Value of a Citizen

People ask me on a serious note what do I like about London. One can talk at length about the efficient transport network (barring occasional strikes by London Underground union), pollution free environment (air in central London is breathier than the air 20 kilometres outside Karachi) and so on.

What sets apart London or Britishers for that matter is respect for citizens. Whenever a new law is to be introduced, it is discussed in the parliament and debated heavily that how is it going to effect the balance of security and liberty (freedom) of their citizens. These laws are applied across the board to parliamentarians, locals and even foreigners (be they holiday makers, guest workers, students etc.) Whenever there is a murder or a hit-and-run incident, there is a hue and cry and a government is at pains to show that it cares for the citizens and will bring perpetrators to the justice. Each and every human life has a value in London.

On the contrary, in Pakistan, only the lives of politicians, feudals, army officers and visiting foreigners (from western Europe or USA) has any value. Otherwise scores of people are killed in jails, on road accidents, during robberies, mobile phone snatchings but no one cares. When I was in Karachi, trawlers ran over people once a month at Nagan Chowrangi (no exaggeration) but no one seemed to care until people burnt one of the trawlers after 5 or 6 such incidents. The police arrived, and fired at the protesters. Minibuses run over people or motorcyclist every day. The bus drivers are arrested, stay in jail for a few days and released under pressure or bribery from Trasport Mafia (again no exaggeration).

We are attacked in Bajaur Agency where the CIA operated drone fired a missile and killed 18 innocent people. It was termed as collateral damage by US and CIA. It’s no use saying anything to them as they have killed, are killing and will continue to kill thousands of people all over the world and term it as collateral damage. But what about the Pakistani government? It was at pains to sympathize and side with ….US government. Pakistani citizens are killed and the government is trying to brush the matter under the carpet.

I supported Musharraf whole heartedly when he came to power because he talked about restoring the dignity of Pakistanis, ensuring that Pakistanis will hold their head high and would not be embarrassed for holding a green passport. I even supported that sham referendum despite the fact that I had seen with my own eyes army trucks bringing villagers from far flung areas to rubber stamp Musharrafs rule, the very villagers that are killed in this incident. I thought Musharraf is what the country needs to bring it out of the economic and political quagmire. I am not so sure anymore. He did not even have the courage to at least sympathize with victims. Had a similar collateral damage taken place in UK from a foreign missile, Blair would have rushed to the situation and the press and people would have protested to the extent of extracting apologies, compensation and even termination of any future allied arrangements.

What do we do? We send two jokers Aftab Ahmed Sherpao and Sheikh Rasheed to take care of it. According to Daily Dawn, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said a number of the dead appeared to be foreigners “possibly involved in sabotage activities. Most of the bodies were charred. We are investigating what caused the explosion.” Can you believe that? Firstly the intelligence botch up led to the loss of lives of innocent civilians. Secondly, we have an interior minister who not only identifies the charred bodies but also makes a claim about their intentions. How did this revelation come to him? And finally, when everybody knows that it was a missile attack, he says that we are investigating what caused this. I am surprised this was the only matter that did not come to him in his revelation.

Where was Musharraf? He was treating his hangover of heavy drinking at Yusuf Salahuddin’s haveli the night before. You won’t ever see Blair drunk. Recently, leader of the Liberal Democrat party (third largest party in UK) had to resign just because he admitted to having drinking problems (though nobody had seen him drinking in public). Musharraf was not only drunk but also making a fool of himself by dancing with scores of women.

You might believe that I am making a fuss over nothing, that I have lost it, have become too westernised and far from ground realities prevailing in third world. May be you are right.

However, what if a similar incident had happened in India? Some villagers were killed as collateral damage. Would the Indians have brushed it aside? I don’t think so. India is a third world country with similar problems i.e., poverty, killings, raping, lawlessness but if it had come to comparison of life of their own citizen with a foreigner, they would not have valued themselves any less.

But Indians don’t need foreign aid as much as we do. In this time of dire need especially after the Earthquake, we don’t want to upset our American masters because they pay us for being their ally in war on terror. We don’t want the dollars to stop coming in. This reminds me of a statement made after Aimal Kansi was extradited from Pakistan and tried in US Courts. The prosecution made a statement that Pakistanis will even sell their grandmother for money. On lodging a protest, it was highlighted that it was a personal statement of the prosecutor and did not reflect the views of the US Government.

Nevertheless, I hope such an incident does not happen again. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told a news conference that Pakistan “will not allow such incidents to recur” - Daily Dawn (January 16, 2005). The same newspaper also reports:

A senior US senator lamented the loss of innocent lives during a US bombing raid in Pakistan, but said such casualties are unavoidable. “We apologize, but I can’t tell you that we wouldn’t do the same thing again,” McCain said.

Who should I believe?