I have never written anything regarding the government or any specific leader without negativity nor without sarcasm – but today that changes, to a certain extent at least. Today, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi changed a lot of things – especially the perception that all our leaders will buckle down under pressure and go miles for a bit of extra weight in their pockets.
With so much speculation regarding the Raymond Davis case, where everyone from US leaders to our very own embarrassing Fauzia Wahab have given contradictory statements, Qureshi stands firm on his stance – Davis does not enjoy blanket immunity. Said out loud in plain and simple terms.
I am perhaps a part of that generation that often sinks into apathy and then jumps to extreme patriotism and vice versa. The generation that has spent most of its youth being embarrassed by the representatives of Pakistan. But today that changed slightly. Here is a man who was, as he said so himself ‘the face of Pakistan’ in the international arena, stripped of his portfolio and was offered the Ministry of Water and Power instead. And what does he do? In a dignified way, rejects the offer and in an even more graceful way, does not bash the party that disappointed him, but instead further committed himself to the PPP, going as far as to say that he is a part of the PPP family and his commitment to it was unconditional. How many of you have heard that one before? Even if we assume for a minute, that those were clever words simply written down for the cameras, fact remains that they were dignified words.
We have leaders talking about each other’s hair transplants and bedroom escapades. We have leaders hurling abuses at each other on talk shows and giving demeaning statements against the other in press conferences. But today, there was no blame game, no name throwing, no finger pointing and no dramatic statements – refreshing change.
No doubt, Qureshi was always an eloquent speaker, but today he was much more than that. He was the kind of leader many would feel proud of. Now let’s look at what his fault was – defending Pakistan’s integrity and saving it from a yard sale yet again? If so then be it and let others follow his faults as well, for these ‘faults’ are the very traits that establish the difference between a leader and a puppet.
In his speech today, Qureshi showed his strength of character by constantly referring to facts and records instead of mere speculations and angry emotions. He did not speak as if the word of the United States of America is the be all and end all and in fact pointed out that if Pakistan needs America, then America also needs Pakistan. This may be a strong conclusion to come to, but I don’t believe Qureshi’s aim here is to sell Pakistan’s sovereignty. In fact, if he continues to show the strength he did today, then he will probably only end up continuing to pay the price of telling the truth.
Instead of stripping him off his authority and position, PPP should have held on to him tighter because its only leaders like him who may be able to restore respect in the eyes of the nation that has been failed profusely by its government.
Shyema Sajjad is the Deputy Editor at Dawn.com
The US government official said on Monday that Davis was a CIA contractor providing security for CIA officers and had diplomatic immunity.
We find a similar case in US when a Deputy ambassador of Republic of Georgia (Gueorgui Makharadze) killed a sixteen-year old girl in Washington D.C. while driving under the influence of alcohol in January 1997. He had a blood alcohol content of 0.15 and was released from custody because he was a diplomat. The U.S. government subsequently asked the Georgian government to waive his immunity, which they did and Makharadze was tried and convicted of manslaughter by the U.S. and sentenced to seven to twenty-one years in prison. The first three years of his sentence were served in a North Carolina prison, after which he was repatriated to his home nation of Georgia to serve the remainder of his sentence. If Georgian Government had not waived his immunity, he would have never faced trial in US. Mr .Qureshi is not an expert in International law and he is playing a dangerous game with country’s future.
Good examples and analysis. Another example : A Pakistani ‘diplomat’ who had thousands of kilos of RDX in his home was sent back by Nepal when Pak government refused the Nepales government’s request to waive immunity. Far more than 2 people would have died if this Pakistani diplomat’s plans had fructified.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi used his influence to get his son a job in Senator Kerry’s office during the signing of Kerry Lugar Bill. That being the case, how can he be an honest politician representing the country’s interest?
Very few people are looking at this man’s history. Only going by his populist stance AFTER he lost his job.
