Raymond Davis - Americas real face

The United States of America, having failed to get its undercover double murderer Raymond Davis released unconditionally, has resorted to an arm-twisting of the Pakistani government by suspending the strategic dialogue process with Pakistan; the tripartite parleys between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US on the pretext of political changes in the country; and threatening aid cuts. Secretary of State Hillary Clintons refusal to meet her Pakistani counterpart at that time, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, because he refused to endorse Davis diplomatic immunity, has raised him in stature but thoroughly exposed the hypocrisy of the Pakistani rulers, who withdrew him as Foreign Minister and unleashed their cronies on the Makhdoom, who had taken a principled and resolute stand, only hurting their own credibility. Maria Sultan, a top Pakistani Defence Analyst, Riaz Khokhar an outspoken former Secretary Foreign Affairs, and many prominent journalists like Salim Bokhari to name a few, have unequivocally condemned the brazen act of murder by the American spy, and rejected the US demand of his immunity on the pretext of being a diplomat, which he is not. As the diplomatic community in Pakistan disapproves the American stance, Mr Khokhar without mincing his words has called for the cancellation and review of all visas granted to the US personnel in the last few years. Pressure of all kinds, diplomatic and otherwise, is clearly being brought upon Pakistan not merely to get a US operative released, but to cover up its covert operations now threatened to be exposed. But the more it happens, it would strengthen the common belief that the professed American strategic relations with its non-NATO ally, i.e. Pakistan, have been and are no more than a smokescreen. Davis is not just a killer, but a part of the network operating in Pakistan this scribe has long been hinting at. M.K. Bhadrakumar in his article published in the Asia Times, has capsuled my gut feeling and I quote: The heart of the matter is that Pakistan has been wondering for a long time who it is who could be instigating the so-called 'Pakistani Taliban to inflict such bloody wounds on the Pakistani military and weaken and incrementally destabilise the Pakistani state. The blindfolded pro-West elements in Pakistan refusing to see through the imperial game need to read this account titled US and Pakistan square off. The surfacing of a sleuth-like Raymond Davis in our midst only goes to strengthen the considered public view that Pakistan, courtesy our spineless rulers, is profusely infested with enemy agents, who have been facilitated to wreak havoc across the country; and pray Do not discount the significance of the third attack on the Punjab Regimental Centre - a symbol of Pakistans Defence - and its timing, as an isolated coincidence. This also raises a question mark on our preparedness against espionage and infiltration, as we practically face an undeclared war in which the threat is not so much from the much trumpeted religious extremists, but the troika of enemy agents who need to be effectively tailed. Like General (retd) Abdul Qayyum said in a TV talk show, no matter how extreme his views, no Muslim would attack the guardians of Pakistans frontiers or innocent fellow Muslims in retaliation for the drone attacks or the Raymond Davis killings; we must not loose sight of the greater game being played in our region. The boy at the Regimental Centre did not blow himself up, but was blown up by remote control, as the poor soul may not even have known what he was made to carry in his school bag, said General Qayyum. This endorses my view that such individuals have been used by the enemy to cover up the identity of those who actually commit the crime and create hatred for Islamists; hence, the prompt claim by the so-called Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, assigned to do so by its sponsors. Washington Posts analysis presenting it as a 'duelling account between CIA and ISI, is confounded by its own narrative where it says that the US officials have offered incomplete, often confusing accounts of the events surrounding the shooting, Daviss identity and his assignment in Pakistan. While US officials in an attempt to conceal his real status and identity, advised Davis not to speak or answer any questions, the spy had already spilled the beans by stating in his preliminary questioning that he was a Consultant at the Lahore US Consulate. And the US officials not knowing had claimed he was a diplomat employed in Islamabad. But even if the killer had diplomatic cover by some stretch of imagination, one wonders if the Geneva and Vienna Conventions were to come to the rescue of such conmen and murderers. If this is so, these conventions deserve to be consigned to the dustbin. The shooting incident also reveals a conflicting account, in that the victims on whose person, several mobile phones allegedly snatched from ordinary citizens were found, are claimed by the US sources to be Pakistan security personnel, which, if true, they firstly could not be engaged in a mugging spree. And secondly, if it were to be believed that they had pointed their guns at the American spy upon which he pulled out his own gun to make them flee, the threat to his life having thus been averted, the fact that he shot them in the back from a distance of over 50ft, no longer makes it an act of self-defence. Our leadership must realise that Pakistan will have to stand its ground one day. Beggars indeed cant be choosers, and we will have to decide like ZAB did, if we must 'all eat grass to stand on our own feet, or continue to compromise our sovereignty and wag our tails to the international blood-hound and its surrogate donor agents, like a faceless nation. There is always a time, when a small ignition triggers metamorphosis in a nation gone asleep; a wake up call that enkindles the conscience of the masses. It has happened in Tunisia and Egypt, and this may well be the moment in Pakistan. But notwithstanding the unravelling of the US spy network, I do not endorse the view that no parallel be drawn between Raymonds case and that of Dr Afia Siddiqui. Regardless of whether the American national qualifies to be a diplomat, the overt protection sought for his proven murderous act, compared to the abduction and conviction without evidence of innocent Afia, is clearly an American volte-face. This stark contradiction in the US behaviour also needs to be unmasked, which is why a comparison must be, and is rightly drawn; surprising, though, that the champions of human rights are hibernating, rather than speaking out on this horrendous American conduct. The courts in Pakistan will no doubt deliver justice, but will only do so if the government, which is to be the prosecution in this case, does not wilt under pressure or sell out, and is able to call a spade a spade, while making its case in the court. Shah Mahmood Qureshi among others has done precisely that, and one sincerely hopes that this event, in which the US has put its relationship with Pakistan on the line, will serve as an eye-opener and become a defining moment for us. As a Muslim, though, I have to repose faith in the Shariah and God Almightys law that gives no immunity, diplomatic or otherwise, without distinction, and proclaims death for death, unless the families of the dead pardon the killer or accept compensation. One must condemn the brazen act of gunpoint threats being held out to the bereaved, by no others than Pakistani agents of our enemies selling their souls. It is they, who also deserve death along with Raymond Davis. But will it happen? The writer is a freelance columnist.