Why is a Pakistani life so much cheaper than an American one?

A month long dramatic case of Raymond Davis Immunity was concluded under the veil of Shariah Law. The Qur'an specifies the principle of Qisas (i.e. retaliation), but suggests that one should seek compensation (Diyya) and not demand revenge. The Qur’an directed to pay Diyyat just according to this law both in case of intentional as well as un-intentional murder.

“We have prescribed for thee therein ‘a life for a life, and an eye for an eye, and a nose for a nose, and an ear for an ear, and a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds retaliation;’ but whoso remits it, it is an expiation for him, but he whoso will not judge by what God has revealed, these be the unjust.”

On January 27th ,2011 An American national Raymond Davis, who identified himself as a diplomat, shot and killed two Pakistani civilians on a busy road in Lahore while the third person got killed when a separate car rushed to rescue Davis. That car couldn’t be caught, however, after the killing people held Davis when he tried to escape.

Initially, the media reports called Raymond Davis as a diplomat, than he was called a consular employee and later some of the reports claimed he was a plain civilian visiting on a business visa.0n Jan 29, US officials claim that Raymond Davis has diplomatic status in Pakistan and refer to the Vienna Convention. But sources said that Davis did not have diplomatic status. After initial investigation by the Lahore police, Davis was remanded for six days in police custody. This development initiated the debate that whether Davis had the diplomatic immunity as illustrated in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. It is a multilateral treaty that governs the principles of diplomatic relations between the independent countries. According to various news reports it was confirmed that Davis doesn’t fall in the category of a diplomat. Generally, diplomats and their families enjoy blanket immunity from the criminal and civil jurisdiction of the host country under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

It was yet to be determined that whether Davis was actually performing the ‘consular function’ at the time of the crime or was on a private business. About consular immunity from criminal jurisdiction Article 41 Section 1 of the Vienna Convention on the Consular Relations states that:

‘Consular officer shall not be liable to arrest or detention pending trial, except in the case of a grave crime…’

‘Grave crime’ again is a huge term. Although any sensible person can conclude that there is nothing graver than taking someone’s life but there are certain exceptions such as self-defense which Davis claimed. The Pakistan Penal Code sections 96-106 deals with the issue of self-defense.

Under Section 100 Davis can have an acceptable claim that he acted in pure self-defense because the armed men tried to rob him. However, there were still certain factual questions that remained unanswered as to why a consular officer was carrying a gun. Diplomat is allowed to carry a gun only when the host country exclusively allow. The other query raising issue is that why Davis’ identity or his job status wasn’t released earlier.

The local media, on the other hand, was throwing its own conspiracy theories from time to time since the facts about Davis’ real status were quite cloudy. In the interest of presenting a fair picture the media had produced criminal records of the men who were shot, there had been those who had tried to justify Raymond Davis’ actions by saying that Qartaba Chowk, the area of the shooting was unsafe and there were even some who had maintained that a ‘gora’ in Pakistan is always at risk.

On the other side the International media was not doing such favors for us. The first news story to hit the wires claimed that:“A US consulate employee shot and killed two gunmen in self-defense”

The piece assumes that the employee took the shots in self-defense and that perhaps his actions were justified. This was not all. As almost all news reports about Pakistan, this one too ended with the familiar lines:

Pakistan is a vital US ally, but anti-American sentiment runs high in the mainly Muslim nation. Three US Special Operations soldiers were killed in a bomb attack last year in northwestern Pakistan, where militants are very active.”

Pakistan’s government was continuously under pressure by US regime for the case of Raymond Davis. USA was continuously demanding Raymond Davis release to the US. While here in Pakistan people were frustrated on the dealings of government and its slave stand against US aggression.  The message that the Obama administration sent in Islamabad was loud and clear. If you work for the CIA, the US government will pay your way out of jail even if you are being held on murder charges.

The American government that has repeatedly criticized the Shariah Law calling its doctrines “barbaric” and “medieval” had used the Qisas and Diyya Ordinance 1990 to save their CIA hero. Call it blood money; call it a bribe – the fact is that someone paid $2.3 million to get Raymond Davis out of a Koth Lakh pat jail.

The relatives of the two men, Faheem and Faizan, who were gunned down, received around Rs 200 million each as compensation. However, a year since Raymond Davis case one family still looking for justice. Family of the third victim, Obaidur Rehman, who was run over by a US Consulate vehicle, received nothing. His family has done its best to get justice for his death, but to no avail.

Sajjadur Rehman, elder brother of Obaidur Rehman, told a newspaper that he had been unable to get justice for his brother even a year after the incident but was still pursuing his case. He said that he had lodged a First Incident Report (FIR) in which he nominated two men for his brother’s murder. He added that the case was pending in the Lahore High Court (LHC) but the federal and provincial governments had not bothered to respond. He said that both men in the vehicle had been sent abroad and claimed that a senior government official had helped them.

With Americans, it is usually one way traffic in regard to the safety and well-being of their citizens who are as diviner as Saint Patrick or Saint Augustine. The Americans have their typical standard of justice and that can be summed up in one sentence: “tail you lose, head I win.”


“Pakistan shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds,” is a justification given to explain our country’s tacit approval of anything suggested by the US government. And same was happened in this case.