Another Embassy Blunder

By
Sidra Jafri
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2
331

It’s barely been over one month since the last blunder in Washington, but the Embassy has done it again. This time it was the new Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry who gave an appearance at US Institute for Peace in Washington, a favourite venue for state officials to give presentations no doubt thanks to the placement of Moeed Yusuf who believes Pakistanis need to do more to defend Pakistan’s narrative at US think tanks. Unfortunately, even Moeed was unable to prevent the Ambassador from reading from a set of talking points that left the world laughing. However, was it really a blunder? Or is this a perfect case of our diplomatic corps reflecting our preferred strategy for international diplomacy.

What gained the most attention was the Ambassador’s bizarre answer to a question from the audience about state persecution of Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan. Here is the question and Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry’s unedited answer:

The ridiculous non-answer was immediately met with ridicule on social media.

Denying state persecution of Ahmadiyya community is impossible. When police demolish places of worship, and when Courts order police to take action against a religious community, that is state persecution. The persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan is decades old and extensively documented. So how can the Ambassador say with a straight face that no persecution exists, and even go on and claim that Ahmadis are treated equal in Pakistan?

Before we come to understand the answer, let us take note of another claim made by the Ambassador.

If this is true, what is Zarb-e-Azb? What is Radd-ul-Fasaad? Why does COAS Gen Bajwa and Gen Raheel before him claim that terrorists are defeated because of Army? Is the Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry terming the Army chiefs as liars?

No, of course not. This has been the line fed to American officials since long in order to convince them not to interfere with our issues but only to give the Army more money and weapons. We tell them that there can not be any military solution to terrorism because we do not want Americans to ask why we are not willing to help against Taliban in Afghanistan or groups like Jamaat-ud-Dawa who entire world sees as terrorists but we see as patriots.

Actually, even though the Embassy has looked foolish to the rest of the world, the powers that be probably believe it was a huge success. Ambassador’s answers make no sense, but they are the official narrative that is being presented. He is not going off his scripted talking points and admitting any mistakes or problems like some previous diplomats whose tendency toward honesty on sensitive issues has resulted in being black listed at home.

There is another point, also. As usual, I can find no trace of any American or Western media paying any attention to this event. The Ambassador gave a presentation, but it is as if it never happened except in Pakistan. Here the Ambassador’s remarks are spun as a huge success of presenting a positive image of Pakistan in front of an audience of foreign dignitaries and scholars. For most Pakistanis, the truth of what happened will never be known. But maybe that was the point anyway.

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