Tragedy in New York & in Lahore?

We have just heard that a Pakistani consular officer in New York has shot and killed two US citizens. This happened at the junction of Amsterdam Ave and West 123rd, almost close to Harlem. Police thinks that the two boys he killed, one Latino and one Afro-American might have been trying to rob him, and a pistol has also been found at the site, but they are not sure. What they know however is that a security van that rushed to help him from the Pakistani Consulate in New York over ran an old lady who was trying to juggle her way at a zebra crossing next to a red light. This lady died after reaching the hospital. Some sources are reporting that this Pakistani consular person, Mohammad Omar Khan, was actually an ISI officer under the cover of diplomatic status, he had also served in Waziristan, this might help explain how he shot 14 times from his hand held automatic gun without missing once, it looks like he was trained to shoot. On the net someone has found his picture shaking hands with Gen. Hameed Gul…Oh my God! what will happen now?..I am surfing the screens of Fox, CBS, CNN America (from Atlanta & not from London), NYPD is coming under pressure, Prof David Shapioro, from Harvard Law School just explained that diplomatic immunity does not hold in this case, it has never been tested to that level, no diplomat ever murdered in this country, and is never that strong for Consular or Technical staff anyway, Tom Friedman and Steve Cohen furiously told an anchor person that this proves what they always feared: Al Qaeda connection with ISI, Farid Zakria also accepted that he always under-estimated the risk from Pakistan. Indian Foreign minister who was on a prior engagement in Washington DC is about to hold a press briefing at the Indian Embassy in DC…..he is probably going to speak about Mumbai & 26/11…some investment bankers and gold traders are also advising that poster boy, David Cameron, to issue some kind of statement that can benefit British commercial interests in South Asia…

Don’t worry! Fortunately this has’nt happened, only the reverse has happened, a US Consular Officer in Lahore, Raymond Davis, has shot 14 times and killed two motorcyclists and a Consular vehicle that came to rescue him later killed another pedestrian. Police believes Raymond is telling the truth and only truth, how could they not? foreign office babus disclosed that Raymond will be exported away by the US Embassy in a day or two, there is no other option, this is how it works. Don’t worry! this is no big shit, we are all safe. And this is where we are wrong. Unless we understand the dynamics of mass politics we get more unsafe with every incident that exposes these double standards. We are facing a different kind of wrath, because the country we live, an ocean of humanity of 180 million watches, hears, breathes into this contradiction day in and day out and this makes them angry, and their anger causes instability. They think we the liberals, ruling politicians, civil military bureaucracy, the columnists in English papers are all pieces of shameless shit, devoid of self-respect. They end up connecting events like Aafiya Siddiqi, Drone Attacks, Aimal Kansi, Black Water, Denuclearization of Pakistan, Bhutto hanging and what not, event that are obviously not connected…and should not be, but this is how public collective mind and narrative works, unfortunately it also works the same way in the US and rest of the world…

Many American friends have often wondered why there is so much anti-Americanism in Pakistan? though I think the term anti-Americanism is over blown, an exaggeration, a misnomer, and whatever it represents is almost similar to the kind of feeling US print and media generates about Pakistanis within the US itself and you don’t have to do much to feel that; just read New York Times for a few days…but lets accept for a moment that what Pakistanis suffer is an anti-Americanism..I will argue that this so called anti-Americanism is directly proportionate to the stooge mentality of the ruling civil military bureaucracy and the ruling elites in Islamabad, this is a result of the asymmetrical relationship between the US and Pakistan in which the Pakistani public sees that its governing elites are never able to orchestrate and echo what they feel; in a globalizing world where geographical sovereignty increasingly amounts to little this feeling of helplessness is akin to the subjugation people felt in the days of colonization, the post colonial Indian intellectuals and political class fashioned an elevated rhetoric and practiced policies that helped them to grow beyond that helplessness, for Pakistani public, with its servile civil military bureaucracy, it never ended…today this lingering saga is the single biggest cause of anti-west and anti-American feelings…

And many who pose as liberals, fail both Pakistanis and the Americans when they hesitate in speaking the truth, friendship exists only when one can explain and contribute to better understanding. This is one such moment, a difficult moment, for Pakistani governments,ruling politicians and their allies, media and off-course for the US Consulate in Lahore and for the embassy in Islamabad. They need to understand that every action helps create a consciousness. Death of two common citizens may not be much of an event, for accidents and tragedies abound, but for the symbolism involved and its effects on collective psyche they need to tread carefully. It is quite possible that Raymond Davis is speaking the truth, and the two boys in Lahore- Faizan and Faheem – were indeed robbers who were making threatening gestures, and it is true that diplomatic immunity if insisted by a state has no limits, yet in the larger interest of US-Pakistan relations, trust and stability in this region, it is important that facts be diligently checked and counter checked. Does self defense justifies shooting 14 times? why all or most shots have penetrated from the back? Had these boys doing such acts before? were they really returning from a court proceeding and carrying a gun because of family feud as their families claim? Could Raymond have erred in his judgment? could he have panicked because of the impressions in his own mind? What kinds of weapons US diplomats carry inside Pakistani cities? What was Raymond’s exact role in Pakistan,since this James Bond style shooter hardly fits the description of a standard State Dept diplomat? …could the security of US diplomats be improved through better coordination with Pakistani security agencies rather than arming them like Rambos on Pakistani streets? with a double license to kill? these are difficult and painful questions but important especially since many of us have raised them in the past, and I have posted clips of interviews when Hamid Mir asked Hillary Clinton and earlier I asked Anne Patterson similar question on the same issues, to this day Pakistani government and the US Embassy has failed to clarify but now it may be the time to take stock of this situation…and the larger risks….

Due Process is an essential part of American value system, it must be respected here; it will look ugly, unbearable and politically expensive, if two weeks down the time line Raymond Davis is found relaxing with his girl friend on the coast of Florida or selling his bravado story to Rolling Stone…”How American marine stared in the eyes of the death & shot his way out?”…let us write a new chapter in US-Pakistan relations that can inspire trust for future and stability…I hope so! I am a dreamer!
Dr.Moeed Pirzada
Director World Affairs
Dunya News, Pakistan
Ph: +9251-2821345