Ali Imran Jaffri |
In one of his recent tweets, Imran Khan urged every Pakistan to read the recently released autobiography cum an account of Mazang Chowk’s incident by Raymond Davis and his ultimate detention and safe exit from Pakistan. I am not very positive as to what stirred Imran Khan for such an urge, though I am a skeptic that he probably he wished to accrue some political mileage out of it. Based on the sole view of a criminal who blatantly shot two Pakistani citizens (allegedly wanted dacoits) who himself had an identity crisis in proving his diplomatic status for immunity. How can IK blindly approve his accounts that he published after six years of his safe exit from Pakistan? If the Idea of IK was sole to implicate the ruling Nawaz Sharif Government and accuse the then President Asif Ali Zardari and the then Army Chief General Kayani and implicate the then ISI Chief Lieutenant General Pasha, then I believe the move is politically not very sound. I wonder why the media, IK and the rest of critics overlooked so many cracks highlighted by the so-called Mr. Innocent (R.Davis) in our institutional functionality.
If the Idea of IK was sole to implicate the ruling Nawaz Sharif Government and accuse the then President Asif Ali Zardari and the then Army Chief General Kayani and implicate the then ISI Chief Lieutenant General Pasha, then I believe the move is politically not very sound.
IK has been a strong critic of the proclivity of our leaders in chickening out in front of the US. He has also been a vociferous advocate of talking tough with the US especially on the issue of sovereignty infringements through drones.He believes that people at the helm in Pakistan buckle under Uncle Sam’s pressure which compromises on the country’s national interests.
Read more: Of promises, meddling and delusions: the story of Pak-USA ties
If the Idea of IK was sole to implicate the ruling Nawaz Sharif Government and accuse the then President Asif Ali Zardari and the then Army Chief General Kayani and implicate the then ISI Chief Lieutenant General Pasha, then I believe the move is politically not very sound. I wonder why the media, IK and the rest of critics overlooked so many cracks highlighted by the so-called Mr. Innocent (R.Davis) in our institutional functionality.
This book shd be read by Pakistanis to understand why we are treated with so little respect internationally. pic.twitter.com/REkW5iWmIW
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) July 1, 2017
Some important questions
I wonder why the western world always view the blurred side of Pakistan? Having been in Pakistan for the second time in almost two years as Security Contractor, why could Raymond Davis only see the overcrowded streets, overloaded donkey carts, and filth around in the second largest city of Pakistan. Why couldn’t he see the cultural richness and the modern lifestyle of Lahore? His account of 49 days retention in Kot Lakhpat Jail did highlight many breaches in our police system. Especially the way he was handled by the interrogators from the outset.
Did anyone question as to what happened to that vital gadget which could have provided irrefutable proof on the movement of its holders to help move the case in the right direction or at least would have helped the law enforcing agencies to extract valuable intelligence on the purpose and presence of “The Contractor”?
Lack of skills by police in handling a high-profile criminal and failing to extract the much-wanted intelligence out of a self-proclaimed hardy, robust and stubborn ex-US SF sergeant should have been visible to our opportunist politician to put own house in order. The lapses highlighted in a judicial proceeding, the legal procedural hiccups beamed more vividly then General Pasha sitting in the court and talking to US official providing live coverage of the court proceeding on the final hearing. Mr. Davis did mention about the GPS which had the record of all his and his predecessors’ movements. Despite his effort to erase the record off that GPS, failed to do so and as per the author, the GPS was confiscated by the police and then there was never a mention of that GPS throughout his account.
Read more: Raymond Davis pricks the bubble in his memoirs!
Did anyone question as to what happened to that vital gadget which could have provided irrefutable proof on the movement of its holders to help move the case in the right direction or at least would have helped the law enforcing agencies to extract valuable intelligence on the purpose and presence of “The Contractor”? Whatever must have been the diplomatic constraints at that point and time, are best known to the people at the helm of affairs. There is a need to have some soul searching. Given the story is true, would it be totally sane to believe every word of it which comes from none other than the convicted man who actually shot two citizens of a sovereign state. Whose role and presence was not even explicitly proven by his own country. Had the case been so simple of he being a US diplomat, there wouldn’t have been a 49 days detention. It’s probably not fair to implicate ISI alone in the safe exit of Raymond Davis but the entire system needs to be blamed.
Instead of gaining political mileage and mudslinging for political gains we need to take stock of the system and institution responsible for running the system.
From the issue of granting a visa to the very essence of Sharia Laws and Diyat, we need to put things to a surgical scrutiny to find if these remain applicable/relevant to all sorts of situations or do we need to innovate something on the case to case basis?
Read more: How Raymond Davis helped track Osama Bin Laden down?
Instead of gaining political mileage and mudslinging for political gains we need to take stock of the system and institution responsible for running the system. Instead of pitching treasury and opposition and other political leadership against each other on unlimited talk shows on media and burying the real issues under carpet, we certainly need to learn our lessons out of this case of diplomatic tangle and come out with a clear strategy to handle issues of such grave nature where diplomatic relations get on stake in a world of interdependence. We must also question the veracity of the book and also point out the dubious credibility of the author. A state derives its strength from the people trusting its institutions. The timing of the release quite conspicuously shows that the enemy wants to drive a wedge between the people and the state.
Ali Imran Jaffri is a student of M Phil in International Relations at the National Defense University, Islamabad. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.