For Olympian Sequeira, attacks on Lankan team bring back horrific memories
For Olympian Sequeira, attacks on Lankan team bring back horrific memories
Memories of the only other similarly brazen terror attack on international sports came flooding back when Edward Sequeira switched on his television on Tuesday.
In 1972, when the Munich Olympics massacre by Palestinian terrorists took the lives of several members of the Israeli Olympic contingent, Sequeira was in the Olympic Village, one of the athletes in India's contingent at the Games.
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"Sport and politics should never be mixed. The Lahore event is as sad as the Munich siege. And there will be a deep impact on sporting relations in the continent," said Sequeira, now aged 69 and living in suburban Mumbai.
He remembers the day, September 5, 1972, clearly. "I saw a few men pacing up and down in a suspicious manner.
"But because they were dressed in red tracksuits I thought they were athletes. It was only after a few gun shots I learnt that some athletes have been held hostage and later killed," he recalled.
"All the athletes were shockedu2026 many even scared. Obviously, the whole episode had a bearing on the athletes' performance. At least, my focus wasn't entirely on the Games."
The Games continued after the massacre, but the sporting spirit had been scarred.
"These Sri Lankan cricketers were visitors to Pakistan. The attack is to be condemned strongly," said Sequeira even as he failed to fathom how foreigners could be targeted.
Sure, Sequeira is angry, upset, bewildered, even scared all at the same time for the first time in over three decades.
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