Much has been made of the killings in Lahore by Raymond Davis. People protested, others cringed, some didn’t care, and yet others did not even know an American had murdered two Pakistanis. Sounds strange doesn’t it? An American killed two Pakistanis in Pakistan. Usually, we’re more inclined towards hearing the reverse of this like a Pakistani tries to blow himself up in New York, or a Pakistani runs over an Irish dog in Little Minnesota. You get the idea. The tragic irony of this whole affair is that even though Raymond Davis shot and killed two Pakistanis, two lives which were not shot at have also been claimed by this incident. The first life of course was the man who was on a bike and happened to come in front of the Land Cruiser which was being driven by members of the American Consulate in Lahore, and which the Americans insist does not exist. The other life is the wife of Faheem (one of the murdered boys), who committed suicide after declaring she does not believe in this justice system, nor this government to get her justice.
But you know what’s more shocking? The total aloofness that the Punjab government has shown towards this incident. Kudos to them for at least showing to the world that they know Faheem’s wife has committed suicide. The federal government in its infinite wisdom has decided to keep its twat shut. Probably because it fears reprisals of some sort? No one knows for sure. But getting back to the Punjab government. Rana Sanaullah stated that if Faheem’s wife had such an issue with the justice system, she should’ve come to the Punjab government for help. Well excuse me, but why should SHE have come to YOU, when it is YOUR goddamn RESPONSIBILITY to ensure justice is provided to her in the first place? That all her concerns are addressed by you? What sort of a barbarian are you Rana Sanaullah that you absolve yourself of blame?
People often talk about how this death could spark a revolution in Pakistan, much like the self immolation of the fruit vendor in Tunisia. But it won’t. You see the Tunisians were genuinely concerned about their plight. We on the other hand have accepted ours. We aren’t ready to change the status quo because that would mean moving our lazy butts and that’s just too tiring and too difficult.
We demand justice, but we aren’t willing to fight for it. Tomorrow if Raymond Davis is handed back to the United States, none of us will really give a damn. Sure there will be a couple of protests, a lot of tweets, and lots of blogs over the injustice but at the end of the day when the dust will settle, we will be back at where we started. Truth be told, we wouldn’t even have moved from our place. The only solace is knowing the fact that Pakistan seems to be united in wanting justice this time around. What the Vienna Convention demands might be immunity, but the US has social and moral responsibility to see that justice is provided to the victims. And if it doesn’t do that, then the Government of Pakistan ought to realize that it has 180 million people on its back. The US might have cut of bilateral relations, but it does realize it will never be able to survive without Pakistan’s support in FATA and that has to be bargaining chip in this whole mess.
Justice needs to be served. Raymond Davis killed two Pakistanis who have thus far been proven innocent. Raymond Davis also indirectly murdered two other totally innocent lives. He needs to pay for his crimes and his sins. He needs to be told that Pakistan is an independent country with independent people and people like him are not welcome in the Motherland. He needs to be told that he will spend a very long time in the Pakistani prison system or alternatively, will be hung to death. If however he is proven innocent by the courts, then he is free to go wherever he wants. But if the government tries to extradite him “under diplomatic immunity” (read American pressure), it would be nothing more than a sack full of garbage heap. Which it already is.
