The former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has catapulted to fame after his public disclosure that he resisted pressures from no less than the US Secretary of State and the US Ambassador in Pakistan asking that diplomatic immunity for Mr ‘Davis’ be announced. He further complicated matters by stating that he did so after consulting ‘experts’ in the Foreign Office. This makes it difficult for the Foreign Office to declare immunity now though this is what it is probably being asked to do. His disclosure was timed with him being dropped as Foreign Minister in the ‘new’ cabinet and being offered the water and power ministry—an offer that he declined. His disclosure puts him in sync with the media, public opinion and the Punjab government---all opposing diplomatic immunity and insisting on a court trial that could drag on for months. In the first court hearing today (February 17th) the next hearing has been set for March 14th signaling the possible course of events.
On the other side (the side that wants the Davis matter resolved) is the Federal Government. This brings into play the political polarization that is the characteristic of the PPP-PML(N) relationship. No one is about to let the Federal Government off the hook. In fact the Punjab Head Honcho has already made his views known by chiming in with a Qureshi type disclosure that he resisted pressures from Islamabad to buckle and agree to immunity. The Punjab Police ( in whose jurisdiction the killings took place) has already stated publicly that ‘Davis’ did not act in self defense and that he committed cold blooded murder—this was subsequently confirmed by the Punjab Law Minister. The prosecution case has more or less been laid out and a surprising amount of evidence has been made public over a period of time. The media is in frenzy as it whips up public opinion against the immunity option. The Taliban and their extremist allies want nothing short of a hanging. All this while the case is sub-judice and the question of immunity has not been resolved.
For the first time since the incident Senator John Kerry set the right tone during his just concluded visit—an occasion when every one and his aunt went public with their defiance and muscle flexing against the US. Senator Kerry apologized for the incident himself and on behalf of the Secretary of Defense and condoled with the bereaved families. He promised a criminal investigation of the incident in the US (not that anyone believes that such an investigation would ever lead to a conclusion) and he gave assurances that the incident would not derail US-Pakistan relations—something that has already started happening. His words made an impact and for the first time the tone set by him has been followed by the US spokesman—Patrick Crowley. This should have happened much earlier. Anger, pressure and coercion will lead to resistance, hardened attitudes and helplessness in a beleaguered government---worse consequences may follow given the live coverage of events in the Middle East. This is not the first time that the US-Pakistan relationship will be taking a nose dive—it happened earlier in the 90’s.
There is a need to step back from the brink and remember that people are dying in a deadly conflict in Afghanistan and that extremists and their sponsors have sinister designs against the State of Pakistan. The US-Pakistan relationship needs to be rescued, put on track and given new life and both countries have to work on this. Davis, whoever he is, should not be the catalyst for destruction any more than he has been already. The families of the deceased must be heavily compensated by the US as permitted under Islamic law. The US should give a full accounting of ALL ‘Davis’s’ in Pakistan and move them out and there should be a review and documentation of all visas so that another incident does not take place. Both countries have to work out the modalities so that a settlement can lead to a ‘court release’. The incident needs to be viewed in the context of the internal security situation, the destabilization being orchestrated from across our borders and the state of the economy.
By Fatima Rizvi
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