Daily Times

Two years ago, the most wanted man in the world, Osama bin Laden, was assassinated by US Navy Seals in Abbottabad, Pakistan in a raid that rattled the military, political and public infrastructure. Taking place in the dead of night, the raid resulted in a freezing of the fragile relationship between Pakistan and the US for almost a year. Pakistan — and especially its military — felt as though the sovereignty of the country had been violated; never mind the fact that the leader of al Qaeda was hiding out right next door to the country’s most reputed military academy in a garrison town. The hue and cry that was raised after this raid was one of outrage but the US had its man. What the Pakistani public does not have though is the information contained in the report that was commissioned by then Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to investigate the matter. The five members of this commission took a year and a half to release its findings to Gilani’s replacement, Raja Pervez Ashraf. However, the details of that report have still not been made public.

It would really be a befitting anniversary gift to the nation if the document were made public. Pakistan has a long and sullied history of keeping the facts about history-altering events sealed from public view. It is a country that kept the Hamoodur Rehman Commission report, which contained precise information behind the breakup of this country, hidden from the public for about 20 years. In a nation where the citizenry are given no importance, it is hardly surprising that the bin Laden report is still shrouded in mystery but this should not be allowed. The people have every right to know exactly why bin Laden was in the country — the reason behind which a foreign force entered our country and carried out its own designs. Yes, the sovereignty of the country was compromised but not by the US. The fact that bin Laden, who is not a citizen of this country, was living here is a violation of this country’s sovereignty. The US raid was not an attack on our sovereignty in the conventional sense. It showed us, and the world, that our air space is vulnerable, that any foreign individual or small army can enter and go about their business without a squeak from us. It showed how incompetent our intelligence, military and civic infrastructure really is and how we are no match for superior technology. To say that this event is a matter of individual and national concern is putting it mildly. It is recommended that the government in place after May 11 put the bin Laden report somewhere on their agenda. While it may seem like a trivial pursuit in light of the ‘larger issues’ at hand such as combating terrorism, the bin Laden findings are part of the larger picture involving Pakistan’s strength in the league of nations. To bury the report is to give credit to the military and intelligence network’s failures, and that we can hardly afford in the midst of growing jihadi extremism. The people want to know if we are weak enough to be exploited again and exactly why we have been put in this position. To refuse giving the public answers to these questions is violating their rights, and we have had enough of that. *