Shahid Afridi to boost Rotary International’s Polio Eradication Campaign

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Rotary International, one of the leading voluntary service organizations of the world, has been joined by Shahid Khan Afridi, Pakistan’s former captain and one of the most popular cricketers, in the Polio Eradication Campaign.  

The FATA-born Shahid Afridi, who is also famous with his nickname of Boom Boom, has agreed to become a brand ambassador for the Rotary International’s National Polio Plus Committee.

Aziz Memon, Chairman, Rotary International’s National Polio Plus Committee, was excited to have Shahid Afridi, who is the heartthrob of millions of people, on board.

Shahid Afridi, an enterprising all-round cricketer who has remained a crowd-puller all along, has agreed to be a brand ambassador of Rotary International and the formal agreement in this regard will be inked shortly.

“Being ethnic Pashtun, he will be especially instrumental in influencing high-risk groups in the regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) He is a sporting icon who enjoys massive popularity. We are looking forward to roll-out communications campaign prior to the July polio rounds,” Aziz Memon, who has also been the Governor of Rotary International’s District 3270 covering Pakistan and Afghanistan, reckoned.

“By joining hands in a noble cause Shahid Afridi has once again proved that he cares for the community. He brings smiles on their faces with his aggressive intent in the cricket field. He will be featuring in our polio ads free of cost,” Aziz Memon, who himself played the lead role in roping in the dashing cricketer, disclosed.

“We already have had photo-shoots and video recording at a cricket ground in Karachi. Shahid Afridi has given his message in Urdu as well as Pushto, urging the people to cooperate with the vaccination teams so that every child could be administered polio drops without hassles,” the Rotary leader added.

“His appearance in the polio ad will surely get huge mileage because of immense popularity, particularly in the Pushto-speaking areas. Last year 79% of the polio cases came from Pushtoon families. We are confident that Shahid Afridi’s cricketing credentials will come handy in eradicating polio from this region,” Aziz Memon hoped.

“We are trying our level best to eradicate this deadly disease from Pakistan and we are mobilizing all our resources to do it as soon as possible. The Rotarians alongwith all other stake-holders are on board to kick polio out of Pakistan,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile according to the latest Pakistan Polio Eradication Bulletin; published on May 15, no new polio case was reported in the past one week. “As of May 14, 2012, Pakistan has reported a total of 16 polio cases (13 type-1, 2 type-3 & 1 mixture type-1 & 3) from 10 districts/tribal agencies,” it said.

The NIDs have been completed in Killa Abdullah, Pishin and Quetta districts in Balochistan and the second phase of the staggered NIDs was carried out in Peshawar district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where a Vaccination passage, as per short interval additional dose strategy, has also commenced in Nowshera and Lakki Marwat districts.  

Another duel between Shahid Afridi and Ijaz Butt culminates tamely

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It wasn’t a dispute between the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and a former captain of the national team. It was rather yet another duel between two key personalities who showed muscles before succumbing to the different pressures and opting for a peaceful settlement in the end.

Both these characters have done Pakistan cricket more harm than doing good. The problem is that they engage the whole nation with their adventures. The temperament of both these gentlemen, Ijaz Butt and Shahid Afridi, overshadows their respective talents. We have just seen a new episode.

There’s something in common as well between these two. They take pride being in the news for the wrong reasons. Their modus operandi might be a little different but the same could not be said about their motives. They desire continue doing things as they please.

Ijaz Butt is a man of many moods. It’s simply the misfortune of the country that he has been assigned to look after the cricket affairs of the country. The powers that be are just not interested to take note of his wrongdoings. In fact he appears to have been granted the license to operate in the manner he desires, ignoring all norms or practices.

Nobody in the government has the time or interest to confront him. He is considered above the law, enjoying the absolute authority. He is not accountable for any act of his, irrespective of the damage caused to the national interest.

When the Chairman of the PCB could take everyone for ride, why not the captain of the team who has certain powers within his own right? Shahid Afridi has certainly lost favour as well as captaincy of late but he has his own men in the corridors of power.

Shahid Afridi could never be taken for granted. Aware of the fact that merit was not the criterion for extending his tenure as captain he probably went overboard on a few occasions to offend Ijaz Butt who used his powers to remove him as ODI captain.

Shahid Afridi didn’t accept the verdict gracefully and announced his retirement from international cricket. He skipped the tour of Ireland where Pakistan won both the games in his absence.

The gulf between the two kept widening and it became a political battle whereby both sides left no stone unturned in mobilizing their resources to continue making headline news. Shahid Afridi returned home to a kind of reception as if an exiled leader was making a comeback.

Ijaz Butt did not take the criticism lightly either. He initiated disciplinary action against the former captain who was not prepared to defend either. The matter went to the court.

Then the anti-climax followed. A meeting was held between the two in Islamabad the other day and Shahid Afridi reportedly agreed to withdraw the petition. He is now likely to be issued the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) by Ijaz Butt very soon thus clearing the way for him to play for Hampshire.

"The petition has been withdrawn as a part of the reconciliation between both sides. If the petition has borne fruit then there is no objection or obstacle in withdrawing a petition,” Syed Ali Zafar, Shahid Afridi's lawyer, was quoted as saying.

"We hope that the NOC will now be granted. The disciplinary committee hearing will be a kind of formality now,” he reckoned.