I eagerly awaited news on the trial of Raymond Allan Davis, or so he is known as, which was scheduled for today only to be hit by the shock and dismay of the news of his release.
The only thing I have to be pleased about is that Pakistanis who share my grief and dismay over the decision. It only makes me want to repeat my views on making capital punishment unconditional in Pakistan.
Though I never favored Raymond Davis being executed for murder since he knew too much and his knowledge would be valuable in uncovering illegal covert operations in Pakistan, I still favor that punishment for murderers in normal circumstances.
We have mostly our medieval laws to blame for the release. As I write this, I also share the frustration of the family of Ibadur Rehman, the forgotten victim struck down by the US consulate car which supposedly raced to rescue Davis, though there are claims that his action was actually a diversion to help the car escape.
In the entire drama, little attention was paid to the victim who lost his life by the US consulate car driver. Will his family be compensated too? But more than anything, I am dismayed how our own laws were used against us and at the sudden "settlement."
Even if Raymond Davis was acquitted for murder and fined for the possession of an illegal weapon, he was not charged for espionage. There are also the sudden explosion of rumors of what happened to the families of the two men he shot to death.
One rumor that puzzled me was their decision to move to America and further rumors claimed the plane that took Davis out of Lahore carried the family members as well. I can only guess they were walking into a trap and will be kept hidden in America to prevent them from raising their voices on the issue again.
There is also the problem of fifth columnists mainly from the Muhajir upper class who have always had a pro-Western/Indian/Brahman stance on almost every issue and have been calling for his release. The well known fifth columnist Irfan Husain defended him right away, claiming his victims to be robbers involved in an incident prior to the shootings.
He also arrogantly dismissed the claims of Davis being a spy as "conspiracy theories."
Even when the West admitted that he was indeed a CIA agent, he vigorously defended Davis. Mr Husain also suddenly seemed to know the Vienna Conventions and started repeating the American stance on the conventions when even legal experts and those with an education in law defined the terms of the conventions straight forwardly.
Nor did Irfan Husain take into account the witnesses' claims that the man shot the victims in the back as also revealed by the autopsy from the police. The news of Davis' release will be music to our vicious anti-Pakistan fifth column.
I also wouldn't be surprised if some of these upper class Muhajir Indophiles started screaming that in India Davis would have been prosecuted and received capital punishment.
The saddest part is the only strongest outspoken people against Raymond Davis were our religious right. While we stay silent on various incidents involving foreign diplomats/embassy officials, it is the religious right that everyone is left to turn to because we are silent on the propaganda and threats facing our country.
One positive outcome I can hope from this is the ISI and military got the information they needed from Davis to safeguard our sovereignty from foreign spies.
Reports claimed that Davis was in tears upon his release, a possible indication that he was interrogated with force in prison, so we can remain hopeful he was not released without gain and his victims did not die in vain.
The other positive outcome is that the shooting incident has finally woken our people and security forces of foreigners breaking our laws and carrying illegal weapons. All the reports I read of Westerners being detained in the aftermath of the Davis crisis were out of mere suspicion. Should even one of them be caught for even carrying weapons or spy ware, they can be sure it's the end for them; especially after the outcry of the incident involving Davis.
Another important question is, what of the other fifty five Americans who the ISI claims disappeared into Pakistan and entered on visa entry prior to their knowledge? Their names were apparently released but nothing is yet confirmed on their whereabouts.
Today is truly a day to feel sorrow for every patriotic Pakistani such as myself. I felt the pain of dismay and helplessness over his release. The minimum satisfactory condition of his release to me would be the release of Dr Affia Saddiqui.
This is the one day my spirit and heart stand with every Pakistani no matter religious or secular in my support to protest the foul release and insult to our country.
I truly hope the ones amongst us responsible for his sudden release are brought to justice and our people stay 'awake' for any further times involving spies or foreigners breaking our laws.
People also predicting an Egypt-style "revolution" against a corrupt government we ourselves elected can rule out that possibility and go to sleep. The people always blame the government for everything yet keep electing them, be it Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto or Asif Zardari.
Even if the current government is removed from office, it won't be as if they came into power by force. While mentioning the government, I read rumors during Davis' detention that the PPP and civilian parties are in a secret effort to bring foreign private mercenaries into the country to try and break the power of the military, which they have always seen as an obstacle to their own corrupt agendas.
That probably explains the ISI's claims they were completely unaware of Raymond Davis or the mysterious issuance of visas to so many Americans without their approval. This is not to suggest the military is much cleaner than the corrupt civilian governments, especially in domestic policies.
But at the same time, I do not wish for efforts to be wasted on debating his release in courts or these violent street protests that injure people and cause damage to property. None of this will bring back the killers of the three people who lost their lives. The only best solution in sight is if our people are still willing to take up the issue, it should be taken up with Interpol and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as the Americans had threatened to take it there during Davis' detention.
And the only people really capable of taking it there are our lawyers (both in Pakistan and in Britain), judges and politicians as well as other members of the government.
As I mentioned in another post, I am no fan of Imran Khan, but I stand with him entirely on this issue and convey my full support to him in his upcoming protests against the release of this killer-spy. Let all us Pakistanis at home and around the world unite in public and in cyberspace to pledge our joint moral stand on this issue.
پاکستان زندآباد
Post update:
I embed these videos in support of Imran Khan's rallies. But as mentioned I do not share Tehreek-e-Insaf's religious and main political sentiments,nor do I appreciate the use of English words in Urdu, our sacred national language. But never should we forgive this shameful release of a confessed killer:
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