If the same Raymond Davis of USA had been Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khwaja of Saudi Arabia, he would have been let go. Why should there be double standards? After all it is the US that gives Pakistan most amount of aid, while Saudis do not. I believe Raymond Davis should be let go as after all he was only trying to defend himself from two armed men who were being aggressive. Anybody in his position would have done the same.
If the CIA agent Raymond Davis was replaced by ISI agent and the 2 people killed were in Balochistan instead of Lahore, would peple have come out in the streets? This is not a hypothetical situation but a reality and we know what the answer is.
This proves that it is not a quest for justice but anti Americanism that is driving these rallies.
I completely disagree. Shooting 20 bullets into two people -EVEN- in self defence would be disproportionate by any reasonable justice system. If I did that, to people who were mugging me, even if they were agressive, there would be no question that I’d be found guilty of murder, with possibly time off if I plead self-defence. Anywhere in the world, this is reasonable practice. You can’t kill someone who is trying to mug you. Armed robbery and murder ore not the same thing. He could have defended him self with a stun gun.
To Amna…What you say makes a lot of good sense…,but there was more to it than meets the eye, We will never get the full and complete facts just fact type statements. You must also realize that there are a lot of people in beautiful Pakistan that are soooo disinfranchished from themselves and their own community as well as the outside world.
agreed
And how do you know that he was ‘defending’ himself and other men were ‘aggressive’. Can you decide that?
Raymond Davis, an American provided Beards a field day. You don’t see them come out to protest against suicide bombing when terrorists attack markets, killing innocent men, women & children.
Jim, yes it always makes me wonder too why these beards don’t come out to protest against the incompetent, corrupt govt of Pakistan or against these suicide bombings in Pakistan which with the arrest of Raymond Davis have been proven without the shadow of doubt that all these are CIA sponsored to destabalize Pakistan.
James
The so called beards are being murdered by drone attacks every day also and they came out to protest.And by the way they turn into suicide bombers because they have lost everything and the desire of revenge creeps in.Your so called liberal, freedom of thoughts media never reports these things. No western media is mentioning about the Pakistani who was crushed to death. if he is a white to roam around trigger happy murdering people. Pumping more then 20 bullets in self defence what a joke.
We need to look at this incident without bias. Police report said “victims” were carrying gun, also had stolen cell phones with them. That itself shows that both were out to rob people, they were not selling scout cookies.If in fact they pointed gun at Ray Davis even an empty gun, Ray Davis had thr right to shoot them down. I would have done the same.
Agreed !!!
Now AP and Guardian have also spilled out the truth, Rehman Malik and Hussain Haqqani must resign. They are not working for Pakistan. They are the agents with Pakistani faces and they are more dangerous than foreign agents
too many cooks have spoilt the broth and now the world press is attracted hence more investigation
if the truth and factual statement, by only those who are authorized to issue statements would have come out in time, the many many sackings and resignations would have been saved. and creditility would have been felt all over———– still a lesson be learnt————- truith always pays
I think Mr. Qureshi has crossed the line of decency and is acting like a totally irresponsible politician, calling the leadership dishonest and weak. The former foreign minister must know that you could have a difference of opinion with the party but once the decision is made, you have no choice but to support it.
The country is going through a very tough period, where war and instability has created a harsh and brutal environment. One hundred forty seven thousand of its troops are engaged in a war in one of the most difficult terrains with no end in sight.
We need cooler heads to make the rational decisions for the country, because one misstep can lead to unprecedented consequences. The country is not in a position like India to acquire latest combat aircrafts and weapon systems. Most of its advanced military equipment is purchased with grants from the US. If we follow what Qureshi is advocating, the US can stop the spare parts and millions of dollars of military equipment will be useless in no time.
There are a lot of unanswered questions about Raymond Davis incident but one thing is certain that he is a US citizen and staff member at the US consulate in Lahore. If the leadership decides not to abide by the Geneva agreement and follow the mob mentality (50% literate), the country will pay the price for decades to come.
