Imran's bat sold for flood victims
Muhammad Najeeb
A cricket bat the legendary Imran Khan played with
to win the 1992 World Cup for Pakistan was sold for Rs.1.25
million to rehabilitate flood victims in the country's north.
The bat was sold after a special Pakistan Television (PTV)
broadcast Saturday to raise funds for the flood affected in Rawalpindi,
Islamabad and
the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
The floods, the worst ever in northern Pakistan, have claimed some
210 lives
and made 5,000 families homeless, besides causing widespread
destruction.
PTV's marathon transmission, which started at 4 p.m. Saturday and
continued
till 4 a.m. Sunday, netted about Rs.15 million.
Imran Khan, who appeared in the programme, said it was the same bat
with which
he played the last tournament of his career - the 1992 World Cup.
"These are the last two things I have that remind me of cricket,"
Khan said,
offering the bat and a pullover for sale. He said all other items
from his
kit were sold to raise funds for a cancer hospital he set up in
memory of
his mother.
The first offer for Khan's bat, Rs.100,000, came from Pepsi Cola.
Later,
several individuals and companies joined the bidding, taking the
price to
Rs.1.25 million.
The bat went to Lahore's Sheikh Mahmood Ahmad, who said he would
pay the
money to PTV and return the bat to Khan.
Besides donating the amount, Khan's political party, Pakistan
Tehrik-e-Insaaf, has set up relief camps in Rawalpindi and the
NWFP areas of
Dader and Buner.
Ahmad had earlier bought cricketer Javed Miandad's bat for Rs.1.15
million
in 1998 when former prime minister Nawaz Sharif launched a
fundraising
campaign after the United States imposed sanctions on Pakistan
following the
1998 nuclear tests.
The hockey sticks of Olympians Manzoor Junior and Islahuddin were
sold for
Rs.150,000 each. Cricketer Ijaz Ahmad's bat was bought for
Rs.100,000.
Celebrities from the world of showbiz and sports were featured in
the
programme called "Baneyngey ham sahara" (We will be your support).
Special bank counters were established outside PTV centers in
Islamabad,
Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar that continued to collect
funds till
the end of transmission.
Several people also donated in kind. A trader from Islamabad said
he would
provide 30 tons of iron bars for building houses. A politician
from NWFP
donated three truckloads of cement.
An announcer at the Islamabad PTV Center burst into tears while
introducing
a woman who donated all her dowry, including jewelry, to the fund,
days
ahead of her marriage.
Even children donated money from their piggy banks. "I collected
this money
to buy a bicycle but I think it's better to use it to help the
flood
victims," a nine-year said, dishing our Rs.2,000.
Indo-Asian News Service