Free Kashmir | PAKISTAN – USA FREEDOM FORUM | Stop Dividing Families |
Respect, Not Might, is the Key to U.S. Pakistan Strategic Dialogue
Today, at 6 am, on October 22, 2010, we are standing in front of the US State Department in Washington DC in solidarity with Pakistanis who lost their loved ones in continuous civil unrest in Karachi and elsewhere. We are here with hopes that the third round of US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue will result in some concrete improvements in the lives of Pakistanis.
We demand the following outcomes from the Strategic Dialogue as the first steps toward meaningful friendship between the two countries:
(1) Stop the drone attacks and respect Pakistani sovereignty. (2) Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Pakistan. (3) Kashmir issue must be central to a successful dialogue. (4) Stop supporting dictatorships in Pakistan and all countries. (5) Abolish Pakistan’s foreign debt. (6) Proper and adequate compensation to the families of Pakistanis killed as a result of U.S. wars, the same amount per person as was received from Libya in the Lockerbie case. (7) Repatriate Dr. Afia Siddiqui to Pakistan. (8) Missing people and their families deserve a full accounting from the U.S. and Pakistani government. (9) End the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (10) An announcement that Pakistani land and bases will not be used as a launching pad against Iran.
The present government of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and President Asif Zardari came to power following a secret deal (national Reconciliation Order – NRO) with former dictator Pervez Musharraf/ Shaukat Aziz, and with the consent of and pressure from the US and British governments. This is a message to the future dictators who get overthrown that they and their cronies will be safe with their looted money. This continues a sad history that contradicts our vision for Pakistan.
The father of the Pakistani nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, declared that Pakistan will stand for equality, freedom of speech and civil society, and against racism, bigotry, occupation, colonialism. Unfortunately, our history has been dominated by dictatorships and weak civilian governments that bend to the will of stronger Western powers.
Pakistani Dictators backed by western governments never allow civil and human rights. Rather, they crush the intelligentsia, kill political leaders, disappear citizens who end up torture victims in Baghram, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. They loot national resources, and create crisis after crisis in the country. Young students see no hope for the future.
History has taught us that when the U.S. government gets involved in other countries, the results are ugly. The U.S. used Pakistan as a means to carry out a proxy war against the Soviet Union in neighboring Afghanistan, which led to major upheavals in both countries. Since that time, the U.S. has left both countries and the million Afghan refugees in Pakistani camps, to their own devices.
For the first time in 20 years, the U.S. is going to train Pakistani officers on U.S. soil. We do not want these officers to be trained like the officers in the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (“School of the Assassins”), or like U.S. officers who practice torture and degradation of people in Abu Graib, Baghram and Guantanamo Bay. We demand that the Pakistani air forces chief should resign because he has failed to stop the drone attacks.
The slow response of the U.S. to help Pakistan after the recent floods, even as they carry out their war plans from Pakistani soil, shows the true motives of the U.S government.
The Pakistani people are always proud that from day one we have stood for respect of international borders and treaties, for the right of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland, self-determination for the Kashmiri people, against torture and rendition, against dictatorships, standing with the Vietnamese people’s struggle. We are always opposed to the arms race (including the $123 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states), as well as the double standard of providing nuclear supplies to India and turning a blind eye to Israel’s nuclear weapons, while threatening war against Iran.
Peace and truth will always win out!
| Dr. Muhammad Shafique President | Mr. Shahid Comrade General Secretary (917) 280-0840 |
Comrade S.
Secretary G.
Ph: (+1) 917 280 0840
Blog: http://pakusaff.blogspot.com/
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