Shah Mehmood Qureshi - a man who had the courage to say No
The non inclusion of Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the new cabinet did not have come as a surprise for most of those reading in between the lines the case of Raymond Davis – the killer “diplomat” from the USA - a country that champions to cause of democracy and fights to restore democracies the world over.
Since the January 27th incident when Davis shot dead two motorcyclists by emptying the entire magazine of his very sophisticated pistol, there has been immense pressure on Pakistan for the release of Davis. It may be added that another motorcyclist was killed by a backup vehicle, ostensibly driven by four Americans by running over the poor bystander. And that is not all. The widow of one of the murdered motorcyclist also committed suicide as she feared that Davis would be released and she would not get justice. So the gory tale left four dead, including a wife of six months.
Now coming back to the bold foreign minister, who not only braved the US pressure, both from the ambassador in Pakistan and even Ms Clinton from the USA. I would not go into the details as newspapers and media is bursting with the details. The fate of the foreign minister seems to have finally sealed when in a high level meeting, chaired by the president, the PM, ministers for law and interior, besides the DG ISI. Despite pressure from the Americans and then from the president in the aforesaid meeting, Mr Qureshi is said to have refused to say that Davis was a diplomat. In fact he has the grace to say NO to the president and called a spade a spade, no matter what the consequences.
Although he has lost the coveted slot of the foreign minister, he has risen in the eyes of people of Pakistan as a man who could stand before the gallows of his career and still declined to say which was not the truth. He thus became a No, Mr. President and chose to preserve his integrity rather than being a Yes, Mr. President, in which case he would lived in shame and repentance all of his life.
I keep my fingers crossed over the fate of Raymond Davis, which will be decided by the court, unless unseen forces and covert diplomacy and pressures force the president to take some undemocratic decision against the aspirations of the people of Pakistan. In which case, it would not be wrong to assume a repetition of Tunisia and Egypt like state in Pakistan.
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