‘Davis’ release was unexpected and immature’

Several protests, demonstrations held across the city after Juma prayers.

KARACHI:

The protests against the “unexpected” and “immature” acquittal of Raymond Davis continued outside the Karachi Press Club on Friday.

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) and its student wing Anjuman-e-Naujawanan-e-Islam (ANI) held a combined rally in which the party’s additional secretary, Tariq Mehboob, said that “the case was treated immaturely by the government”.

Several party workers shouted slogans against the government and America, believing that “Davis’ crime would not go unpunished”. “It was an issue of integrity but the government’s meek stance combined with some opportunistic elements within the provincial and federal government proved that American supremacy is dearer to our leaders than providing justice to the innocent,” Mehboob shouted amid cries of “shame shame”.

The protest lasted several hours and many speakers shared the limelight. Surprisingly, the man who led the slogans most enthusiastically was unaware as to who the speakers were. All he knew was that he was condemning Davis’ release.

When Mufti Fayazul Hassan Sabri, a senior JUP member, took the podium, a worker failed to identify him. “I don’t know, I just came in actually,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Sabri continued his rampage against the government and Americans alike. Apart from being a criminal, Davis is also a terrorist, “who was captured with illegal weapons,” he said. All subsequent speakers insisted that his acquittal was a conspiracy “in which the people have been let down once again”.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf rally

For the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally, groups of students, homemakers and civil society members gathered outside the press club.

PTI member Nusrat Shakeel said, “Proper proceedings should have taken place in this case”. “Even if he was not acquitted in the murder case he should have been tried for keeping illegal weapons and for being on a surveillance mission in Pakistan.”

What made the protesters angrier was the fact that even though the government let him go, it is still “paralysed with fear” when it comes to constant drone attacks in the tribal areas. “Eighty people died in a drone attack in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa only a day earlier. Tell me, is it justified?” Shakeel asked.

“It shows us what the value of a Pakistani citizen is,” said Sidra Mirza, a student. “Had the incident happened in any American state, our government would have been forced into producing the perpetrators”.

PTI Karachi president Erum Butt was upset that there was no news of the families of the men killed by Davis. “At least we should know where they are and what happened to them. Why are so many facts being hidden from the people?”

Meanwhile, PTI Sindh president Dr Inamul Haq tried to convince everyone to “show the government our true power” since it is now time for “civil disobedience”.

JAP and MWM protest

The Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) and the Jaffaria Alliance Pakistan (JAP) also staged separate demonstrations on Friday to condemn Davis’ release and the invasion of Gulf forces in Bahrain.

Participants started walking from Jamia Masjid Mustafa, Abbas Town, after Friday prayers to Abul Hassan Isphani Road, where they staged a 30-minute sit-in. MWM members Maulana Sadiq Taqvi, Allama Abbas Waziri, and Mohammad Mehdi expressed solidarity with the people of Bahrain. They demanded the government of Pakistan shut down the United States Embassy and its consulates in the country, saying that these were centres for CIA activities.

JAP activists organised a demonstration outside the Khoja Mosque in Kharadar in support of the people of Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Egypt and Tunisia. JAP president Allama Abbas Kumaili, Maulana Hussain Masoodi, Allama Baqar Zaidi, Maulana Mohammad Ali Ramzani and others condemned the killing of Shia and Sunni protesters in Bahrain and Libya and demanded the Gulf countries immediately withdraw their forces from Bahrain.

Condemning the release of Davis, JAP leaders accused the Saudi and Punjab governments of acting as brokers for the Americans.

Smaller protests were held outside Shah Najaf Mosque in Buffer Zone, Hussaini Sifarat Khana in Malir, Noor-e-Eman Mosque in Nazimabad and Hyderi Mosque in Orangi.

With additional input from press releases

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2011.