Delaying tactics work well in our society when the leaders want the people to forget an issue. This nation of 180 million suffers from short memory disorder. How many Pakistani nationals today remember that Supreme Court of Pakistan had asked the present government to write a letter to the Swiss government regarding reopening of cases against our president Asif Ali Zardari. The government refused to obey the court and the matter was forgotten. But some issues should be kept alive for our own survival.
The case of Raymond Davis is another example in the list. Our former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is surprised as to why foreign office requested the court for three weeks time to determine the status of Raymond Davis when the same office had earlier categorically told Shah Mahmood Qureshi that Raymond Davis did not have diplomatic blanket immunity.
And why our courts, about whom the nation believes are independent, granted such a long time? The court should have instead made relevant departments answerable as to what took the foreign office and federal government so long to determine the status of one individual working in American consulate in Lahore.
It is nothing but delaying tactics. Families of the deceased are being asked to pardon Raymond Davis by accepting a huge sum. If they don’t agree, our government have other ways to do it. Families of the deceased have already started receiving threats to settle the issue amicably or face the consequences. So far, the families are adamant.
Even if these families gives in to the pressures being applied from all quarters, I think Raymond Davis should still be tried by the government of Pakistan because he was not only carrying sophisticated weapons which had no license but was also in possession of spying equipment.
What is really surprising to note is that most of the print media in Pakistan has stopped publishing material related to Raymond Davis cases which again indicates that either the print media has decided to keep the mouth shut or has given in to the government’s pressure of not discussing the Raymond episode any further. I request both the print and electronic media to keep the issue alive till our courts decide the case. Courts in Pakistan have more than one reason to try Raymond. For killing, for not cooperating in investigation, for possessing fake identity, for claiming fake immunity and for making false claim about the identity of the deceased and many more.
M RAFIQUE ZAKARIA
Karachi
