It is with great surprise for any ordinary citizen of this country to see a killer being arrested that too being of foreign origin. With the spells of target killings spurring up every now and then in Karachi, seeing a killer being caught is quite surprising.
The arrest of Raymond Davis, the killer or as people here would like to look at it, the murderer of three locals has sprung up a series of questions that will, if not as yet, place the government into further problems. The clause used by the American Embassy in Islamabad for the release of Raymond would question the integrity and sovereignty of the state, and at the time when anti-government sentiments in the country especially in Lahore are high, the government has to tackle the situation effectively.
Further more the situation the US consulate officer finds himself to be in is quite similar to the one the daughter of the country Dr Aafia Siddiqui was in. The similarity being the self-defence. Dr Aafia apparently flew from her way to the airport to the prisons of Kandahar while she allegedly fired upon an American soldier. In Raymonds case he acted in self-defence and killed the robbers who had held him on gun point and taken some money from him.
In either case the laws of Geneva Convention should be followed and the mother of three children be tried in her home country and her children be given their rights and Raymond being a foreign diplomat be freed.
The case also puts the post of Rehman Malik on the line with the news channels reporting Raymond of being a spy/working for Blackwater. If that turns out to be true then the minister would have to resign according to his promise which he made on Nov 20th, 2009 in his press briefing outside the National Assembly.
The response of the political parties including the coalition parties has been quite surprising. Instead of using the situation and capitalizing on the anti-government sentiments none of the parties have come all out supporting the publics demand of punishing the diplomat. It took nearly 30 hours for the Punjab Chief Minister to issue a statement of a fair trial for the victims.
The parties can well use this issue to get their demands of bringing Dr Aafia back be agreed upon by the American government. The government can also use this issue to turn the tide in its favour and ask USA for more cooperation to help Pakistans economic condition.
AFFAN KHAN
Karachi