The signs of a slave nation

My flight from Bangkok to Islamabad was supposed to leave at 7:30 p.m. today. When I reached the boarding area, I learned that the flight had been delayed till 10:00 p.m. The hand written sign by Thai airways explained that the airport was closed! Yes, the airport of the capital of Pakistan was shut because President Bush was passing through! And now perhaps a few thousand Pakistanis like me are forced to kill their time languishing at the airports in other countries.

I can understand that providing security to our master is of utmost importance. However, Dictator Musharraf could have found a way to provide security without shutting capital airport. Perhaps setting a meeting somewhere in remote Baluchistan, which is incidently the safest province in Pakistan (!) due to the presence of 50,000 armed forces, could have been an option. It would have been less of a national embarassment than shutting the airport. Did Israel, a nation that owes its very existence to US, ever shut Jerusalem airport to provide security for Americans even at the height of Intifada? No! They may owe their very existence to America and may take billions in american aid, yet they dont consider themselves slave to america.

Now lets see what Pakistan got out of this visit. When he visited India, the major headlines in international media were about the nuclear energy pacts, Bush’s support for outsourcing, and other strategic business partnerships. In the case of Pakistan however, the major international news were about Bush’s praise for Pakistan’s role in war on terrorism (Good dog!), and the need for Pakistan to do more (Now go fetch me Osama, good dog!)