Pakistanis hope speech signals a ‘new era’
Posted: Thursday, June 04, 2009 6:05 PM
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Islamabad, Pakistan
By Carol Grisanti, NBC News Producer
ISLAMABAD – Pakistanis want to hold President Barack Obama to his word.
"If he does what he says he is going to do, then it will be the beginning of a new era," said Raja Qamar, the cashier at the New Raja Restaurant in Islamabad.
In this simple lunch place in Islamabad on Thursday, a dozen or so diners seemed more interested in eating their lunch then watching the small TV suspended high on a corner wall. The ceiling fans creaked and groaned in a steady hum but were no match for the more than 100 degree heat outside.
When Obama came on the screen, the diners looked up and watched expressionless; most following the Urdu subtitles on the screen – no one stopped eating.
Nasir Mahmood, the restaurant’s only waiter, wiped the sweat from his brow with the same brown towel that he wiped the tables. His customers were coming and going – Obama’s speech was not enough of a draw to keep them inside. But as he took the lunch orders, Mahmood studied the TV.
"With God’s blessing, Obama’s speech will be a new beginning," he said. "I hope the American attitude towards Muslims has changed and it has become good now."
Raja Taimour was paying close attention too and hushed-up his brother when he tried to talk to him. Taimour, a hotel owner, was soft spoken, but had hard words for the president.
"Any announcement on his part should be implemented immediately, not within a time period such as troop withdrawal by 2012," he said. "This war on terror is intensifying day by day and any time period given could be extended by giving any excuse. So I don’t believe anything he says."
When the speech ended, there was no applause inside the New Raja Restaurant, no smiles, no reactions. The customers who had stayed to listen left and others wandered in to be served. The new crowd hadn’t heard the speech and seemed even less interested in hearing about it.
Mahmood, the waiter, showed the new customers a table and took their orders.
"I was impressed by his speech," Mahmood said, wiping his brow. "But the killing of Muslims must stop."
"His speech was excellent," Qamar, the cashier, chimed in. "Now his words must be put into actions, I mean all the killing has to stop."