British newspaper say he is a CIA agent. do you still think he is eligible for immunity? you are right about Pakistan facing a tough period. misgovernance, corruption,inflation, law and order etc. do you think present government is really bothered about all this.
History repeats itself, doesn’t it? Bhutto vs. Ayub Khan, Qureshi vs. Zardari. I would like to be corrected.
What do politicians do all over the world, including the US – - play with voters’ emotions whenever possible, be it WMDs, Shimla accord, Khatm-e-Nubuwat, R Davis, freedom of speech, human rights etc. etc.
The truth lies somewherelse, I think.
The following ‘facts’ mentioned in Dailytimes also magtch what most of Pakistani media said at that time “When the Kerry-Lugar-Berman (KLB) law needed implementation, which really meant the supply side of the $ 1.5 billion to Pakistan, the quid pro quo was to enable visas to this entire group of the US’s agent provocateurs to make an entry into Pakistan in the garb of operational need in support of the war against terror. Pakistan dithered, KLB was put on hold, and the US-Pakistan ‘strategic’ relationship hit the first snag in the process. To Pakistan $ 1.5 billion was life, and the visas had to be given. In fact, allegedly 500 of those were granted in Washington without due process”
Who was in charge of the foreign office at the time that 500 people like Davis wee allowed to enter Pakistan? Yes. None other than SMQ.
Who also personally benefitted by getting hi son a job in Senator Kerry’s office during the signing of Kerry Lugar Bill? YEs none other than SMQ.
So who should bear the blame for the actions of people that were allowed in the country without due process? I leave that for the readers to answer..
You guys are going too far in appreciation of Mr Qureshi. Remember it was not till he was relieved from his duties he took his stance. I still think whatever happened at the end it went in Pakistan favour.
I will not trust a leader who uses word “I” too frequently.
I did, I am, I will, I can, I do, I could
Just hope for the best and my thoughts are with the families who lost their loved ones.
With the publicity , and the dislike of America, and the Americans , this man is never going to have a fair trial.
Come to US and see how a person from a third world country is treated here. They have different standard of justice based on your nationality and colour of your skin. I think you have no idea while living in Pakistan. So do no post this kind of comments without knowing the facts.
I do live in the US and I beg to differ. Within US, all residents are treated equal before law. Pakisuanis in US live with far more dignity than Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia and UAE.
True. It is not a reflection on Pakistan’s judiciary but will any witness testify in his favor? On the first day TV has shown a couple of people describing the 2 people as dakus. Nver sw those 2 people after that.
Does their being “dakus” change or justify the fact that they were murdered in broad daylight by a CIA operative??
What you have said simply confirms what one would have guessed based on his actions before (when he was FM) and after (when he is no lnger the FM.
If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved and never will achieve, its full potential that word would be “politicians”. Sorry to say but Mr Shah Mehmood Qureshi is also a seasoned politician. Why did he not say anything when he’s minister. Basically, he don’t have any sympathy with grieved family but????????????? You’ll see in near future why he spoke like that. At the time of interview with kashif abbasi and during his press conference just look at his face. I’m saying to those people who have some knowledge of face reading. What he’s saying in his press conference that Mr Raymond Davis doesn’t have full diplomatic immunity ?what does it means? It’s a clear cut message to PPPP leaders I’m here it’s up to you what you want from me. He’s neither sincere to his party nor to his people. In my conclusion, I’d like to say that, the wheel of time is not to meant to reverse its direction; it must move forward. Time will tell every body sooner or later that what was behind the scene. We must think collectively as a civilised society for the betterment of bereaved families and pray to Allah to place all souls into heaven. Ameen
This is Sparta
JQ i don’t think its wise to drag your personal relations with Shah mehmood on this forum. The point here is what our leadership needs to do in this situgation. Either buckle down and take american dictation or side with the truth. This is what SMQ and this is what the nation wants. Its not for us to assess intentions, thats a matter for god to decide. if SMQ wants to be next PM,so whats wrong in being ambitious.At least hes showing leadership and guts.
