A horrendous incident

The appalling incident in Lahore where two motorcyclists were shot dead by an American national, Raymond Davis, and a third brutally over run by a US Consulate car that violated the one way traffic rule to come to the aid of Davis has left the entire nation visibly enraged. The plea reportedly taken by Davis is that he shot the two in self-defence, who the police have confirmed were armed.
This is, of course, a legitimate defence plea. The bereaved family has however informed the police that their family was embroiled in an enmity with another - an enmity that had already accounted for one death of a close family member by shooting - and hence the deceased were carrying a pistol for their own defence.
The US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley told reporters in Washington that Davis is a US citizen working for the consulate but failed to confirm whether he had diplomatic status. Crowley also declined to answer whether the official was authorised to carry a firearm, but thankfully did say that the US would co-operate with the Pakistani investigation that was under way.
There is media speculation in Pakistan that the principal accused was a spook, which may explain why the US is unwilling to publicly invoke his diplomatic status but would, without doubt, do so in private meetings with Pakistani officialdom. Be that as it may, it is hoped that diplomatic immunity, if Davis is deemed guilty of completely misreading the situation by the investigating authorities, is not invoked given the justifiable anger simmering in the country.
Few doubt that the Americans would be willing to pay considerable compensation to the family, however that may leave the perception that justice has been denied. And that must not be a casualty of this horrendous incident. Presently investigation is ongoing and one would hope that neither country's officials try to influence or compromise it. Rana Sanaullah, the Punjab Law Minister has assured of an unbiased investigation and, as proof, noted that the two deceased were carrying pistols. As promised by Crowley, one would hope that the US administration would cooperate with the investigation.
Many argue that this latest incident further undermines the Obama administration's intent to win the hearts and minds of the Pakistani people. Coming in the wake of a marked escalation in the number of drone attacks and their associated casualties, as well as the Dr Aafia Siddiqui's case, it appears that the goodwill that was generated by the US government in providing prompt and effective relief to the summer flood victims has been more or less wiped out. However, common sense must prevail in both countries: we must acknowledge that all Americans are not bad and out to get Pakistanis like all Pakistanis are not Taliban and out to get America.
News reports indicate that the same day as this dastardly attack took place, the Prime Minister's Secretariat rather inopportunely released a statement attributed to Gilani in which he acknowledged that "the US would be crucial for the disbursement of the next International Monetary Fund (IMF) tranche in March this year to help my government prepare for the next fiscal year's budget." These words were uttered during his meeting with the visiting US President's Advisor on the Economy, David Lipton. There is little doubt that the administrations of the two countries would insist that there is no linkage between the two. However, few independent analysts would actually dismiss the possibility of such a linkage if justice is seen to be denied.
There is evidence to suggest that the PPP-led government has visibly increased its reliance on external assistance: from 39 billion dollars in 2007-08 to 52.7 billion dollars in 2009-10. Concerns by donors over poor governance (which the recent spate of multi-billion scams as well as failure to increase revenue generation have done little to dispel) have led to a linkage between the disbursement of the pledged assistance with the IMF's endorsement of the performance of our key macroeconomic indicators. The recent suspension of the IMF programme for failure to comply with conditions has increased pressure on the government to successfully persuading the IMF to reactivate the programme. Failing that, the Kerry-Lugar bill, envisaging 1.5 billion dollar annual assistance, is one of the most eagerly awaited injections into our economy by the government. Thus to argue that the government cannot be held hostage to US threats is simply not credible, however one would hope that the governments of the two countries do not lose sight of a critical and common objective: to win the hearts and minds of the Pakistani public to gain a comprehensive victory against the forces of terror that are operating in Afghanistan and this country.