Dr. Shakil Afridi à la Dr. Faustus
Posted on 30. May, 2012 by S M Hali in Opinion
By S. M. Hali
Dr. Shakil Afridi’s conviction for working as a CIA informant couldn’t have come at a worse time. Tensions between the US and Pakistan are already at an all time high because of extreme trust deficit. The Raymond Davis affair early last year, May 2 Operation Geronimo to eliminate Osama bin Laden and the attack on the Pakistan Army Salala check post by NATO forces drove the two estranged but erstwhile allies further apart. Pakistan adopted various retaliatory actions to express the angst and anguish of its people. Their sentiments were deeply hurt after numerous attacks on civilian targets as well as the blatant assaults on the General Headquarters, Pakistan Navy’ airbase Mehran, Naval Headquarters and Air Force installations had taken a heavy toll of lives and property including two high-value maritime surveillance P3C Orion aircraft were destroyed. These heinous attacks not only battered the morale of the Armed Forces but also provided grist to the rumour mill that perhaps the US is behind the machinations to destabilize Pakistan and pressurize the armed forces into action against the perceived sanctuaries of the miscreants in North Waziristan.
The tribal court that tried Dr. Shakil Afridi for working under the garb of a fake vaccination campaign designed to help the CIA collect DNA samples from bin Laden's family in the town where bin Laden was allegedly hiding, sentenced the Doctor to 33 years imprisonment and fine. The US senior administration including Hillary Clinton and Senator John Kerry has lashed out at the conviction, calling it “unjust” and “unwarranted”, calling for his release while a senate panel has deducted 33 million dollars from a proposed assistance to Pakistan—1 million dollars for each year Dr. Afridi will spend in jail. Perhaps both sides have acted in haste. If Dr. Afridi had been tried by a regular court, provided access to legal counsel defending him, it would be perceived to be fairer and silenced the doubting Thomas in our midst.
A number of analysts find parallels to the case of Dr. Shakil Afridi and Jonathan Pollard, a US citizen who sold US secrets to Israel, and is serving a life term in an American prison. This must be discarded since it would imply that OBL’s lair was a “state secret”, whose divulgence by the misguided Doctor to his CIA handlers, led them to OBL. A more logical parallel would be the plight of Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, a US citizen of Kashmiri descent, convicted for lobbying for Kashmir without registration and allegedly spying for Pakistani intelligence agencies. The US Foreign Agents Registration Act necessitates citizens who receive funding or lobby on behalf of a foreign government to register as foreign agents. Hence what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander!
A more ominous crime against humanity, committed by Dr. Shakil Afridi, for which any court in the world would invoke the maximum penalty, is the fact that the Doctor treacherously ran a fake polio vaccine program. What the western objectors including Hillary et al are being oblivious to is that international and local health workers have been toiling painstakingly to reduce the suspicion of the parents in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province and coax them to accept the administration of anti polio campaigns for the safety of their children. Decades of reports of western pharmaceuticals running drug tests in the garb of vaccine programs in the third world with disastrous results, combined with the malicious propaganda by extremists that the polio vaccine is a conspiracy of the occident against future generations of Muslims to render the recipients of the medication impotent, had made the inhabitants of the region wary of such campaigns. It was only recently that they had begun accepting the vaccination program. Dr. Afridi committed two major crimes: Firstly, his fake program may have administered spurious drugs or even if the vaccine was genuine, only the first dose was conferred, leaving the recipient infants susceptible to the onset of Polio. Secondly, an even worse and long term consequence is that because of Dr. Afridi’s macabre drama, hundreds of thousands of children will fall victim to this crippling infliction because the parents would not allow any vaccination campaigns to come close to their offspring for fear the administrators may be CIA agents in disguise. Like Dr. Faustus, Dr. Afridi sold his soul to Mephistopheles; for a few measly US dollars, he sealed the fate of future generations of his own region.
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3 Responses to “Dr. Shakil Afridi à la Dr. Faustus”
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S M Hali
Afriq
30. May, 2012
Close the naTo TERRORIST on FREEZE for EVER
The US morons thugs TERRORIST SCUM can GO TO HELL and I hope they suffer as they made the rest of the Ummah.
The best thing to happen to Pakistan is the FINAL BREAK:
ALLAH SUKHARAN -
the crass Usan as usual show their ignorant crass character – they started even before the TERRORIST ATTACK ON OUR HOLY LAND of IRAK
the Curse of Kerbala on all those who participated in TERRORISM on Ummah
Hali Sahib the UMMAH is ANGRY
usan doctors are the ones planning and advising the sick insane barbaric house of satan so what can one expect from these revolting scums
Jimmy Jamshed
30. May, 2012
am surprised that with all their global capability & resources the stupid Americans/CIA could not locate one measly OBL & needed services of a SOLD-OUT doctor??!! And it took the American ASS-HOLES………………..over 10 years & several expensive Global WARS, mass-murdering hundreds of thousands of Muslims to find/locate one shitty OBL??!! Just to find one lone bearded man armed only with a Kalashnikov and who scared the living SHIT out of a Super-Power??!!Height of incompetence & cowardice…………..
Afriq
31. May, 2012
the US goons are coming! these disgusting revolting mass murdering serial killers want Pakistan to poen the TERRORISM in Pakistan route.
the bilawals, haqqanis, Mr %s, gilani, and afridis want to sell their soul
DO NOT ALLOW naTo TERRORISM in Pakistan and our UMMAH
please distribute WIDELY and educate ALL
——————-
Distribute widely. They wish to demonise Pakistan for their – zionist Usreal FUKUS axis
VILE AGENDA, demonise them – zionist Usreal FUKUS axis + naTo
H. Said / H. Sabbagh
Karachi: A short film by two students of a Pakistani on United States drone
attacks in Pakistan and its societal affects has won an international
film making award.
The film was awarded with Best Audience Award at National Film Festival For Talented Youth Washington, US.
Filmmakers Muhammad Danish, writer and director, and Atiqullah, producer of the
short film, are students at Iqra University, the leading private
Pakistani management institute.
The 20-minute short film basically involves around idea of assessing
social, psychological and economical affects of people from tribal areas of Pakistan.
The film identified problems that families face after becoming victims of drone missiles.
Besides, it unearths line of action of terrorists groups adopt to use victim families for their vested interests.
Despite being chosen for awards, both the students couldn’t be able to attend
the award ceremony. They applied for US visa twice but rejected by US
Embassy.
“If we get visa then it would be quite easy and helpful to frame our point
of view in front of selected youth film makers,” Danish said.
“The film gained interest from the audience across the globe compelling festival administrators to give Audience Award to the film.”