Monitoring Desk: John Edward James who is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan has said that he is worried about his Pakistani brothers and sisters and stated that he stands with them.
Serving in the US Army John Edward James was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) that killed more than 100,000 Iraqi citizens. The operation began on March 20, 2003, with airstrikes that were infamous for ‘collateral damage’ of innocent civilians mostly women and children. John Edward James served eight years in the US Army, participating in multiple tours of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom as an AH-64 Apache pilot.
Interestingly such a military man who had been a part of killing 100,00 innocent Iraqis including women and children is so concerned about what happened in Islamabad during November 24-26 and he has accused the government of Pakistan of ‘murdering its innocent citizens’. In his message, he added that he stands with his Pakistani brothers and sisters in calling for justice and freedom’. Though it is a glaring example of intervention in the domestic affairs of any government and passing such strong and loaded remarks such as ‘murdering its innocent citizens’, it is understood that Pakistan’s foreign office would not respond to his statement for obvious reasons of avoiding exchanging any unpleasant words against any US politician, however, is it not the responsibility of Pakistan’s politicians to respond such unfounded and reckless allegations against the state of Pakistan?
He is so categorical in his accusation as he had been walking around in Islamabad when according to him the government (of Pakistan) was murdering people. He could have an opportunity to at least follow impartial media before throwing allegations on Pakistan’s government and then he could have known what happened on November 24-26 in Islamabad.
The real side of the story shows that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on 21 November directed the federal government to take all necessary measures to maintain law and order in the federal capital and directed the Interior Minister to engage with the PTI leadership in this regard. The government contacted PTI and was initially asked to postpone the protest because the Belarusian President was scheduled to visit Pakistan along with 100 plus staff including his cabinet members and a Chinese high-level delegation was also arriving in Islamabad.
PTI was subsequently offered by the government Sangjhani area as a designated location for protest instead of opting to protest in the Red Zone. However, PTI leadership refused all offered and entered Islamabad along with violent protestors who were using firearms, steel slingshots, stun grenades, tear gas shells, and nail-studded batons to force their way to Red Zone Islamabad.
John Edward James should have seen videos of PTI social media handlers to see how 1500 plus hard-core fighters were using militant tactics to attack law enforcement agencies. During this, a vehicle also ran over Rangers personnel performing duty at a check post in Islamabad, resulting death (shahadat) of three Rangers soldiers and critical injuries to five. Besides, during the violent protest, one policeman embraced Shahadat, and 232 personnel of law enforcement agencies were also grievously injured by PTI followers. This violent mob not only attacked security forces but also set multiple police vehicles on fire, showcased firearms, burnt trees and police tents, damaged properties, and created terror among the common citizens. Besides, 11 vehicles of law enforcement agencies were damaged including prison vans set ablaze.
A question arises that Western politicians such as John Edward James show concern over political events in Pakistan while forgetting the Palestinian genocide, the bombing of Syria, and the killings of thousands of innocent children and women in Lebanon, Gaza, and Syria. Is it not the responsibility of the government of Pakistan to contest John Edward James and ask him to provide proof of his allegations that the Pakistani government was ‘murdering its innocent citizens’? Undoubtedly, Pakistan’s Embassy in the United States would not respond to John’s wild allegations so the responsibility lies over the responsible media of Pakistan to raise the issue and demands John Edward James to provide proof of what he is accusing the Pakistani government for.
