Can’t compromise on the Haqqani Madness

Who should be held responsible?

You will never know how much it has cost my generations to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. (John Adams)

For the past nine years Hussain Haqqani has been a controversial character in diplomatic circles. Who is he? Is he a diplomat, a bureaucrat, a technocrat? If not, how did he jump to the highest of our diplomatic positions, becoming the Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, a position that is highly sensitive? How was he recommended for that position – who recommended him? And, the main question, why are his actions and statements against the country? Who is behind this conspirator?

Recap on the man, the myth – the conspirator (?)

A journalist, a political activist and, unfortunately, the former ambassador of Pakistan to Sri Lanka and the United States, Haqqani has written two books on Pakistan – Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military, and Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, the United States, and an Epic History of Misunderstanding. His analysis has appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He has also been a speaker at the various forums. Haqqani is currently a Senior Fellow and Director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. and co-editor of Hudson’s signature journal (Current Trends in Islamist Ideology).

Hussain Haqqani started his career as a journalist in 1980 and continued till 1988, when he was appointed as political adviser to Nawaz Sharif. From 1992 to 1993 he was appointed as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka by the Nawaz Sharif government. In 1993 when the Benazir Bhutto government took over the charge, he became spokesman to Benazir Bhutto. In 1999, he went in to self-exile following criticism against the government of the then-President Pervez Musharraf. From 2004 to 2008 he was associate professor for international relations at Boston University.

The fall of “Washington’s Ambassador to Pakistan”

In April 2008, he was appointed as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States by the then President Asif Ali Zardari, an office he retained from 13th April 2008 to 22nd November 2011. His tenure ended after the Memo-gate scandal, when judicial commission was set up by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to probe allegations against him. According to commission’s report which was issued in June 2012, Haqqani was declared guilty of authoring a memo which called for direct US intervention into Pakistan.

His tenure was full of controversy. He was called “Washington’s ambassador to Pakistan” – a play on his role of Pakistan’s Ambassador in Washington, due to his long time anti-Pakistan views. As a “pro-American ambassador in Washington,” Haqqani provided visas for a large number of US operatives – under instructions from Islamabad – in the lead up to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The infamous memo – and the flood gates that opened

Roughly a week after the raid on Bin Laden, Haqqani reportedly (at the request of then President Asif Ali Zardari) asked Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz to pass a message to the Americans – that the Pakistani military was planning to intervene. Ijaz revealed this in an opinion column in the Financial Times in October 2011, and mentioned that the message was communicated in an undated and unsigned memo sent to Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US military. Later released to the press, the memo also spoke of a “unique window of opportunity” for the civilian government to gain the upper hand due to the military’s complicity in the Bin Laden affair. According to Mansoor Ijaz, the military intended to stage a coup to wash off the embarrassment issuing from the raid on Bin Laden, and he drafted the memo in consultation with Haqqani.

Haqqani resigned but denied writing the memo. He was recalled to Pakistan and accused of high treason. On the basis of a petition filed by the PML-N, the Supreme Court of Pakistan launched an investigation overriding the government and its own parliamentary investigation.

While a judicial commission appointed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan investigated, Haqqani was not allowed to leave the country. He sought refuge in the presidential palace and later the Prime Minister’s residence, apparently citing threats to his life by the groups that accused him of treason.

In January 2012, unfortunately, the Supreme Court of Pakistan allowed Hussain Haqqani to exit the country. The Judicial Commission completed its investigation, and submitted its report, asserting that Haqqani had indeed authored the memo, the purpose of which was taken to be assuring the United States that the civilian government was its ally. It also declared that Haqqani had undermined the country’s security and that he had misled Mansoor Ijaz that the memorandum had the Pakistani president’s approval. The bottom line was: “Husain Haqqani was not loyal to Pakistan” in drafting that memo.

Since then, Haqqani has not returned to Pakistan.

Out, damned spot! Out, I say!

Some very simple questions have arisen;

• Under what circumstances was a person like Hussain Haqqani appointed as Ambassador in United States when he had no such experience of working at such highly and sensitive position. Why didn’t the foreign office object to his posting?

• Why was he allowed refuge in the Presidency and then in the Prime Minister House if the President and the Prime Minister were not involved in memo-gate scandal?

• How could he act against his own country unless he had the backing from the higher ups like the President and the Prime Minister?

The delays in the probe of “Memo-gate” illustrates that while such scandals are politicised, this type of treachery rarely fades away. It’s a lesson to learn. An investigation and congressional inquiries into potential connections between Haqqani, Zardari and Gilani will surely heat up the real story, and what grows from them may drag on for a very long time and undermine their political career and may also damage Zardari’s party.

Haqqani’s continuous statements against the most sensitive organisation do not plead ignorance to what he is doing; the scandal that derailed his political and diplomatic career has still not gone away. Every time Zardari has gotten a little distance from the scandal or appeared to turn the page, some new revelation has emerged to stomp on him. Zardari himself, not long before Haqqani endorsed him, said it is inconceivable that he was out of the loop: “He totally knew about it!”

Now not only Haqqani, Zardari and Gilani are also potentially in jeopardy, it has driven them fall from grace.

We, Pakistanis have no interest for his personal life, but are deeply concerned over his treachery acts and can’t spare a traitor to harm our country. Any such act should be taken seriously and person concerned should be hanged publicly. If Washington can take Emal Kansi from our country to meet their legal process, why can’t we force Washington to handover this man to our government to meet our legal procedure?

These simple points require deep investigation and all concerned, at whatever position, should be hanged publicly against treason charges.