Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said that if it continues to cooperate with America, then his own government could end. He said that in Pakistan, public opinion is against America, and how can he disregard the people’s opinions? He further said that even if America stopped giving aid, Pakistan will still get by. Also, he said that the relationship between the CIA and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has ended. The Prime Minister said that our people are dying and that the U.S. made a Civil Nuclear Agreement with India. Hatred is flowing through the blood of Pakistanis because even the most common man in Pakistan knows that America is responsible for our destruction; it has neither allowed our democracy to grow, nor is interested in the Pakistani people’s basic human rights. It was America that paved the way for dictators and made those dictators do work that led to the quagmire that Pakistan is in today.
The people of Pakistan also believe that if the nation had continued on the path of democracy established by our first leader, then our conditions today would be much better than India’s and the country would have realized Quaid-e-Azam’s dream. In fact, every one of our democratic leaders is familiar with this truth, but by dangling the sword of dictatorship in front of the democratic militants, America has made them so afraid that they do not dare to speak the truth and instead believe that to maintain power they must keep America happy.
America has been involved in Pakistan’s internal and foreign affairs to such an extent that even today we have neither been able to create an independent foreign policy nor make decisions internally that could help Pakistan embrace development and prosperity. America’s intervention in even the smallest matters, and maintenance of an authoritative presence, have caused the Pakistani people to be so tired of America that rather than depending on American aid they are ready to eat grass.
When an educated Pakistani, in this respect, compares the conditions of Pakistan and India, he is shocked to see that Washington talks with Delhi on an equal level, but thinks of Islamabad as his pasture. In Delhi, the American ambassador takes into account diplomatic mannerisms, but in Islamabad the current American ambassador believes that he is a viceroy. Washington’s behavior has made the Pakistani people so distrustful that the overwhelming public opinion is that Pakistan needs to take a separate path from America, break the chains of slavery forever and, except for diplomatic staff, ship off to Washington any American officials who are floating around.
Pakistanis are absolutely ready for any counter-reaction to this public opinion and want to be free of American bondage at any cost. We are seeing that the time is not that far off when the youths of Pakistan, especially college and university students, will come out just as they did in Iranian cities during the Shah of Iran’s last days. From Khyber to Karachi the most popular slogan would be that “America’s friend is a traitor, a traitor” and this slogan would resonate so strongly that even if Pakistan’s leaders wanted to, they could not be America’s ally, and if they tried to stand with America, the public stream would flush them out as well.
Keeping this mindset of the people in front of us, if we read Prime Minister Gilani’s newest speech closely, then we find that along with the people, the leaders are also tired of America and, in the face of losing American aid, are ready to stand up and face the terrible conditions of Pakistan.
Drunk on power, America’s moral position is that not even for one moment will it look at itself to change. Its refusal to acknowledge its anti-Muslim policies, authoritative and oppressive attitude and excessive interventions in the matters of Muslim countries, has led the entire Islamic world to be disgusted with it. And the truth is that if Pakistan stood up to America then only a short time later the rest of the Islamic world would become defiant and then there would be two options: Either America would be forced to change its policies or it would be forced to use its power. The first choice would lead to its survival, the second to its destruction. America would have to realize that if, after spending billions of dollars and using deadly weapons of war during the past 10 years, it could not destroy the Taliban, then how could it challenge the world’s Muslims? Its interests are spread throughout the world. Could America risk putting those interests on the line? We think not, and whatever the prime minister has said, if Pakistan made that its policy, then America would continue to provide aid, would talk to us on an equal level and, instead of guns, would choose the path of dialogue.
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