ISLAMABAD – After a strong protest by the religious parties over the issue of American national Raymond Davis, who shot dead two people in Lahore last month, the civil society has also come up with the same demand that he should not be handed over to the United States and treated according to the law of the country.
The civil society members on Wednesday staged a demonstration in front of Parliament House Islamabad, which was attended by a large number of people, including retired military officials, writers and others. Former ISI chief General (r) Hamid Gul also joined the protesters. They chanted slogans against the government and the US authorities.
Speaking on the occasion, Gul said the killing of three Pakistanis was not an ordinary incident. “If the decision is given in favour of Raymond Davis, it would be considered the murder of whole nation,” he said. He asked the government to clarify its position before the public whether the United States was Pakistan’s ally in the war on terror or it was waging a war against the country.
Gul was of the view that situation would worsen even more than what was after Lal Masjid incident if the government handed over Davis to the US government. Commenting on the proposal floated by President Asif Ali Zardari about holding a roundtable conference, the former chief of the country’s top spy agency said if political parties of the country supported the release of Davis, the whole nation would stand against the move.
The participants of the demonstration demanded President Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry not to handover the American national to the US and award him exemplary punishment.