Aly,
I’m just saying that I know him really well since he’s a relative but that doesn’t mean I disrespect him, it’s just that he’s playing with the emotions of Pakistani’s and I really don’t appreciate that. If he can’t even respect his party and it’s leaders then why doesn’t he just resign? He wants to stay in the party and at the same time disrespect his party colleagues and party policies. He’s not professional at all and that is another reason. He’s not Mr. Bhutto, and this attention will be short lived and I can guarantee if he keeps doing this he will have to leave the party and since no other party wants him (guaranteed, political reasons), he will either end up as a mayor of Multan or create his own party and we’ve seen what happens when one tries to create their own PPP (e.g. Pir Pagara, Shaheed group, etc).
I agree Q did the right thing. Now he needs to maintain his dignity and one way to do that is to be quiet. No disrespect intended. I am sure he is loving all the attention he is getting here and elsewhere. Who does not enjoy an ego massage?
But just act dignified now.
The last time he was in the news was when he and Hillary were giggling like school-children, their shoulders touching. The bearded-community must be been upset. But that was OK by me. A welcome respite, a refreshing change, from the other dull stories doing the rounds.
Dear Readers,
There are two main questions must be answered before giving any comments.
1. How did know that Mr. Davis had no political immunity?
2. Did he ( Mr. Qureshi) have any access to Pakistan agency
to check Mr. Davis status before he made such comment.
and thirdly may be checked that ISI was behind or not.
Two deaths must not go in vain.
Thanks
Rajendra M. Parikh
Arlington, Texas USA
He was the foriegn minister so he should be the one to know. Secondly when will you people get out of your narrow mindedness and stop seeing ISI behind everything. Are you saying ISI gave MR davis a gun and asked him to shoot two Pakistanis and crush the third under their car on the street of Lahore.
Sorry. I is unclear what you mean. Can you please clarify?
Typical Indian nature blame ISI for anything and everything.
I know Shah Mehmood personally, he is a relative and believe me whatever he is doing is to take revenge on the prime minister as they have had political rivalry before and he has called his close family relatives to tell them that ‘wait and see I’m becoming the next prime minister’ well I just have a few questions:
1) Why did he not take a stance when drone attacks were underway by US?
2) Why did he not have a foreign policy in which he represented Pakistan in nations other than just US, India, and China? I have not seen any progress at all
3) If he wasn’t going to represent Pakistan in Indian soil than where? He thinks Pakistani’s and our media will support him forever, but he’s forgetting that he has to have a plan like Mr. Bhutto (please don’t compare him with Mr. Bhutto, its a shame)
4) Why did he not do the press conference before being removed from this ministry?
5) Why does he want the foreign ministry since he didn’t even prove to be capable? I know why, but can’t tell, why did he not accept the ministry given to him by his party?
It’s a disgrace calling him a family member, that’s what you would say as well if you knew him personally
I won’t trust you JQ as you are speaking against your own family member.
JQ
Shah Mehmood Qureshi can’t be worse than Gilani-Zardari combo. Drone attacks are by tacit approval of Gilani, Zardari government. Qureshi was just part of the government.
Such decisions are taken by Prime minister, not foreign minister.
Dear JQ,
As commenting on the lack of your writing skills would be a personal attack, I will just refer to your point. As you are hiding behind the cloak of anonymity, why can you not tell why Mr. Qureshi wants the foreign ministry instead of the water and power ministry. Instead of a wild conspiracy theory, a reasonable basis for his decision may be the fact that the ministry of foreign affairs offers him the chance to be the international face of his nation worldwide, an honour available to only a select few. For an honest and decent gentleman like Mr. Qureshi, there is no charm in the water and power ministry where one has to allow influential thieves to get plunder away billions in the name of rental power projects, while taking the responsibility of ever acute shortages of electricity.
Disgrace? Are you calling this brave and candid person disgrace? Well he is the only one at the moment who is lifting up the standards (which is nil at the moment) of the so called government, we have seen corruption, corruption and corruption uptil now. Why dont u say something about Mr. President? I think many will hear you then!
