What is it about Hussain Haqqani that continues to grind our gears?
Every time Hussain Haqqani, our erstwhile ambassador to the United States, writes an article or publishes a new book, we Pakistanis go through a now familiar drill.
Journalists repeat edited or embellished accounts of Haqqani’s personal history. Politicians describe him as ‘insignificant’ before commenting on him for long durations on TV. Super-patriots start ‘twitter’ trends describing Husain Haqqani as ‘a traitor’ before demanding that ‘Haqqani be brought back to Pakistan to face trial.’
How does one man drive us so crazy?
How indeed?
Why is it difficult for us to understand that just because we dislike someone or his views he does not become a criminal or traitor without trial? And amid all the noise about him at frequent intervals, Husain Haqqani has not been charged with any crime anywhere in Pakistan so far, let alone convicted.
Even the ‘Memo Commission,’ which resulted in a three-judge panel accusing Haqqani of disloyalty to Pakistan and greater loyalty to the United States, was just an inquiry exercise that has not led to a final decision by the Supreme Court after five years.
The Supreme Court is not a trial court and it has already said that the Memo Commission report is just ‘an opinion,’ not a judicial verdict.
So, how will the ‘bring Haqqani back for trial’ crowd do that when there is no FIR, no case, no charge to answer, and no pending trial? Moreover, don’t the anti-Haqqani pundits know that international law expressly excludes charges of treason from the list of extraditable offenses?
That means, even if Haqqani was tried and convicted in Pakistan over treason, he could never be brought back through extradition or any other means, including an Interpol Red Warrant. Google, anyone?
For his part, Husain Haqqani just continues to laugh at our expense. He challenges his critics to write books like him and publish them internationally. He points out that his Washington Post article attracted dozens of TV shows on Pakistani channels and many columns in Pakistani newspapers but his Pakistani critics could not publish even a letter to the editor rebutting him in the United States, where his original article appeared.
“I don’t agree with everything he says, but…”
“Frogs making noise in their well,” is probably how Haqqani mocks the local attacks on him. “With the sixth largest population and army in the world, Pakistan is 50th in the world by book production and reading,” he once tweeted, implicitly bragging that he is the author of internationally acclaimed books while his critics are not.
Having read his books, I find Husain Haqqani as someone who offers an alternative account of our history and a different vision for us as a country, all duly referenced and scholarly written. I do not agree with everything he says but I don’t want to hang him.
Since we are limited by our ‘Pakistan Studies’ curriculum, we don’t like what Haqqani has to say. His views have greater resonance outside the country.
Instead of offering arguments to counter Haqqani’s message, our response is to attack Haqqani and his past conduct as a political actor. That does little to diminish the influence of Haqqani’s ideas abroad. As Haqqani says himself, “Goals are scored by kicking the ball, not by kicking the player.”
Even criticism of Haqqani’s actions as a political personality and as ambassador to the U.S. has begun to wear thin.
He is not the only Pakistani to have been associated with different political parties at different times. If he had acted in violation of laws, he should have been prosecuted by now. Clearly, the noise about his conduct is just bubbling frustration over his writings and scholarship.
Are you hoarse yet?
Ashraf Jehangir Qazi (former Ambassador to the US, India and China) served as a member of the Abbottabad Commission. He wrote recently: “Whatever we may think or say about Husain Haqqani — and his role, statements and explanations — he was not primarily responsible for the US assault in Abbottabad on the night of May 1 and 2, 2011. The final decisions with regard to the fateful incident were not his to make.”
Qazi also wrote that “there has been no proof of (Haqqani’s) involvement” in the Abbottabad incident and “Whatever conclusions one may draw about the consistency and purpose of his statements and the credibility of his behaviour as Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington, they do not add up to treachery.”
By concentrating on the person (Haqqani) rather than the real tragedy of Abbottabad or any other issue for which Haqqani is used as a scapegoat, Pakistan’s political leaders and media avoid dealing with the issues Haqqani raises.
If he has no plans to return, Haqqani can probably live with the media noise at home. But does our crazy response to him not strengthen his argument abroad – that Pakistanis live in denial and in a world of make-believe?
we are nation of ostrich …ignore the basic issues and try to find a scapegoat and label anyone as a traitor
Haqqani writes well & he is mostly right. He is not wrong that Pak Defence & Foreign Policies have an excessive input from military which is just one of the Governmenmental Organizations. And that advice has proved to be mostly counter productive. …
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