By: Dr Farooq Hassan March 25 (THE NATION): The matter of the person known by the pseudonym of Raymond Davis formally ended on March 16, 2011 in Kot Lakhpat Jail, in Lahore. There is no gainsaying the fact that most people who have any connection with this pseudonym hate this Raymond. Those who sent him hate him for his rash conduct resulted in the blowing off the cover of a Bond or Rambo like operation forcing the US President to personally seek his release. He is hated by the receiving states rank and file, for having caused the death of three in open daylight through his commando like usage of arms, which even the famed US diplomats were never known to use in the past. Though this drama played across several continents ended for him, it has started a non-ending process of the real exposure of the rulers of this country. For this, I for one, would like to thank him; he has been able to provide the proof that was needed in Pakistan to convince its 170 million people that the present ruling set-up is fundamentally nothing more than a bunch of an utterly self-aggrandising group, who are wiling to be sold to retain their present ill-gotten status and wealth at the expense of literally anything. Before proceeding further let me say in passing that the 16th day of any month seems to be ominous for the people of Pakistan. On December 16th, we witnessed the fall of Dacca, and the dismemberment of this country. On March 16th, 2011 we witnessed the open sale of the Government of Pakistan; it is a national shock that has fundamentally shaken the confidence that the ordinary people had even in their leadership. I am certain that such a realisation, howsoever looked upon by diverse partisans, would have most pernicious ramifications and the impact of this evolution would go beyond the results in national damage and losses that was felt as a consequence of the 1971 political debacles. I feel that for Pakistan the shock of suddenly realising that the present rulers are not even remotely sincere to them, or to the countrys higher interests, is a big national loss. The biggest loser in this fiasco is the self-respect of people of Pakistan, who now seem humiliated, demoralised, disillusioned and utterly frustrated. They must learn the hard way to psychologically accept the stark reality that is found in the Holy Quran: God does not change the fortunes of any people who are not willing to go for such a change by themselves. Elections or absence of democratic set-up has nothing to do with this realism. It is matter of national character of their leadership. Either the leaders of the people are honourable or they are not. They are either honest or they not. Lord Acton, therefore, rightly said in the third quarter of the 19th century that the people get the government they deserve. Everyone seemed to finally agree that the last word in this matter of open daylight killings should be through a court verdict. Little did the millions of innocent people of this country realise, including the legal community, that even in this sense, it is always possible for the wicked to put a weird construction of what is really a court decision? It is thus not surprising that this miracle was the result of our leadership that did not raise a single point or objection which was raised by purported recourse Diyat payment. Indeed the order of the day, clearly to ward off possible critique of perverse exercise of its jurisdiction by the trial court, does rely on such mistakes by those who were to present the case of the people against blatant transgression of the rights of those killed. Reaction to the news of this intelligence operatives release through payment of blood money resulted in protests in several towns and cities and an emotional outburst on talk shows accusing the federal and Punjab governments and military and intelligence services of having bartered national interest and indulged in a secret sell-out unnerved the government forcing it to retreat into a shell. It is most surprising that for days now everyone who mattered in this country are all mum on this occurrence. There was no comment from the Presidency, Prime Ministers House or Foreign Office on this really far-reaching national development. Why? They are all mortally afraid of backlash. So intense and tension ridden is everyone in the government circles that the Foreign Office cancelled its weekly media briefing usually held on Thursday. This gave a field day to many, who do not like how and what the government generally has been doing since its incumbency three years ago to lash out at the government, military, the national intelligence apparatus and indeed the judiciary as well. Though occurrences such as this one cannot be kept from becoming public knowledge, it is sad for the people to all of a sudden learn about those who skilfully manoeuvred this occurrence because it got out very soon in the press and the internet, on the pattern of WikiLeaks. An inadvertent release of US Ambassador Cameron Munters reaction on Davis release, that is dated March 10th, confirms that the deal had been finalised on that day, but its implementation got delayed probably because of issues pertaining to the execution of the deal. The Ambassador said. The families of the victims of the January 27 incident in Lahore have pardoned Raymond Davis. I am grateful for their generosity. I wish to express, once again, my regret for the incident and my sorrow at the suffering it caused. I can confirm that the US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the incident in Lahore. For the fearf of being accused of complicity the Leader of the Oppposition (PML-N) protested on March 17th. While absolving his party of the whole episode, he held the federal government solely responsible for releasing Davis to please the foreign masters. He said: The bargaining conducted by the federal government will be remembered in the history as national tragedy in the countrys history. He maintained that the Davis release was no more a mystery, and the federal government should not shift the burden of this act to the PML-N. They have sold the dignity of the nation only to save foreign national, he regretted. Nisar asked those who took such a big decision to show the moral courage and accept their responsibility before the nation. However, the most troubling moral and legal questions are: Who contacted the victims families? Clearly, no Americans were seen running across the province trying to locate them. Who paid the colossal amount of Rs20 million? Above all, with the entire media glare that this matter attracted how was it possible for all this to happen in Lahore without the knowledge or connivance of the Punjab government? But such analysis cannot hide the simple truth that through this subterfuge those who had made this deal have denuded their own right to be the countrys rulers. It is for the people of Pakistan to decide the fate of those who had the daring to accomplish this in a manner which simply stinks, as it is shrouded in mystery hiding the truth from the people, media and the press. The writer is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)
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