US must answer why it has deserted Pakistani man who helped kill Osama bin Laden
This May 2 will mark seven years since al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, was eliminated by the US Navy seals in a surgically precise encounter in Pakistan's Abbottabad.
Contrary to the popular belief that al Qaeda-sponsored global terrorism would come to an end if Laden was bumped off, not much has changed since he was neutralised in 2011. Islamic terror has, in fact, struck the world with renewed fury.
The ISIS saw a sudden rise leading to one of the worst phases of killings in Iraq and Syria. A very disturbing trend that has been witnessed with the rise of ISIS has been its success in recruiting jihadists from across the globe to fight alongside the ISIS cadres.
While the elimination of bin Laden was a major breakthrough for the anti-terror war, it has had serious consequences in terms of the rise of ISIS.
Man who helped locate bin Laden
Dr Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor, used a vaccination scam in an attempt to identify Osama bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, aiding US Navy Seals to track and kill the Al Qaida leader.
Instead of being rewarded for helping catch the world's most dreaded terrorist, the Pakistani government has kept him incarcerated since 2011. On April 26, Afridi was shifted from Peshawar prison to an undisclosed "safe facility" managed by the Pakistani security and intelligence establishment. The authorities have cited security as the reason for his transfer.
Red-faced and hugely embarrassed by the US success in eliminating bin Laden on Pakistani soil, the rogue nation's establishment has directed its ire towards Afridi.
But what did the US do to ensure Afridi's release and safety? Practically nothing.
US President Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, had vowed to get Afridi released within "two minutes". But nothing happened and Afridi continues to languish and rot in Pakistan's custody.
No one knows what kind of treatment is being meted out to Afridi in the new jail. No one even knows which jail he is lodged in. This raises the chances of Afridi being subjected to sustained torture and inhuman excesses.
It's definitely not a coincidence that Afridi has been shifted to a different prison only a couple of days ahead of the seventh anniversary of the operation that claimed Osama's life.
Clearly, the US has let Afridi down and in good measure. Why didn't America take up Afridi's case with Pakistan just as strongly as it lobbied for Raymond Davis' release?
Davis was a former US soldier and contractor with the Central Intelligence Agency. He was accused of killing two reportedly armed men in Pakistan's Lahore. While Davis was jailed and criminally charged by Pakistani authorities with double murder and the illegal possession of a firearm, he was dramatically rescued due to the proactive and decisive action by former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Michael Kugelman, deputy director at the Asia programme at the Woodrow Wilson centre, recently said that the Afridi saga is the perfect metaphor of US-Pakistan relations. In other words, an example of growing miscommunication and mistrust threatening to jeopardise the US-Pakistan ties.
An almost similar view on the US-Pakistan ties was expressed by Muhammad Amir Rana, director of Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies. Rana described US-Pak relations as an old story meriting a drastic revision where the sources collaborating with the US forces need protection when the former are risking their lives to combat terror.
US acting assistant secretary of state, Alice Wells recently disclosed that Afridi's case was in the US "scheme of things" but on ground the claim is not backed by action.
If US doesn't effectively intervene or uses its good offices to secure Afridi's release, the "assets" in Pakistan and Afghanistan, armed with hard and actionable information might not come forward to help in the fight against terror.
It is not understood why the US displayed extraordinary haste and alacrity in whisking away notorious Indian spy, Rabinder Singh, in 2004 to the US rehabilitating him and his family through a special operation and even giving him a US passport but doing nothing for Afridi.
It's high time US proves its credibility and demonstrates that it is still a world power to reckon with and remains a friend of those who are or have partnered with anti-terror forces.