I wasted a minute of mine reading your 5 amorphous points!
And yes he should be the PM, we need a brave person who keeps in view the interest of the nation, not the interest of Mr. President!
JQ, I don’t think Shah Mehmood qureshi is a disgrace, he had the Guts todo what he did, unlike you and your other leaders in PPP including Zardari, Gilani, Malik, Fauzia who are all TRAITORs & corrupt down to the bones. I have only one question for you & your PPP leaders, are you guys going to take all this money to the grave, how much would be enough for you…………
You have totally ignored all the relevant questions raised and are sticking to your untenable and irrational position stubbornly. Why didnt the man express his views before leaving?
It really doesn’t matter why he did or didn’t do it earlier, what really matters is that he took the stand which many leaders lack at the moment. The 5 points raised by JQ don’t make any sense and are based on ignorance, why doesn’t JQ shed some light on why Gilani-Zardari oppose the drone strikes etc….
His questions are very relevant. The point is that he did not really care about qaumi waqar when he was a minister. Now that he has lost his job, he is saying the things that will give him popularity. This is not an act of courage by any means. If he had courage, he should have spoken when he had something to lose by speaking.
Good point. The chief justice also took oath under the PCO, but when he took a stand, the whole nation was behind him. Moments like these don’t come that often unfortunately in our nations history. So we should recognize that SMQ took a stand and showed leadership which is utterly lacking now a days.
Good question Khan jee
OKKKKK.. For argument sake…let’s say those two Pakistanis are real robbers. Its a known fact that there are loads running around with guns hijacking and mugging people in broad daylight. So this Davis is just one of those people who has a gun when he goes out in the streets of Pakistan for his own protection complete with high tech gadgets (come on even I will bring my GPS and 4G cellphone wherever I go). He was trying to enjoy the sights and sounds of the streets of Pakistan then as he is a foreigner he will be an easy target for these robbers. So, they attempted to rob him with a gun pointed at him but unfortunately he was well learned with the arts of weaponry…who isn’t in America? Watching too much Clint Eastwood and Arnold Schwarznegger movies! Anyway, he managed to defend himself and killed the robbers instead. So, what was his fault? Defending himself? What a joke!
OKKKK…for argument sake again…what if Davis happens to be an Arab? Will Qureshi make so much noise and talks about sovereignty and patriotism? Will the media sensationalize such incident? Let’s see…it’s quite interesting to note where this GRANDSTANDING of Qureshi will take him!
The points are valid!!!
read the autopsy report. he shot more than ten bullets upon those people. do ypu think that is self defence?
Yes – in the heat of the moment it only takes seconds to fire 10 shots. And I doubt tere would be any fuss at all if an Arab/Islamic person had shot two armed robbers.
Petrus,
My question is how did he shoot the ten bullets through the windscreen without shattering it? If you see the video of the car, you’ll see that he chose an angle which killed his victims without damaging all of the windscreen, ask any other diplomat and I’m pretty sure they will not be able to shoot as professionally as Davis.
Even ‘The Guardian’ has linked Davis with CIA, that means that US was spying in Pakistan which I believe (will have to check international law) is crime. I remember how US treated Assange (wikileaks), I remember how they treated the Russian spy who got caught couple of months back. So my only message to US would be to please back off in this case as Davis was not a diplomat but a threat to the nation of Pakistan.
Sorry but yes it is self defence .
Any person in a panic will go into hysteria , and just keep on firing. Karachi has become a city full of gangs and robbers. The mindset is there, that people are always looking out for dangerous situations.
Shabbir a novice may empty his gun’s chamber in panic but not a pro who carries guns and gadgets with him. Diplomats don’t roam on the streets with arms and reconaissance gadgets.
