London: Pakistan has "lost its dignity
and self-esteem" in the wake of the discovery and killing of elusive Al Qaeda
chief Osama bin Laden by US troops in a luxury compound in Abbotabad, home to
the country's military academy, cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan has
said.
Pakistanis were dumbfounded as they woke up yesterday morning to be told the
news that Osama bin Laden had been killed, especially when no statement was
forthcoming from their government in the wake of the Obama speech, Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran wrote in The Independent.
"The big questions that everyone began asking, and for which no answers have
been forthcoming, were: who allowed the Americans to come to Pakistan and carry
out this attack? And whatever happened to the Pakistani Army and its
intelligence?" he said.
Imran noted that many hours later, while Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousaf
Raza Gilani claimed that all the intelligence had come from Pakistan, the US
administration and the Western media said that Pakistan was totally out of the
loop with no information sharing on this action.
"All this has led to other serious questions being raised in Pakistan. For
instance, if the Pakistan government or the army had this intelligence, why did
we not take out Bin Laden ourselves? Why did we have to rely on the Americans
coming over from their airbases in Afghanistan?" said the PTI chief.
There is not just confusion that prevails in Pakistan, he said, but also a
national depression at the loss of national dignity and self-esteem as well as
sovereignty.
"There is no answer to these questions and this simply allows allegations
from the West and from India to go unchallenged that Pakistan has been
protecting Bin Laden and other terrorists; that Pakistan knew he was here and
kept him safe," said Imran.
President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani, and the army "need to
address this immediately and if, as they claim, they had the intelligence that
led to the killing of Bin Laden, why it was not done by Pakistani forces?" the
PTI chief demanded, pointing out that Pakistan would suffer a great loss of
credibility until this happens.
"The reason we will not get these answers, of course, is that we have the
most corrupt and incompetent government in our history," he added. ANI
