Reactions to Davis release: Protests likely to continue today

Political, civil society groups ask ‘where is the chief justice now’.

KARACHI:

Hundreds of “betrayed” protesters took to the streets in Karachi and other parts of Sindh to condemn a court’s decision to acquit the alleged CIA contractor, Raymond Davis.

The Pakistan Tehreeke-e-Insaf gathered at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday.  “We did not ask Pakistan to become slaves, it’s about our future,” said Arsalan T Ghumman of the Insaf Students Federation. “We made a resolution this month about 71 years ago and if we continue to remain subservient to foreign powers, we will have no future.”

“It’s not about Davis leaving Pakistan. We are against Pakistan’s alliance with the Americans that makes us compromise our sovereignty,” said Sarosh Sagheer, a student of Mohammad Ali Jinnah University.

Despite TV channels flashing news of blood money payment, some protesters were still unsure about the families. “We do not know whether the families pardoned Davis willingly,” said Fatima. “The families were not given protection after the incident, which means they were left alone for the Americans to manipulate and influence,” added Awab Alvi, a social activist. “It was an ‘open and shut’ case and you feel suspicious when something goes so swiftly.”

Ehsanullah Khan said the Americans had been hypocritical. “While we were being urged to amend the Sharia law, they [the Americans] used a loophole in it for their own benefit,” he said.

The PTI’s Dr Arif Alvi felt that the decision was taken after the government put the pressure on. “Everything had been arranged a week ahead,” he said.

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) also organised a rally. Activists gathered outside the Empress Market and marched towards Regal Chowk, where they staged a sit-in. The JI’s Muhammed Hussain Mehnti said that the release of a man, whose hands are stained with the blood of four innocent Pakistanis, is a matter of shame.

Dr Aafia Siddiqui was imprisoned for 86 years over a crime she never committed but the confirmed killer of two people walked free, he said.

Pasban, led by Altaf Shakoor, staged a demonstration outside the press club. The JI women’s wing also protested Davis’s release. “It is a conspiracy against the country,” said JI Karachi’s vice president during the rally on MA Jinnah Road. He blamed the Pakistan Peoples Party, the Awami National Party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz for creating a “drama” of the victims’ families getting blood money.

The Sunni Ittehad Council announced a countrywide strike on Friday (today). The Sunni Rehbar Council promised support. The Imamia Students Organisation announced that they will observe a black day today. The ISO’s Rehman Ali Shah, Maulana Ammar Haider and other officials gave a press conference at the Sukkur Press Club in which they accused the federal and Punjab government of following the American agenda.

Sindh National Front chief Mumtaz Ali Bhutto condemned the release of Raymond Davis. Islami Tehreek Pakistan’s Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi also talked to the media at Sukkur airport. He was not surprised by Davis’ release. “The country is on the brink of poverty similar to Somalia and there is no writ of the government,” he said.

With additional input from PPI

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2011.