Everybody loves Ijaz Butt
Ijaz Butt, the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board has this certain aura around him that makes everything else feel pale in comparison to him. He is charming, cocky, vibrant, colourful and has a face of a chubby little ballet dancer that is very pleasing
to look at. Or maybe not. Nonetheless, the fact that we all love the man, the phenomenon known as the Butt syndrome is a universal truth. The truth is - it was because of the charming and enduring qualities of this man that Pakistan is now facing an economic
crisis. The productivity of half of the labour force of Pakistan has been compromised since they have been busy praising the legend we call Chairman PCB. How so?
Well, the answer to that is simple. People, the working class, the intelligentsia, students, writers, journalists, doctors, engineers all have taken time out to write letters, articles, reports in praise of the Butt syndrome that has this appealing quality
of sucking everything that heads its way into this infinite black hole, hungry for more media attention which he rightly gets. Mere words are not enough to emphasise the greatness of this man, my tongue is not pure enough to say his holy name and my eyes not
brave enough to even have a glimpse of the man. We are all in awe of Mr Ijaz Butt.
Since, charity begins at home I must proudly admit, that 14 articles and 10,000 words later, I still feel that my words and thoughts have not been able to do justice to this man, who has given the cricketing world some much needed humour. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 has always
been very close to the hearts of the Pakistanis and his knack for entertainment was proven when once during a cricket match he refused to swing the bat in his attempt to provide the crowd with some much needed humour and the ball went on to aim for his nose.
The rest is all history, some people watched in horror while others cried as his nose bled profusely. One Pakistani journalist and freelancer writes, “The first time I saw Ijaz Butt was more than half a century ago. Earlier this year I saw him again (2009).
I was seized with the sea change that age, fatigue and stress had wrought on the man who ruled over hearts at the Lahore Stadium, long before Zulfikar Ali Bhutto renamed it the 'Gaddafi Stadium.' Butt made a picture-perfect pose when he batted. A ball once
smacked his face giving him a bloody nose. The whole stadium stood up in hushed silence. We cried.”
Once appointed the head of Pakistan’s cricket board, he still had that particular streak in him. That lust for entertainment. He did a very good job at it, when after promising the Sri Lankan cricket team of presidential level security, they were left stranded
in the crossroads of Lahore in the line of fire, of highly trained terrorists. If that is the sort of security the honourable President of the state gets, dear sir we fear for your safety. As gunshots were fired, and security staff gave their lives to save
the cricket team, the fans all watched in horror. Some cried. Yet again.
One fateful day, it was learnt that the Butt Syndrome had caught hold of this man who decided to ban Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan indefinitely. The very man who bit at a cricketing ball in front of millions of cameras was then made the captain of the
cricket team, the 5th captain in the last two years. Some people watched in horror. Others cried.
After the resignation of the kidney specialist who was bored operating at American kidneys, and hence was asked by his dear friend to head the PCB as the ‘mini Czar’ to operate carte blanche many cricket fans hoped that things could not get worse after the
torturous tenure of Mr http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nasim-Ashraf-c78712 and boy were cricket fans in for one serious surprise.
The jack in the box, turned out to be the Butt Syndrome that has plagued http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 cricket with some sadistic entertainment at the behest of the cricket fans. After the spot fixing scandal, he amused everyone even more when he refused to resign, stating “I
did not do anything wrong.” As Pakistan cricket is being slowly butchered, some stand in horror waiting for this calamity to unfold. While others, simply cry.
(the writers opinion are his own and do not represent bettor.com’s editorial stance)
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