Source : http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\03\29\story_29-3-2011_pg3_5
The same people who are crying foul about the recent strike in Datta Khel have remained mute on previous ones. How convenient that all of a sudden they have found this to be a transgression and violation of national sovereignty
In our land, where the so-called ghairat (honour) brigade is trying to demonstrate its impotent rage towards public and private property to vent the release of Raymond Davis, did someone think about the following? The families of the victims will be or probably have been taken to the US to protect them from the same people who are supposedly on fire with emotions, uncontrollable passion and hollow sentiments. These are their own people. How ironic is this?
Is it not an irony that the families have to repatriate to the same ‘evil Amreeka’ [US] that was behind all of this? The same Amreeka that everyone loves to hate so much? All this rage and show of ‘qaumi ghairat’ (national honour) is a bit cheesy on our part. We take aid from the same US and it does not dent our ego one bit. Secondly, this noise is all because a Caucasian man was involved. It seems as though we somehow link the Caucasian American to the same British who ruled over us so many years ago.
Let us assume, if Davis were a Japanese American, an African American or an Armenian American, would one think our sentiments would be at this boiling point? I think not. We tend to get all worked up when it is a white American or British, an Indian Hindu, an Israeli or an American Jew. Those are our patented enemies. That is how our psyche is wired.
If it were an Arab, we would have invoked our ‘brotherly ties’, and let him off the hook without a squeak. No immunity, no diyat (blood money), no questions. Heck, his plane would have left Allama Iqbal International Airport on the same day along with VIP protocol. After all, it is the same Arabs who take our juveniles to play as camel jockeys for their sadistic pleasure. Many have lost their lives trampled underfoot, but their screams have never reached our perky ears. In case of an Arab, the families of the victims would have gotten a check of Rs one lac from the government, if at all. After all, people are dying every day on the streets, what is the big deal, right?
Let us not forget that it was our dear darling ‘Khadimain-e-Hurmain-o-Shareefain’ (House of Saud), who were brought into the whole episode as the brokers and guarantors. Perhaps they were the ones who provided the diyat sum for the victims as well.
The so-called opposition, laced with a lethal dose of ‘national honour’ is trying to capitalise in on the whole situation to their advantage. It does not take a genius to figure out that this entire drama is being played and replayed to discredit the government. It is as clear as day that Kerry’s visit to Pakistan is what set things in motion. From the PML-N to the military establishment, judiciary to the provincial government of Punjab, all were on the same page to make this happen. However, all of a sudden, it is deliberately being portrayed that the government sold the souls of two poor Pakistanis at dirt-cheap prices.
How hollow we have become evades any sane person’s imagination. We have people dying left and right all across Pakistan every day, yet there is no protest, no condemnation, just deafening silence from these righteous and emotionally charged individuals. Very recently, Karachi witnessed another blood bath. People shrug their shoulders and remain indifferent. It is termed as “a usual day in Karachi”, and every one moves on.
Holy places such as mosques and shrines were attacked repeatedly in the past and people were killed indiscriminately, yet no dent or bruise to the soul of our nation was ever felt. Such acts have been dismissed very casually as being another day in Pakistan or have conveniently been labelled as the fruit of being a foot soldier for the American war on terror.
The drone strikes have gained momentum in significance and have sparked a new hue and cry from these folks. These drone strikes are now being labelled as the price for the Davis incarceration, or an ‘American show of gratitude’. The drone strikes have been in motion for quite some time. People who are trying to establish a link between the Davis issue and drones are certainly missing something somewhere.
The drone strikes are carried out from Pakistani soil, with of course the military being on board. The strikes are carried out against certain targets and depending on when the window of opportunity opens up. No one bothers to concentrate on one focal issue: why are the strikes targeted in one particular area? Who are these strikes seeking?
The same people who are crying foul about the recent strike in Datta Khel have remained mute on previous ones. How convenient that all of a sudden they have found this to be a transgression and violation of national sovereignty! This is political point scoring at its ultimate level.
The characters who are jumping up and down and on the streets causing harm to public and private property are forgetting one very important thing. Those shops or cars belong to hard working people, many living from day to day. They have nothing to do with Davis or the US. When these shops are not open for business, their families suffer. There are no insurance claims to replace the earnings of a daily wage earner.
Lastly, the righteous lot is becoming offended by the application of a law, which is supposedly allowed in certain cases. Again, stressing my earlier point, this may be because the crime involves a ‘white’ man. Very rarely do you see the same outrage when the offenders are Muslims. I do not recall so many political parties and tehreeks in action when Mughees and Muneeb lost their lives in Sialkot not so long ago. It is the bruised ego of so many that sees a ‘farangi’ committing some grave harm to us. Never mind, and do not dare to remind us, what we do to ourselves.
