Emotional as we are, we renamed “The Lahore Stadium” as Qaddafi Stadium, following Col. Muammar Qaddafi’s rousing speech supporting Pakistan’s nuclear program during his visit to Lahore in 1974. Col. Qaddafi was in Lahore to attend the Islamic Summit along with other Muslim Heads of State.
Qaddafi, Yasser Arafat (Palestine Liberation Organization) and Idi Amin of Uganda held a special place in the hearts and minds of the young Muslims in the 70s. They were the rock stars, the equivalent of The Beatles and it was not important that two were brutal military dictators and the third was a freedom fighter of sorts carrying a pistol 24/7. So it should come as no surprise why Prime Minister Z. A. Bhutto named The Lahore Stadium after Col. Qaddafi. This singular step brought Qaddafi a step closer to such disgraced and despised world leaders as Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin after whom stadiums had been named.
Qaddafi ruled Libya from 1969 with an iron hand, cloak and dagger until he was assassinated in October 2011. Born in a poor Bedouin family in 1942, he managed to enter the army and form a revolutionary group which ousted the Western backed monarchy of Idris in 1969. He was fond of “Islamic Socialism”, nationalized oil industry and tried to form a Pan-Arab political union that did not succeed. Over period he started funding foreign terrorist groups and meddling into the affairs of the neighboring countries, even Egypt, which was once a big ally. Increasingly isolated for terror funding, he was allegedly held responsible for Lockerbie bombing in Scotland. A highly divisive figure, he ruled Libya for four decades creating a vicious personality cult, trampled human rights and alienated his people. At the time of the Arab Spring, directed against oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, he faced a serious uprising in 2011 that ended his rule. If we look at his overall rule of some 40 years we might not be able to justify naming our premier cricket stadium after him.
In a recent case in January 2020, Australia decided to award Margaret Court, one of Australia’s and indeed the world’s greatest tennis players, the country’s highest honor. This step sparked angry criticism and widespread condemnation because of her anti-gay views. Two state governors publicly opposed giving her the Order of Australia’s highest level.
At the time of the Arab Spring, directed against oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, he faced a serious uprising in 2011 that ended his rule. If we look at his overall rule of some 40 years we might not be able to justify naming our premier cricket stadium after him.
The 79 years old Margaret Court won a record 24 singles and 40 doubles Majors (erroneously called grand slams). She also won a grand slam in 1970 (winning Australian open, French open, Wimbledon and US open all in the same calendar year). Her 24 wins in singles are now being chased by the American tennis great Serena Williams who is on 23 wins. Players like Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe paraded a banner at the Australian Open calling for the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne to be renamed “Evonne Goolagong Arena” to celebrate Australian Women’s tennis. Such is the opposition to Margaret Court’s pronouncements against LGBTQ community.
Martina Navratilova justified, renaming the arena as Evonne Goolagong Arena at the Australian Open (2020), “You don’t want to diminish in any way Margaret Court’s achievements, she was celebrated yesterday for winning grand slams 50 years ago—absolutely. But when buildings are named after you, or airports, or streets it’s the whole body of work, it’s not just one part of your life and then ignore the rest.” Australia still went on to award Margaret Court it’s highest national award and Tennis Australia refused to change the name of the arena. But the point has been made to look at the whole before you proceed with naming a building or an airport or a street after anyone.
Well things work a little differently here. In 2016 Maria Sharapova, a renowned tennis player, failed a drug test. Result: Nike, Porsche and Tag Heuer immediately dropped her as brand ambassador. Her UN goodwill ambassadorial post was suspended. On the other hand, our local hero Shahid Afridi was seen by millions chewing a cricket ball to make his bowling successful. Not a single MNC dropped him as brand ambassador. Why is there such a big difference between values? Or is it because our values have changed so much that such acts do not bother us? Or is it the system here that makes us behave differently?
As children we are taught the same values by our parents as other children the world over including the West. We are taught not to lie or cheat or steal or shout or deceive, to share with others, to respect elders and teachers, not to tell on others and so on. Yet we behave very differently here in Pakistan when we grow up. Does this make us bad people? Well I do not think so. Why? In just a two hours flight to UAE we transform. We become law abiding because the system at UAE demands such behavior from us. This means that inherently we are good people. So we should just strive to improve our system of governance and the country will transform.
To do this we will need to walk the talk. Apply good governance across the board without fear or favor. Both Judiciary and Executive can play a leading role in this. Big, ugly and bad names should not sway our leadership or their opinions. They must start looking at the whole rather than one side of the people.
If Zia and Musharraf were bad for Pakistan because they were military dictators then Qaddafi was as bad because he was a military dictator too. Rename Qaddafi stadium now and send a message. Cherry picking never helps in the long run.
