of the posts was really good humour.

But you don't have to worry about these either. Such diseases are not rampant here.

I am sure that Bangladesh would put up a very good show here. No test playing country will take you lightly any more.

[akabir77]

Bangalies are not sisi s like aus and new zealand. Srilanka is our friend nation and even if there was a war going on bd should go over there and play as long as the fighters are not targetting plyrs.....

Unlike India who did so much High Court Showing before coming to BD last time, I think Srilanka is more then capable of providing enough security for the plyrs...

Edited on, August 17, 2005, 1:07 PM GMT, by akabir77.

[newbie]

We have similar (sometimes worse) problems at home... so why whine about the SL tour? Ofcourse we should go, otherwise it will be a step back for BD cricket.

[Baundule]

After hearing about the Bomb blasts in most of the BD cities within half an hour, I think, our players should immediately go to Sri Lanka for a much safer place!!