The writer is a Pakistani American. He blogs at http://dasgharspoliticalprism.blogspot.com/ and can be reached at dasghar@aol.com
The same people who are crying foul about the recent strike in Datta Khel have remained mute on previous ones. How convenient that all of a sudden they have found this to be a transgression and violation of national sovereignty
In our land, where the so-called ghairat (honour) brigade is trying to demonstrate its impotent rage towards public and private property to vent the release of Raymond Davis, did someone think about the following? The families of the victims will be or probably have been taken to the US to protect them from the same people who are supposedly on fire with emotions, uncontrollable passion and hollow sentiments. These are their own people. How ironic is this?
Is it not an irony that the families have to repatriate to the same ‘evil Amreeka’ [US] that was behind all of this? The same Amreeka that everyone loves to hate so much? All this rage and show of ‘qaumi ghairat’ (national honour) is a bit cheesy on our part. We take aid from the same US and it does not dent our ego one bit. Secondly, this noise is all because a Caucasian man was involved. It seems as though we somehow link the Caucasian American to the same British who ruled over us so many years ago.
Let us assume, if Davis were a Japanese American, an African American or an Armenian American, would one think our sentiments would be at this boiling point? I think not. We tend to get all worked up when it is a white American or British, an Indian Hindu, an Israeli or an American Jew. Those are our patented enemies. That is how our psyche is wired.
If it were an Arab, we would have invoked our ‘brotherly ties’, and let him off the hook without a squeak. No immunity, no diyat (blood money), no questions. Heck, his plane would have left Allama Iqbal International Airport on the same day along with VIP protocol. After all, it is the same Arabs who take our juveniles to play as camel jockeys for their sadistic pleasure. Many have lost their lives trampled underfoot, but their screams have never reached our perky ears. In case of an Arab, the families of the victims would have gotten a check of Rs one lac from the government, if at all. After all, people are dying every day on the streets, what is the big deal, right?
Let us not forget that it was our dear darling ‘Khadimain-e-Hurmain-o-Shareefain’ (House of Saud), who were brought into the whole episode as the brokers and guarantors. Perhaps they were the ones who provided the diyat sum for the victims as well.
The so-called opposition, laced with a lethal dose of ‘national honour’ is trying to capitalise in on the whole situation to their advantage. It does not take a genius to figure out that this entire drama is being played and replayed to discredit the government. It is as clear as day that Kerry’s visit to Pakistan is what set things in motion. From the PML-N to the military establishment, judiciary to the provincial government of Punjab, all were on the same page to make this happen. However, all of a sudden, it is deliberately being portrayed that the government sold the souls of two poor Pakistanis at dirt-cheap prices.
How hollow we have become evades any sane person’s imagination. We have people dying left and right all across Pakistan every day, yet there is no protest, no condemnation, just deafening silence from these righteous and emotionally charged individuals. Very recently, Karachi witnessed another blood bath. People shrug their shoulders and remain indifferent. It is termed as “a usual day in Karachi”, and every one moves on.
Holy places such as mosques and shrines were attacked repeatedly in the past and people were killed indiscriminately, yet no dent or bruise to the soul of our nation was ever felt. Such acts have been dismissed very casually as being another day in Pakistan or have conveniently been labelled as the fruit of being a foot soldier for the American war on terror.
The drone strikes have gained momentum in significance and have sparked a new hue and cry from these folks. These drone strikes are now being labelled as the price for the Davis incarceration, or an ‘American show of gratitude’. The drone strikes have been in motion for quite some time. People who are trying to establish a link between the Davis issue and drones are certainly missing something somewhere.
The drone strikes are carried out from Pakistani soil, with of course the military being on board. The strikes are carried out against certain targets and depending on when the window of opportunity opens up. No one bothers to concentrate on one focal issue: why are the strikes targeted in one particular area? Who are these strikes seeking?
The same people who are crying foul about the recent strike in Datta Khel have remained mute on previous ones. How convenient that all of a sudden they have found this to be a transgression and violation of national sovereignty! This is political point scoring at its ultimate level.
The characters who are jumping up and down and on the streets causing harm to public and private property are forgetting one very important thing. Those shops or cars belong to hard working people, many living from day to day. They have nothing to do with Davis or the US. When these shops are not open for business, their families suffer. There are no insurance claims to replace the earnings of a daily wage earner.
Lastly, the righteous lot is becoming offended by the application of a law, which is supposedly allowed in certain cases. Again, stressing my earlier point, this may be because the crime involves a ‘white’ man. Very rarely do you see the same outrage when the offenders are Muslims. I do not recall so many political parties and tehreeks in action when Mughees and Muneeb lost their lives in Sialkot not so long ago. It is the bruised ego of so many that sees a ‘farangi’ committing some grave harm to us. Never mind, and do not dare to remind us, what we do to ourselves.
The writer is a Pakistani American. He blogs at http://dasgharspoliticalprism.blogspot.com/ and can be reached at dasghar@aol.com
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