With so much going on the political, economic and security fronts of Pakistan, the next generation of Pakistani politics looks bleak. Just think 10-15 years down the line. I do not see any one currently in the age group of 35-45 who could hold the reins of governance in future. The media has opened and awareness has been created in people so scions of the landlords too cannot be bet upon. Current politicians should also think about this issue and try to groom youth who have moral values.
at this stage i want to remind all of you a sentance which we have forgot “sheer ki ak din ki zindagi geedar ki su sala zindagi se bhtr hai” brave nations always stand on thier rights and fight for thier dignity…..
Well, like always we are praising a single action from a political player… Is it not this his job… What we are doing is apprecitilating some ne for doing his job for once… Shah’s speech was good, but at the same time I was disappointed by the analysts on TV news channels for calling him the next big thing… It’s just one good deed..:
I can accept that he is taking one for the nation if he had made the revelation before he was kicked out of the cabinet. He is just acting petty and childish by talking about it now. Revenge is his motive and not any high principles.
Totally agree. The example of someone who did show courge is Salman Tasseer who continued to speak against the man made distortions in implementing the blasphemy law despite being forsaken by his party and despite receiving death threats.
This man kept quiet when it was a question of his kursi and now that he has nothing to lose, he is taking a populist stand where there is no personal risk to him.
what we see in this Politician’s that when there KURSI are taken by them then they revealed the fact about every things and conformly if this person was on his own post as Minister he will not do like this. Now its anger which he is saying not facts…
A prudent example of yet another naive Pakistani getting spun in the weave of insincere demagoguery. Mr Qureshi’s one stance that coincides with yours does not exonerate him for supporting a false,undemocratic government ruled by a party whose leader is money and power rather than ideology or loyalty. In politics, nothing must be taken at face value. Bigger things are in motion,things that would elude a simple mind. Today he impressed you,tomorrow he’ll disappoint. Truly,you represent the simpleness of the average Pakistani. I’m confident that we will be seeing Mr. Qureshi real soon in a much more important role (not necessarily favorable for Pakistan) probably even the next PM of the country. He may not be a puppet but there is no paucity of stuntmen in this country either.
What are you talking about Morbid ? In a time of despair when no Pakistani leader has the courage to speak the truth, SQM had the courage to do so (there may be 100 reasons behind it but crucs of the matter is that he did speak the truth). I think what ever he said and for what ever reason puts him at risk and needs some qualities.
Qureshi speaks articulately – an Oxford graduate and full of false promises and pretenses. My question is what has he contributed to Pakistan that made a huge impact on the lives of Pakistani masses. I dont see anything concrete evidence of his work… I don’t see any running safe water in our villages, don’t have access to healthcare etc..etc. What he is doing is talk after the event and using the media to further his career as politician and manipulate the minds of the people. He is just grandstanding…nothing has change! People wake up!!!
HJ Mirza,to judge Qureshi’s impact on the masses, I suggest you visit the Foreign Office website to see his achievements. And for concrete evidence of his work,visit his constituency and see for yourself ! Its very easy to denigrate someone,but difficult to give merit,where merit is due !
high time polictical parties should now make rules to give official news and not just allow every tom dick and harry from the party to purgue out what ever, whenever, and wherever blast true and false views and news. when on positive it becomes party news and when negative, a prompt rebuttal comes, saying it is the personal opinion.of the party worker and not of the party itself??? It is a FLOATING DOUBLE STANDARD???? THAT they have been following . This ought to be rectified this time????
In the time of PPP government, who ever spoke the truth and his mind that was not acceptable to Zardari is a useless person and is removed. The latest news that Fozia Wahab who supported millions of time her master Zardari is going to be replaced by Kaira for her speaking of truth and reality. Just like Mahmood Qureshi has been removed for speaking about his mind. We need a mesiah to remove Zardari, Gailani and Nawaz for the sake of freedom of Pakistan.
Totally agree with you
The man is playing to the gallaries, this was not his position when he had his job.
True. It is very interesting that most commentators are missing this point.
This guy SMQ only spoke up about Raymond Davis case after he was given the pink slip.