Bravery Award for SL cricketers?

A writer in the English language national daily newspaper Dawn published in Pakistan has suggested to the Pakistan Government to award the Nishan-i-Shujaat (Order of Bravery) Award to Sri Lankan cricketers on March 23 along with the presentation of posthumous awards to the Pakistani policemen who died in the Lahore 3/3 terrorist attack. An article titled "Let's honour the Lankans" written by Kamran Rehmat said: "If the Pakistani government has a conscience - doubtful given the brazen lapses in security at its end - it should immediately move to honour the Sri Lankan team with at least the Nishan-i-Shujaat (Order of Bravery).

This is the least the Government of Pakistan can do after letting the moment to offer an official apology to Sri Lanka pass. "The incident is nothing short of a national shame for us regardless of the nature of the beast that we are dealing with, especially given the fact that intelligence about the possibility, style and even the route likely to be used for such an attack was available as far back as January this year. "President Zardari can be sure that even a belated step such as awarding the Nishan-i-Shujaat to the Sri Lankan team would be much more welcomed by Pakistanis than, say, awarding the Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam to the likes of Richard Boucher for his 'services' in boosting ties with Islamabad. "A deadly missile attack on Pakistani soil by US forces less than 24 hours after receiving the honour with the portrait of Jinnah in the background was Mr Boucher's chosen expression of gratitude. "We can be certain that the Sri Lankans would be more considerate and we may be able to even retain more than just a sporting contact with the islanders. So let's hail the heroes with the award on March 23, along with our own policemen who lost their lives in the line of duty on March 3."