A Note of Disgust – Usman Qazi

I am deeply disgusted, angry and helpless. I am not disgusted at the impunity of the killers. I am not even sad that the FIR has not been registered. I do not give a fiddler’s fart about whether the judicial inquiry commission will make any headway. What pisses me off deeply is the callousness of my friends, the intelligentsia, the self-proclaimed civil society. Everyone went gung-ho on a most suspicious video of a hitherto unknown girl being flogged at some unknown location at some unknown point in time. I was happy that, veracity of the said video not withstanding, the civil society is out to condemn the very notion of violence and lawlessness. Geo TV was showing the video with with a repetitiveness only rivaled by the Mobilink Jazz ads. The conscience of the citizens was on fire.

I am watching Geo since yesterday and am stuck to the computer practically without break. The coverage of the three brutal extra-judicial killings of political workers in Balochistan on Geo is less extensive and repetitive than their interest in Aishwarya Roy’s diminishing sex appeal because of a wrinkle problem. The friends of civil society are more keen on discussing Mukhtaran Mai’s marriage and sun coming out in Islamabad after a week of rains. The recently liberated judiciary has formed an inquiry commission that has summoned the local police officers for hearing. This is like putting eunuchs on trial for rape.

Mind you, the three middle class, educated and unarmed political workers were picked up in public view from the office of an advocate who is a former provincial minister. He is crying hoarse on who the perpetrators were but to no avail. One of the three was exonerated just days ago by a court of charges of sedition and nationalist militancy.

Please read the following quote about the disappearance of Shaidullah Kaiser, a Bengali intellectual, in 1971 and see the parallels for yourselves:

italics“According to their witnesses account, due to the war a number of Kaiser’s relatives took shelter at his home. On the December 14 evening, Zakaria along with some others had been trying to listen to the ‘Sawdhin Bangla Betar Kendro’ (A radio station operated by the freedom fighters) programme. The entire area darkened due to blackout. At that time someone knocked loudly the outside door. Zakaria rushed to first floor. Shahidullah Kaiser was taking tea at the drawing room at that time, Neela was accompanying him. Informing that someone came at the door, Zakaria came down. Gripped by fear, Kaiser’s sisters and other switched on all the lights on the ground and first floor. Kaiser was trying to make a phone call, but the intruders entered breaking the door inside. They first knocked Obaidullah (younger brother of Shahidullah) down by the rifle butt. The masked-men went up to Shahidullah’s bedroom. Identifying himself, Shahidullah wanted to know the reason for their coming.

Getting Shahidullah’s identity, one of the masked-men exclaimed saying “Mil gaya” (we got him) in Urdu and hold him by his hair. The others caught him by shirt, by hand and dragged him out. At that time wife Panna Kaiser, sister Shahana Begum and brother-in-law Nasir tried to rescue him from the cluster of the abductors. At one stage, Shahana tore one of the mask-men and everybody known him. Later, during identification of Khalek Majumder (a Razakar appointed by Pakistan Military) in the court they said this man had gone to abduct Shahidullah Kaiser on the evening of December 14.

As the abductor was identified on the spot, he kicked Shahana and forcibly dragged out Shahidullah and Jakaria Habib. Shahidullah tried his best to resist the abductors, but failed. Finally, the abductors released Zakaria on the road but took away Sahaidullah by a waiting jeep. Kaiser did not return, even his body was yet to be recovered.”italics

We all know what incidents like this led to. The then Pakistani civil society may argue that they were not even aware of all this happening due to a strict censorship. What defence will the present generation of civil society activists be able to come up with?

I wish and pray that my cynicism and fatalism is totally misplaced and I hope to be proven wrong. I am all ears and eyes for this to happen.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Baluch, Baluchistan, Muder, Pakistan, Workers