Afsheen – 5 years now

Afsheen Mussarat – Can anyone remember this name?

Who was she? What was her crime? Why she was killed?

Nadeem Saeed filed the following story for Dawn on December 25, 2003…

"Afsheen Mussarat died on November 12, 2003, at her father advocate Mussarat Hussain’s house in Multan. Her family buried her the next day at their ancestral village Marri Sahu in Kabirwala tehsil of Khanewal district.

A graduate in computer sciences from the Bahauddin Zakariya University, Mussarat belonged to the influential Sahu family of Kabirwala. She was married to her paternal cousin Nouman, a Pakistan Air Force pilot based at Shorkot, on September 13, 2003, reportedly against her will. She wanted to marry her maternal cousin Hasan Mustafa, who was her senior in the BCS course at the university.

She reportedly left her parent’s house on November 1, and arrived in Rawalpindi along with Mustafa. They rented a cottage at Bara Koh on the Islamabad-Murree road with the help of a friend and were in the process of filing a divorce suit with a civil court when Mustafa’s friend informed his parents about their whereabouts. Along with an acquaintance, Col. Alamgir Rajput, they showed up and surprised the couple on November 4, and later took them straight to the Army Guest House (AGH) in Rawalpindi.

She was reported dead on November 12.Mussarat’s sudden death gave rise to suspicions that she might have been killed. The suspicions became more serious when her family kept changing their stance about the cause of her death. Sometimes they said that she died of a cardiac arrest, sometimes they cited electric shock as the cause, and then they said she died due to some respiratory disease.

A medical board conducted a postmortem on Mussarat’s body on November 24, which confirmed that more than two people had strangled her to death. “Her body also had marks of resistance,” said a member of the board, who also disclosed that she was not properly buried. “We were in hurry,” Mussarat’s father told the police when interrogated in this regard.

Mussarat’s father, however, was arrested on November 26, and confessed to his crime, claiming that he alone took his daughter’s life by tying her dupatta around her neck after administering her meal which drugged her.

However, the police did not believe his statement and later on the chemical examiner’s report also supported their assertion. The report says that no poison was detected from the viscera of the deceased. “Mussarat Hussain wanted to shoulder the whole blame in order to save his accomplices,” said Multan district police officer Hamid Mukhtar Gondal."

The story goes on, there were protests, few arrests and later suspects were released.

Afsheen – God knows who killed you and how you were killed? You were daughter of my town and we would remember you in our prayers. But rest assured you were given the best possible treatment…

We are now more literate and civilised. We now bury women (including minors) alive in Balochistan or put before hungry dogs and then shoot them dead.

You should be grateful to your killers…

May God Bless Your Soul

Is it a village, town, or city?

Kabirwala – is it a village, town, or city?

I don’t know is the answer but dirt of its streets has been more meaningful and inspirational to me than all those places, I have lived, loved, worked, suffered…

My initial impressions of the place go back to the following entry at Wikipedia (there could have been written a lot about the town but then public started littering the entry with personal tales…What a shame?)

“Kabirwala is a fertile land when it comes to resources - the place is worth visiting. Either you're interested in seeing different landscape (ruins, rivers and lush green fields) or want to strike discussions with genuine brains. Make you way to city and it will never disappoint you.

One Caution - walking around the roads in evenings, stay focused and listen to intellectuals deciding the fate of globe on a cup of tea. These are real geniuses who can be found at different places like Arif Hotel, Nadda continental, City More, and loads of other interesting places. Kabiwala's soil helped Baidal Haideri grow his intellectual skills and was behind Khadim Rizmi's award winner "Man Warti".”

The time has brought many changes and these are painful…

Baidal Haideri, Khadim Rizmi, Nisar Sajid, Qais Saleemi are not among us. Now Nisar doesn’t stop me for the tea and Khadim Rizmi doesn’t ask me about what I have written the latest…hey Nisar, I was on your first anniversary arranged by the local press club, do you know there is no town committee hall now and they had to sit around the table on a hotel…Husnian was unable to recite his poetry and Sohail had to help him…

I have a lot to share and say but let me tell you something…It’s my personal diary and will have random thoughts on…

What we are and what is this town about? What’s our take on local, national and global politics? What makes us happy? What I am reading, what I am watching and lot more…

I was sitting in a function many years ago and local singer Azad Multani was invited on stage. He was sick and was (kind of) reluctant to perform due to his poor health. The public insisted he came (with his eyes full of tears); he said, “Kabirwala walo, Mera Akhri Salam”. The guy sitting next to me commented that this bhain chod mirasi was only making a scene. Azad Multani was a beautiful folk singer and died three weeks after that function. Sadly the artist died and this so called dignitary stills crawls in the streets.

This first entry is dedicated to every “kammi” of my town…

God Bless you All!