Obituary of an Upright
Man
A
Gentleman Cricketer: Late Masood Iqbal
By
Dr Zafar Altaf
THERE
ARE SO few of them around that one reduction seems to be like
an avalanche. I had known Masood Iqbal when as a young man he
came to the Universal Club, Lahore and sought its membership.
One
knew right away that he was meant to go places. His dedication
to cricket was to become proverbial. I came to know his demeanor
and his forthrightness when he was selected for the tour of Australia
as a second wicketkeeper and an understudy to Wasim Bari.
Wasim
touched great heights but Masood suffered the consequences of
his ability. Wasim was one of the best and his record shows that
but he was suspect against spinners and did miss a few. But that
is neither here nor there. The lament of Qadir and Parvez Sajjad
was genuine but there was so much on Bari’s side that it
was impossible for Masood to grumble about.
And
he did not grumble. He went on two tours for Pakistan and played
a considerable amount of first class cricket for Habib bank. Always
cheerful and full of vitality Masood could play Mahmood Hussain
on one side and Sarfaraz Nawaz on the other. That is a reminder
of the ability of this versatile man and his personality. When
his playing and coaching days were over [yes coaching days for
Wasim Raja and he were the only two coaches trained from the school
in London] he took to his job seriously and did his MBA and became
a regular employee of the Habib bank.
There
are very few cricketers who have done this. It only points to
one side of his character indicating that his learning curve was
excellent and was not worn out. In cricket we used him for his
knowledge and his sensitivities, Coaching and selection.
As
soon as Salahuddin Salloo came to know of his demise he rang me
up, knowing that I had great affection for this cricketer. Salloo
had been Chairman of the selection Committee and Masood was a
member. Sallo, whom I greatly respect for his service to the game
and to the bearing that he brought to the game told me that Masood
was always well prepared and would follow up his facts and figures
and actually go and see the players in action.
Salloo
and I had been on opposite sides for the better part of our cricketing
lives but friendship that comes from such baptisms is life long
and is bound and cemented and cast in a different mold. When such
high praise came from Salloo it pleased me for we then had mighty
people who would live by their conscience and do well by the republic.
There was no conflict of interest and there was no ‘purchee’
or perversion of human efforts.
What
has the game come to? Cricketing deaths in Gujranwala, slips of
sifarish and the toxicity of connections and if this continues
the game will meet its death in the way that it is required to
play the game. Cricket is now confined to Punjab, home series
against Australia was played at Sharjah and at Colombo. Give the
game and Masood a decent burial. The spirit of one is synonymous
with the other.
If
it were not for people like Salloo and Masood and Naushad where
could we be? Please check the impact of Salloo in Scotland and
see how he has projected Pakistan. All the embassies and the foreign
office may not have been as valiant as he has been.
Masood’s father was a professor at the Islamia College and
his gentleness was an upbringing that came with the care that
a professor father has for his sons. Not given to back biting
his friendships were relentless and self-sacrificing.
Who
could recall the nature of his efforts at trying to save the house
of Air-Vice Marshal Hall. They lived about half a mile from our
parent’s house. Two children and a daughter were murdered
in that house. The Hall family had migrated to Australia and these
two were still willing to live in Pakistan. I had met the Halls
at a match at Peshawar where we were locked in struggle with Richie
Benaud’s Commonwealth team in 1967. We lost by a narrow
margin but imagine the delight of the Halls’ at witnessing
one of the most gripping matches that have ever been played at
Peshawar.
The
ground was called the Services Ground and unhappily now taken
over by housing and what have you. Masood came to me for they
had been neighbors when young and the Halls lived in the town
and did not have this house. He was given the power of attorney
by the Halls to look after their property [they were in Australia].
The
amount of pressure that came on him is no ones’ business.
He was threatened by all and sundry. The station commander got
in to the act and other mafia threatened Masood. They talked of
bribing him, they thought of killing him. They thought of everything
that they could. These goons could not make him shift his trust.
They followed him and they accosted him. He came to me as his
alter ego. He was steadfast.
I
put him in touch with Mr. Saleem Jillani the Secretary General
Defense. Knowing him in service as a forthright person Saleem
Jillani then took up and managed to ward off a lot of the colored
mafia. What 12 acres of land can do the saliva gushing mafia when
they see something that they can get their hands on?
Can
there be an obituary for such a person? Can he really die? When
Khalid Ibadulla tried to bully the boys in NZ [under 19 team]
Masood again stood up for the boys. The culture of NZ was different
from the culture of Pakistan and Khalid had been away for a long
time. When I heard of this tragedy I was wondering at the grace
of God. How soon he picks and chooses the best from amongst us
to tell us of his greatness and compassion?
He was a worthy Pakistani and a worthier cricketer. The perspective
of time has lengthened and changed it and it stands in a different
perspective. His conscience has gone with him. There is a new
scale of values to judge him by. Money he did not have, material
benefits were not his forte. And when the PCB gave and offered
some money to my club [more as a bribe?] his unequivocal suggestion
was to reject it.
Life
could not be bartered on a cross of gold. It is difficult to rekindle
the past, to recall its scenes, to revive its echoes and to look
at the paleness of today. The only guide to any man is his conscience.
It is not prudent to go through life without this shield as Churchill
would have said. That Masood had this shield is not in question
but the way he used it in the service of others is something that
others in this country would do well to emulate.
These
days forked tongues carry the day. In this culture, that is my
country, a man-giant would be sorely missed. But then genuine
cricketers are born and borne by the spirit and the letter of
the game, not by unauthentic power. The life of a nation is from
this kind of thoughtful march to an honorable end. It is this
culture that makes a nation [I do distinguish between a nation
and a country]. May he rest in peace?
The
writer is a former Federal Secretary, Government of Pakistan
