Gang-rape in Sui

Rape is an inexcusable crime, regardless of the so-called underlying facts. Now when preliminary police investigations have confirmed that the lady doctor was indeed molested and PPL administration did try to cover up the incident and hindered the registration of FIR, where the main accused was one despicable army captain, through various tactics, I am outraged, incensed, mortified and sickened, to learn about the latest service of our na-Pak fauj.

Outrage is hardly the word, this is just dreadful. It is really difficult to express indignation about the reprehensible state of affairs in the land of impure. Imagine. Pakistani male doctors normally prefer to go unemployed than to work at far-flung areas. When an urbanized young doctor hailing from the most cosmopolitan metropolis of the country, Karachi, opts to serve at the remote dusty town of Sui despite being a woman, she is “rewarded” in this manner by the very people who are heftily paid for protecting the nation.

According to a fresh investigation report released by the U.N. headquarters into the misdemeanours of U.N. peacekeepers stationed in Congo, Pakistani military officials, along with their counterparts from some other countries, were involved in systematic rape, prostitution paedophilia and not surprisingly subsequently obstructing U.N. inspectors looking into the allegations of sexual misconduct and sought to bribe witnesses to change their incriminating testimonies.

Even today our erstwhile Pakistani brethren of the Eastern wing accuse Pak army of countless rapes and unexplainable atrocities. Obviously, the Sui-tragedy is not a one-time aberration; rape seems to be an institutional feature of the Pak army, on home-turf and foreign soil alike. See, we nurture the defenders of our geographical and ideological frontiers with our blood and sweat, we sustain them with our hard-earned money; they rape pay it back by raping their own sisters– presumably in larger national interests.

To put these extremely repulsive episodes in perspective let me add that so far there are no reports accusing Americans of raping, let alone gang-raping, Iraqi women. Israelis may be blamed for every type of savagery under the sun but Palestinians have never charged Israelis sexually abusing their womenfolk. One may google to confirm this assertion.

While commenting on the disgraceful incident of Constable Nazir Dogar who was beaten up in Lahore by military goons and then his seniors suspended because he dared to stop the family of a major general Musharraf proudly blurted of the sort that he himself would not have acted any way different in the analogous situation and it is the duty of the officer to protect his subordinates – no matter however evil. This is the mentality that has come to this stage. Hidden behind is the larger malaise.

If raping the constitution is considered ”not violating the Constitution” as Mr Musharraf proudly vowed in his last address to the nation while justifying his decision not to doff the uniform no one should be bewildered if gang-raping a lady doctor turns out to be protecting her dignity in the lexicon of the GHQ.

I can bet Pak army gunship helicopters have yet to use their formidable munitions against Indians but they are all too willing to use their live firepower on Pakistanis within Pakistan ranging from rugged tribal terrains of Waziristan to arid deserts of Balochistan. What a coincidence: from lush Okara military farms in Punjab to coastal areas of Badin in Sindh, Pak army is pitted against its own countrymen, trampling on them - literally. Only because of its insatiable greed, corporate interests and lust for political power, Musharraf and his general colleagues are putting the very existence of Pakistan on stake.

Musharraf says it is not 1971. Yes, it is not! That’s why, it is not that easy to commit crimes of this magnitude, that’s too against fellow Pakistani daughters and sisters, and get away with it. General Musharraf is equally correct when he says that the country is facing no external threat. Yes, the only menace Pakistan is facing today is from its parasitical, raping army.

To the ploy being used by the army that Capt. Hammad the night on which the rape incident reportedly occurred was with his Commanding Officer in a meeting convened to “discuss the deteriorating law and order situation” [sic], it would be appropriate to add: all circumstantial evidence available going against the suspected rapist, it is too old a trick to dupe the masses.

Actually, it is adding insult to the injury and simply shows that unfortunately Commanding Officers too are made of the same substandard stock who are more than willing to cover a fellow peti-bhai disregarding every single moral, legal and ethical norm. By the way, how have spin-doctors deduced that the general public would deem Captain Hammad’s CO somewhat more trustworthy, or believe his highly questionable testimony absolving the accused of all wrongdoings much credible?

And since when we have started allotting prime time slot on national TV for alleged rapists to present their defence? Shouldn’t the Meerwala gang also be brought on the TV? A judicial commission presided by a High Court Judge investigating a straightforward police case. Great, I say great. The democracy we have right now is sham, sustainable, real, true or controlled, I have no idea, but better Apartheid system even South African whites couldn’t create.

Official statements, explanations and delusions from the pathological liars of the ISPR remind me of a saying of Alexander Solzhenitsyn - "In our country the lie has become not just a moral category, but a pillar of the state."

In fact, the premise "personal responsibility at higher levels" means that the senior command, Quetta Corps Commander Lt Gen Hamid Rab Nawaz to Chief of the Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf are personally responsible not only for failure to supervise and enforce discipline, but also in some cases for condoning and encouraging blatant mockery of the Constitution. Restoring the popular image of the army and making it to mend its nefarious attitude must be the top most priority of the GHQ.

Finally, to the top brass of Pakistan, I would like to humbly beseech. Oh! You be afraid of the wrath of God. The same can happen to you and your daughters, wives and sisters. And for my fellow countrymen I have an earnest appeal. For God’s sake, better wake up … if you don’t want to be the next victim of Hammad and his CO. It’s time to realize the bitter truth; the so-called saviours are the one who are the root cause of our umpteen predicaments. Sooner the better.