Where Is The Mourning, Mr. Zardari?
PakistanPal
guest more important than sharing the grief of your people?
More than one hundred innocent Pakistanis killed in one day, more than
two hundred in less than a month. Attacks linked to our own and
America's failed Afghan policy. Attacks supported by anti-Pakistan
forces in the region and not just unknown 'extremists'. Children left
without parents, a nation terrorized. And the response of our
political elite? Dinner, toasts and merrymaking in Islamabad. Was a
reception for a foreign guest more important than sharing the grief of
your people? A shameless foreign-backed ruling elite.
By AHMED QURAISHI
WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan-One hundred and ten killed in one day. More than
two hundred dead in less than a month. If this were any other country,
emergency would have been declared, nation would have been mobilized,
and intellectuals would have moved to question the policies of rulers
who draw their strength from Washington and London and not from the
people and the interests of Pakistan.
Above all, there would have been a national mourning.
But not in Pakistan. Not in a country where one ruler sold his nation
in exchange for a deal offered to him by the Am-Brits and where
'elected' rulers consider receiving someone from Washington and London
the high point of their careers.
The list of grievances is long:
1. WHERE ARE THE RAPID EMERGENCY TEAMS: Many of the dead in Peshawar
probably died beneath collapsed buildings. Where are the millions of
rupees that were spent after the 2005 earthquake on rapid response
rescue teams?
2. MOUNRING: How many innocent Pakistanis should be killed before our
ruling elite decide to declare national mourning? How many Pakistanis
should die before our President and Prime Minister cut short their
toasts for Mrs. Hillary Clinton and rush to Peshawar to be with their
own people?
3. FIND CULPRITS: We know our own citizens are involved in this
terrorism, but the small terror army in South Waziristan is not
getting its money and weapons from inside Pakistan. Rehman Malik's
Interior Ministry and the military's spy agencies have credible,
strong and detailed information about how a US-controlled Afghanistan
is being used for anti-Pakistan activities. BLA and TTP terrorists
have a safe haven there. Terrorist Abdullah Mehsud was killed in 2007
slipping back from Afghanistan through Balochistan [and not the tribal
belt] after meeting his backers there. We know why the Chinese were
targeted here. We have enough evidence of the condemnable role played
by India and its puppets in Kabul, and of the suspicious role of at
least the US intelligence if not the US military and the Obama
administration. And yet our government and the ruling elite of
Pakistan are shy of mentioning this publicly. How many Pakistanis
should die before they move? How many of our children must be orphaned
before you speak up? You are being forced to ditch Kashmir and submit
without questions to whatever Washington wants to do in Afghanistan.
Why can't you take a stand? What are you afraid of? That your assets
in American and British banks will be seized?
4. SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES: US diplomats camouflaged as Afghan Taliban
carrying weapons and pictures of sensitive buildings have been
arrested, not once but many times. US ambassador Anne Patterson has
been using her personal rapport with President Zardari and the
Interior Minister to allow US security firms into Pakistan, mostly to
repeat the same mistakes of Iraq and Afghanistan. Pakistanis don't
want any of this. Pakistanis don't agree with the American view that
Pakistan is a war theater following Iraq and Afghanistan, and we will
resist this. 'Extremism' is not the only explanation for the terrorist
army in South Waziristan. America's role in Afghanistan is also a big
reason for the regional mess.
I make these grievances, and so do most Pakistanis, knowing that we
are seeing a shift in this country. Patriotism and PakNationalism is
on the ascent here. Take the example of one Pakistani politician who
received a call from the US embassy last week. Senator Tariq Azim was
asked to visit the US Embassy building in the secured diplomatic
enclave because a former State Department analyst-turned-academic, Mr.
Daniel Markey, wanted to see him.
Senator Azim accepted the request for the meeting but politely
declined to come to the embassy. He said if Mr. Markey wants to see
him he should come to the senator's office. Sen. Azim's action was not
about being antagonistic to Washington. He is a proponent of strong
ties with America but he wanted to make a statement on US meddling in
Pakistani politics, where Washington's diplomacy with Pakistan shifted
over the past two years from the Pakistan Foreign Office to direct
contacts and private dealings with political parties.
Show some pride and compassion and share the grief of your people
before it's too late.
Article Source : http://www.ahmedquraishi.com/article_detail.php?id=841