THE Washington Post opinion pages have, perhaps inadvertently, shone a spotlight on an unanswered but important question in Pakistan: what has become of the Abbottabad Commission report? Former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani’s assertions in and reasons for writing his latest controversial newspaper article aside, the veil of secrecy that has quite predictably been thrown over everything surrounding the Abbottabad debacle needs to be lifted. From a Pakistani perspective, the questions are several and of enduring importance. How did Osama bin Laden arrive in Abbottabad and how did he live there for many years without being detected? How were American troops able to penetrate Pakistani airspace, conduct a ground operation deep inside Pakistani territory and then exit several hours later seemingly without most parts of the vast and heavily resourced security apparatus knowing of the incursion? And perhaps most importantly, what steps need to be taken to ensure there is never another incident where one of the world’s most wanted terrorists can live a relatively comfortable life in a bustling Pakistani town? The deliberate suppression of the facts established by the Abbottabad Commission and the obvious non-implementation of its recommendations — what is not known cannot be implemented — is a continuing injustice to state and society that must be corrected.

The report will surely not be a panacea, but its publication would be an important turning point for several reasons. There is a long, virtually unbroken history of the results of important inquiries being shielded from public view. From the assassination of the country’s first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, to the break-up of Pakistan in the 1971 war, to the killing of Akbar Bugti, which turbo-charged yet another Baloch insurgency, there have been convulsive events whose origins and histories have been investigated but the results of those inquiries kept secret. In turn, the national security of the state has suffered as the truth and accountability have been suppressed in favour of institutional interests. Making public the Abbottabad report would demonstrate that national security is being returned to the public domain, where it belongs and where it can be debated without fear or intimidation. Moreover, publication would help cleanse the dominant narrative that has had toxic effects. From the fate of Shakil Afridi to the stoking of anti-Americanism, the Abbottabad episode has been turned into a weapon rather than what it should have been: an opportunity to correct course.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2017