Finally, it happened. We were all convinced that the terrorists will never hurt the cricketers. Even when the England team returned after Mumbai siege, the former Pak skipper, Imran Khan, issued a statement that the English made a hasty statement. He added that there have been several incidents very near to the stadiums where cricketers were practicing but never did any terrorist outfit try to hurt a cricketer.

Now, on February 3, 2009, on his own grounds, he sees the Sri Lankan team being attacked by an unknown terrorist outfit. Luckily, no one died but six of the precious gems of the Sri Lankan team got bullets inside their body.

Moreover, it looks like a pre-planned plan, as per what I got to know. It was not that they fired at public and the cricketers were caught in between. The terror group followed the bus in which the cricketers were carrying and stopped it before releasing thousands of bullets.

The injured cricketers were immediately taken to the military hospital. The cricketers will now be airlifted to the nearest safe place, Dubai and not India. This means that the intelligence is aware of such plans will be implemented in India too.

If not for the police-van covering the security, all the team would have been gone. Five police officers lost their lives in the shootout to save the cricketers. What does Pakistan say now? Whom will it blame again? Why is it not realizing that the terrorist military outfits being openly operated from the country are not harming the only India, but their own country?

The incident places a big question mark on the future of cricket in the South Asia. It also will have a significant impact on the coming tournaments including the IPL 2009. Not only sports, but also all other sectors are being spoiled by these people whom Pakistan is providing open support. We can now forget the revenue from tourism, as people in most of the foreign countries have been asked to stay away from Indian sub-continent. Cruise liners go around the Indian Ocean without entering the waters of the sub-continent.

We can also forget the revenue from new investments in the country. Laloo’s plan about expanding manufacturing sector in Bihar was ridiculed. Under the current scenario, is any country in South Asia safe for investing money? Then why ridicule Bihar?

Already the four major nations in the region are struggling to meet the needs of the general public. Add to these the terror and very soon whole sub-continent will be cut off from the rest of the world.

In my opinion, we have had enough of talks. It is time for action. Whether or not the US supports it or the UN places a ban, all the other countries in this region need to launch a “combined combing attack on the Pakistan-Afghan region and eliminate each element that reflects even a small doubt of providing support to terrorism.

However, no, I know we will still stick to the Nehru’s no attack policy and show that India is a very tolerant country. We don’t need this false prestige. We just need to wipe out the terrorists from the area. If we start, others will soon follow the path.