Recent incident of an American national Raymond Allen Davis involved in cold blooded murder of two Pakistanis in Lahore has given rise to many searching questions. The situation has become all the more shady and mysterious since his name and identity are fake and so was the car plate number in which he was traveling on the day of occurrence. He was carrying a prohibited bore pistol and prohibited bullets with which he shot the two motor cyclists. He was callous in using disproportionate force. He kept firing to ensure the death of Faizan and Faheem. This kind of brazen firing is plausible only when the opponents are also firing.
The backup vehicle from Lahore US Consulate came rushing on the distress call given by Davis. In its mad rush to reach the scene in a jiffy, the SUV came the wrong way on a one-way road, drove across road divider and reached the scene within 15 minutes but in haste crushed to death a motorcyclist Ubaidur Rahman. By that time, Davis after filming the two dead bodies soaked in blood with his digital camera tried to escape but due to traffic rush and police vigilance he was apprehended. The driver of second vehicle along with four persons from the consulate managed to slip away and till this day identity of five persons have yet not been ascertained. The US Consulate has refused to hand over the accused and the SUV. The US undue interference is heightening tension. Davis interrogation may reveal some hidden facts about US covert war in Pakistan.
36-year old Davis is being described by Washington as a diplomat whereas he is not. Pakistan is being pressed to release him immediately on account of diplomatic immunity he enjoys, whereas he doesnt enjoy immunity. The US earlier stance of showing Davis as a member of US Consulate in Lahore was modified and it now insists that he is a staff member of US Embassy in Islamabad. This change of stance has been necessitated to provide the accused greater degree of diplomatic immunity from criminal jurisdiction under Vienna Convention 1961. Our foreign office has yet to clear the mist of confusion about his real status. Even his real name is not known since the US has created confusion by stating that the accused is not Raymond Davis. It has however not intimated his real name so far which means he is an impostor. Presidency, federal and provincial governments are taking cover behind the Lahore High Court (LHC) where Davis case is pending to avert American mounting pressure. The LHC alone cannot do much without the government clarifying certain basic facts about the accused status. The LHC has however taken the initiative to block handover of the accused to his country before completion and decision of the court and has also directed the government to place him on exit control list.
A H RAJA
Islamabad
