Pakistan has, in a show of magnanimity, agreed to grant asylum to U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden. This comes in the wake of Snowden abandoning his request for asylum in Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin said refuge will be granted only if the former National Security Agency contractor eschews anti-American activity. Islamabad has imposed no such strings. “We have no problems with him pursuing an anti-American agenda,” said Pakistan Foreign Minister, Sartaj Aziz. “After all, we have housed many such people on our soil in the past. Our only request is that he also balance that with some activity directed against India for which we will put him in touch with the right people.” Several countries, including Scandinavian states that otherwise tom-tom their commitment to upholding human rights, have developed cold-feet over empowering a stateless, subversive actor who is inimical to the very idea of the State and the Orwellian control that comes with it. However, the Pakistani security establishment has no such qualms. “Actually, we love the fact that he is a non-state actor now that the US government has revoked his passport. The Pakistan government has always believed in giving non-state actors a free run, even at the cost of the nation’s security,” noted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The ISI has also assured Snowden that it will neither be incompetent nor complicit in the new scheme to give Snowden a safe haven in Pakistan, just as was the case with Osama Bin Laden. Snowden also need not worry about being tried in Pakistani courts. “He can check with Hafiz Saeed, in that regard,” said the Pakistan Prime Minister. “Unlike in the US, the bar for evidence to stand up to judicial scrutiny in our country is far higher, almost impossible to meet, when it comes to convicting Islamist terrorists,” he assured. Analysts however contend that Snowden will continue to remain vulnerable in Pakistan unless he joins the LeT and gets involved in anti-Indian activity. “As a stateless actor pursuing an agenda of a new world order without controls, the boy always runs the risk of being summarily nabbed by Pakistani security forces and getting handed over to their Western counterparts,” said Pakistan expert, Dada Hoodboy. “To be completely secure in Pakistan, he will have to work for the liberation of Kashmir and the dismemberment of India. Then no one can touch him, not even the Pakistan Army Chief.”
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 12:04:18 +0000
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