It has been a tumultuous week marred by one incident, which has brought the entire nation together in righteous anger: death by shooting of two motorcyclists and overrunning of a third by the US nationals. The initial US government response, both in Washington and Islamabad, was that full co-operation would be extended to the investigating authorities.
This was hailed in the country as the right approach as three people, one of them definitely an innocent bystander, had lost their lives. A mere two days after this appalling incident, the US Embassy invoked diplomatic status for Davis, the man who shot the two motorcyclists, giving his version as the correct one and stating that his incarceration is a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961. The optimism that justice would be allowed to be done quickly evaporated and the country's anger appears to have reached a boiling point.
This level of anger is truly unprecedented given the patience this hapless country's people have exhibited in recent years against terrible injustices and deprivations. Public anger for example has not been forthcoming for the appalling economic conditions, prevailing in this country today - conditions reflected by the worsening of nearly all macroeconomic indicators since the time the present government took over power.
The veracity of this charge is amply borne out by the fact that the PPP-led government inherited an unsustainable 7.4 percent budget deficit as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and informed sources in the Finance Ministry reckon this will rise to 8.4 percent by the end of the current fiscal year.
Considering that PPP stalwarts were at great pains to let the public know that the government's primary strategy for controlling inflationary pressures was a reduction in the budget deficit, as agreed under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, its rise would, no doubt, translate into an inflation that would certainly match the 24 to 25 percent of 2008.
Sprinkle the withdrawal of subsidies, raising the price of oil and products as well as a refusal to strengthen the Competition Commission of Pakistan to deal with powerful pressure groups and inflation estimates would certainly receive a further boost.
And then there are factors that are not within the purview of the government, namely smuggling push inflation as well as inability to check blatant profiteering in the country's numerous cities and markets. Unemployment is also at an all time high due to a decline in production attributed to the failure of the government to not only meet energy demand, a critical input, the third year running, but also not provide it at prices that are competitive with those of our neighbouring countries.
The anger of the public has not been apparent in the revelations of the multi-billion dollar corruption cases, by the obvious profligacy of the present set of executives, by the two-nation tour of the President during the summer floods that left 14 million people homeless which he refused to cut short in spite of criticism here and abroad.
Collective anger has also not been evident given the fact that the country's elite use a disproportionate number of the country's law-enforcement agencies as their personal bodyguards while leaving public places open to suicide attacks. And the people of this country have also not shown much collective anger against the government's inability to handle law and order incidents, as distinct from terror related incidents.
And last but not the least, visible public anger does not appear to be directed against those in government, who refuse to follow the orders of the courts in letter, as in the case of writing to the Swiss courts to reopen the case, and spirit, with several instances in which the country's investigative arm as well as the prosecuting branch appears to be favouring/supporting the accused.
The courts have taken notice time and again of obvious foot-dragging by departments/agencies conducting the court ordered impartial and fair investigation in scams that implicate the PPP leadership's appointees - departments/agencies that come under the purview of Interior Minister Rehman Malik. In other words, justice is hardly being provided to the poor people of this country in spite of the fact that the independent higher courts have taken suo motu notice of many financial scams.
Instead the entire nation's anger is focused on one American, Raymond Davis, who in broad daylight in a city not known for such acts of blatant malfeasance shot dead two motorcyclists. And inexplicably the consulate car that Davis summoned on the wireless for assistance brutally ran over yet another motorcyclist killing him while driving on the wrong side of a one way street.
To many, this collective national anger is an indication of existing anti-American sentiments prevailing in the country due, no doubt, to the continuing drone strikes as well as the judgement passed on Dr Aafia Siddiqui by the US court that a few in this country believe was based on facts. Or as many argue it could well be anger against American foreign policy on the subcontinent (where India has emerged as the clear favourties) and the US double standards with respect to the conflict in the Middle East, as well as arrogance displayed by the US officials while dealing with the public in this country. Pakistan government officials are at pains to refer to our sovereignty as intact, yet Obama's AfPak strategy reveals to many Pakistanis that Afghanistan and Pakistan are considered in the same category for two reasons that are in addition to the oft cited one namely the ongoing fight on the war on terror: (i) the dependence on the US handouts and repeated requests for the US influence in convincing multilateral institutions as well as bilaterals to extend financial assistance, and (ii) high levels of domestic corruption implicating the highest in the land. Thus to many the Lahore incident has come to epitomise all that we hate about the way this country is being governed, which includes the way our government allows the Americans to conduct themselves while on our soil.
Be that as it may, one day after the killings Rehman Malik was accused by Noor Alm Khan, PPP appointed parliamentary secretary on petroleum, of telephoning Lahore authorities to release Davis - a charge that Malik vehemently denied. Few lend credence to the denial given that Malik has denied statements that he made in front of TV cameras in the past as well.
The US government's decision to invoke diplomatic immunity a day after Malik's denial seems to lend credence to the charge made by Noor Alam Khan. However the decision of the US government to invoke diplomatic immunity for Davis even before the investigation process is completed or indeed before national anger has had a chance to cool down as economic deprivations mount is inexplicable.
It has become a mantra in the media to cite the old adage: justice should not only be done but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done. Justice requires an impartial investigation as well as a prosecution service committed to justice. Both, the Americans can point out with a degree of veracity, are missing in this country. We cannot let collective national anger determine the fate of Davis. We need an independent inquiry, a prosecution case that is not weakened deliberately by the Pakistan government and a robust defence that would allow an independent judiciary to render justice to the satisfaction of all. But that appears unlikely now. It is also unlikely that the government will pursue the case in the US courts. Davis will go scot-free with no blemish on his file. Sad indeed and forces one to recall the oft quoted sentence in George Orwell's Animal Farm: "all animals are equal but some are more equal than others."
