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What is the lesson for us, if any, may I ask?
Before I jump upon the story itself, which I will touch in any case, it would be very much appropriate for me to ask how it had been taken up had it happened in the country of pure land whose green passport I am holding?
The exciting or more correctly the igniting news involves three countries to start with namely Guinea (one the poorest country); USA (the mightiest) and France (one of the Super Power). Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Chief, International Monetary Fund is a French national aged 62 who had been French finance minister and now poised to contest for French presidential election of 2012. He is now accused of sexual harassment which has rocked the world to hear such news. Many French simply could not breathe at full hearing such untold news but what could they do otherwise. He will be facing court again on 6th Jun.
What could be the rationale, if any, for wealthiest French citizen to stoop down so low to advance sexually towards none but a hotel attendant? DSK (Dominique Strauss-Kahn) was not staying at any place, or for that matter, even at a 5 star hotel but at penthouse suite no 6 on the 28th floor of Sofitel Hotel, New York which is priced at 3,000 dollars a night where none but very well known political leaders, statesmen, official delegations and business tycoons can only stay. How come DSK who was likely to be future president of France, before this episode is accused of sexually advancing towards a chamber maid hailing from Guinea? He is accused of being naked when the lady cleaner came to his suite; dragged her to his bathroom; attempted to pull off her pantyhose and forcing for oral sex. Isn’t is more perplexing and mind boggling question as to how could DSK advance towards her who lacked all prima facie attractive qualifications like alluring color; blooming age; magnetic body features; sparkling beauty; tempting appearance; inviting sexual gestures and international prominence etc to name a few?
· What a sheer bad luck for DSK that he was just caught up at the very dying moments. He while still in his penthouse sensed that some trouble is in offing so he hurriedly checked out and left the hotel. He got himself seated in a 1st class cabin on Air France jet which was just going to start taxing in a move to take off from John F Kennedy International Airport to Paris, when hurriedly New York police could jump inside the aircraft and took DSK with them for criminal investigation. Had there been some delay in between the departure of the jet flight and the arrival of the police inside the jet airliner, DSK must been in air destined to land safely in his home country France. He could have been extradited from France to USA but it would never ever have been so easy in any case for many obvious reasons. Firstly DSK had categorically denied and vehemently contested the accusation, secondly France should have agreed to his extradition and thirdly there must have been an agreement between the two countries on extradition hence there were too many ifs and buts in between.
· U.S.
He is not only one the most high-profile politician in France but also a truly wealthy person who has been charged for trying to sexually attack the lady when she had gone to his penthouse suite to clean it and resultantly he is doomed not for the time being but for rest of his life. The lady aged 32 years is a single mother and has an 11 years old daughter coming from poorest Guinea and as such there is no comparison between her and DSK but nevertheless her complaint against DSK has shattered and crushed him to pieces and ruined his life and reputation beyond description. DSK is very popular in the country and very much backed by Socialist Party and hence he had been rightly aspiring to live in Elysee presidential palace when Nicolas Sarkozy quits spot number one in France in 2012.
It is really very awful even to describe what he had to face in the court but what to do otherwise. DSK was brought handcuffed, unshaved, without wearing a tie before a lady judge named Melissa Jackson in a Manhattan Criminal Court to face the criminal charges leveled against him by the hotel cleaning lady. He sat on a bench (perhaps never before) in the court room along with many other criminal defendants implicated in cases like stealing, violence and drugs where the bail amount ranged from $400 to $2,000 per case. He was frightened and pale when at last his turn came; the judge heard the case and turned down DSK’s bail application though he was posting hefty amount of $1 million cash as against others whose bail were of just nominal amount. The judge ordered that his international passport be impounded so that he cannot run away from the country. The judge also decreed that DSK be housed at no other prison than at Rinkers Island, one of the most notorious jails in New York has 11,000 inmates at any given day where even hard criminals are imprisoned. He lived in the jail cell measuring just11-by-13-foot which had no tv or internet.
Good luck for him that later, on 20th he has been granted bail against depositing $ 1 million cash and posting $ 5 million in insurance. DSK has been allowed to live under house arrest in a private building in Manhattan area with his wife Anne Sinclair, a known tv journalist in France. The court has ordered that DSK is to wear electronic monitoring bracelet which is connected and monitored by surveillance device on 24 hours basis. He is also under the custody of an armed guard who will be paid by DSK. The court has allowed that his lawyers and family members can meet him at the place. He will again appear on 6th June and God knows what is in store for him but nevertheless he will have to contest for some months even if he is not jailed and quitted honorably which is very much doubtful in any case.
Summing up, the one who was one of the most respected person not at local, national or regional but international level has lost each and everything in just one go. From employment point of view, he had to tender resignation from IMF and forget about contesting France president election in 2012. As regards money, one can imagine how much it is costing him. He not only lost his IMF income rather on the contra he is spending far too much money on engaging lawyers; payment for court fees; depositing bail and insurance bond; paying for private place where he is put under house arrest; pocketing the expenses of the private guard etc and such like expenses will be multiplying in future as the time passes on and absolutely there is no chance to decrease the unsolicited expenses whatsoever. On the top of it, DSK is draining his money for engaging some highly experienced and sharp private detectives to spy on the complainant lady and gather maximum information about her character, history, behavior etc which can believes to successfully quote in the court in his favor and against the complainant lady.
What lesson we have learnt, if any, in Pakistan where far too many poor and indefensible girls and women are chased, harassed, attacked, humiliated and molested each day, if not each hour and bulk majority sad victims do not even report to their parents and elders what to talk of police? Who does not know what happens if someone reports to police? It is really very high and ripe time for us to learn from USA.
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With my honest and solemn prayers
Sincere Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait
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