Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, who hails from the greatest family in Pakistani tennis history, has a nice smile and a tough name for Westerners pronounce. He’s a Muslim and a doubles specialist in a sport where there are few other good Muslim players. To succeed, Quereshi usually partners with players of other faiths. In ’02, when he played with Israeli Amir Hadad, the Islamic-Jewish tandem caused a small sensation. But the duo actually downplayed the political ramifications of their partnership. Pakistani tennis authorities didn’t get the message and cracked down. Eight years later, Qureshi is playing with another intriguing partner, Indian Rohan Bopanna.
They reached the Wimbledon quarters, the L.A. semis and beat the Bryan Bros. in D.C. Needless to say, their homelands probably have the most long-lasting, incendiary rivalry of any two countries in the world. And nuclear Pakistan, which shares a soft border with Afghanistan, is often considered the most dangerous hot spot on the globe. Still, despite 63 years of grief between their once united nations, Qureshi and Bopanna have joined Peace Through Sports, a neutral group backed by Prince Albert and the Lotto apparel company to create what they’ve dubbed the Indo-Pak Express, which has the slogan, “Stop War, Start Tennis.” We spoke with the duo at Wimbledon.
INSIDE TENNIS: What’s the Indo-Pak Express?
ROHAN BOPANNA: It’s two guys from two countries playing together as a team. Fans from both countries came up with the slogan Indo-Pak Express.
IT: It’s been 63 years since the partition of your countries. How can a couple guys have any impact?
AISAM-UL-HAQ QURESHI: If we do well, you’ll see Indians and Pakistanis sitting together supporting one team and one cause. You never saw that anywhere else. To see that is really unbelievable. I played in Mumbai a few years ago, and it was unbelievable: Indians waving Pakistani flags. I can never forget that. People from both sides were very friendly, very loving. I get a lot of respect every time I go back to India. The message is if we can get along well, everybody else can as well.
IT: Can sports, as Mandela claimed, actually lift people beyond their divisions?
QURESHI: I think so. Even if it changes only 5 percent of the minds, it’s a positive thing.
IT: You guys want to play a match on the India-Pakistani border.
BOPANNA: We gave this idea to both the prime minister and the president. Obviously, we need the ‘yes’ from them. The campaign we started is Peace and Sports: Stop War, Start Tennis. The message is about us doing well together and bringing the nations together a little bit. Hopefully, everybody will say yes. I would actually love that the prime ministers of both countries come and watch us play together. It would be great.
IT: Have you gotten any response?
BOPANNA: No, nothing yet.
IT: Americans have a lot of difficult feelings about Pakistan. What would you say to us about the Pakistani and Islamic traditions?
QURESHI: Pakistanis are not terrorists, to be honest. We have extremist groups in our country, but it doesn’t mean all Pakistanis are terrorists. Our peace through sports effort reflects that Pakistani people are a hospitable, loving, friendly people. We are allies with America. That’s the only reason we’re targets for the Taliban. There’s no other reason we’re getting so many suicide bombs. The only reason is that our government is trying to help America get rid of terrorism. The message we want to convey is that we are a loving, friendly and sports-loving people. The image we have with a lot of Americans is that Pakistanis are terrorists. That’s very, very wrong. Of course, there are extremist groups. That doesn’t mean the whole country is like that.
IT: What about Sania Mirza? She’s married to a Pakistani sports celebrity. Yet, some extremists said she shouldn’t be playing tennis.
BOPANNA: She’s an unbelievable role model for Asian women. Because of her, so many girls have started feeling they could play tennis. She’s done wonders for tennis in Pakistan and India.
IT: Arthur Ashe used sports to fight apartheid and AIDS and to promote education. Is it all right for athletes to fight for social causes?
QURESHI: Ashe’s work revealed how great his personality was. There are very few people who look at the bigger picture and think they can make a difference. I’m not comparing myself with Ashe. But, if 5 percent of people change their minds about getting along together in Pakistan and India, we will definitely take some credit.