This was hailed in the country as the right approach as three people, one of them definitely an innocent bystander, had lost their lives. A mere two days after this appalling incident, the US Embassy invoked diplomatic status for Davis, the man who shot the two motorcyclists, giving his version as the correct one and stating that his incarceration is a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961. The optimism that justice would be allowed to be done quickly evaporated and the country's anger appears to have reached a boiling point.
This level of anger is truly unprecedented given the patience this hapless country's people have exhibited in recent years against terrible injustices and deprivations. Public anger for example has not been forthcoming for the appalling economic conditions, prevailing in this country today - conditions reflected by the worsening of nearly all macroeconomic indicators since the time the present government took over power.
The veracity of this charge is amply borne out by the fact that the PPP-led government inherited an unsustainable 7.4 percent budget deficit as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and informed sources in the Finance Ministry reckon this will rise to 8.4 percent by the end of the current fiscal year.
Considering that PPP stalwarts were at great pains to let the public know that the government's primary strategy for controlling inflationary pressures was a reduction in the budget deficit, as agreed under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, its rise would, no doubt, translate into an inflation that would certainly match the 24 to 25 percent of 2008.
Sprinkle the withdrawal of subsidies, raising the price of oil and products as well as a refusal to strengthen the Competition Commission of Pakistan to deal with powerful pressure groups and inflation estimates would certainly receive a further boost.
And then there are factors that are not within the purview of the government, namely smuggling push inflation as well as inability to check blatant profiteering in the country's numerous cities and markets. Unemployment is also at an all time high due to a decline in production attributed to the failure of the government to not only meet energy demand, a critical input, the third year running, but also not provide it at prices that are competitive with those of our neighbouring countries.
The anger of the public has not been apparent in the revelations of the multi-billion dollar corruption cases, by the obvious profligacy of the present set of executives, by the two-nation tour of the President during the summer floods that left 14 million people homeless which he refused to cut short in spite of criticism here and abroad.
Collective anger has also not been evident given the fact that the country's elite use a disproportionate number of the country's law-enforcement agencies as their personal bodyguards while leaving public places open to suicide attacks. And the people of this country have also not shown much collective anger against the government's inability to handle law and order incidents, as distinct from terror related incidents.
And last but not the least, visible public anger does not appear to be directed against those in government, who refuse to follow the orders of the courts in letter, as in the case of writing to the Swiss courts to reopen the case, and spirit, with several instances in which the country's investigative arm as well as the prosecuting branch appears to be favouring/supporting the accused.
The courts have taken notice time and again of obvious foot-dragging by departments/agencies conducting the court ordered impartial and fair investigation in scams that implicate the PPP leadership's appointees - departments/agencies that come under the purview of Interior Minister Rehman Malik. In other words, justice is hardly being provided to the poor people of this country in spite of the fact that the independent higher courts have taken suo motu notice of many financial scams.
Instead the entire nation's anger is focused on one American, Raymond Davis, who in broad daylight in a city not known for such acts of blatant malfeasance shot dead two motorcyclists. And inexplicably the consulate car that Davis summoned on the wireless for assistance brutally ran over yet another motorcyclist killing him while driving on the wrong side of a one way street.
To many, this collective national anger is an indication of existing anti-American sentiments prevailing in the country due, no doubt, to the continuing drone strikes as well as the judgement passed on Dr Aafia Siddiqui by the US court that a few in this country believe was based on facts. Or as many argue it could well be anger against American foreign policy on the subcontinent (where India has emerged as the clear favourties) and the US double standards with respect to the conflict in the Middle East, as well as arrogance displayed by the US officials while dealing with the public in this country. Pakistan government officials are at pains to refer to our sovereignty as intact, yet Obama's AfPak strategy reveals to many Pakistanis that Afghanistan and Pakistan are considered in the same category for two reasons that are in addition to the oft cited one namely the ongoing fight on the war on terror: (i) the dependence on the US handouts and repeated requests for the US influence in convincing multilateral institutions as well as bilaterals to extend financial assistance, and (ii) high levels of domestic corruption implicating the highest in the land. Thus to many the Lahore incident has come to epitomise all that we hate about the way this country is being governed, which includes the way our government allows the Americans to conduct themselves while on our soil.
Be that as it may, one day after the killings Rehman Malik was accused by Noor Alm Khan, PPP appointed parliamentary secretary on petroleum, of telephoning Lahore authorities to release Davis - a charge that Malik vehemently denied. Few lend credence to the denial given that Malik has denied statements that he made in front of TV cameras in the past as well.
The US government's decision to invoke diplomatic immunity a day after Malik's denial seems to lend credence to the charge made by Noor Alam Khan. However the decision of the US government to invoke diplomatic immunity for Davis even before the investigation process is completed or indeed before national anger has had a chance to cool down as economic deprivations mount is inexplicable.
It has become a mantra in the media to cite the old adage: justice should not only be done but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done. Justice requires an impartial investigation as well as a prosecution service committed to justice. Both, the Americans can point out with a degree of veracity, are missing in this country. We cannot let collective national anger determine the fate of Davis. We need an independent inquiry, a prosecution case that is not weakened deliberately by the Pakistan government and a robust defence that would allow an independent judiciary to render justice to the satisfaction of all. But that appears unlikely now. It is also unlikely that the government will pursue the case in the US courts. Davis will go scot-free with no blemish on his file. Sad indeed and forces one to recall the oft quoted sentence in George Orwell's Animal Farm: "all animals are equal but some are more equal than others."
Source...