کابل پرس

Sahar Batool

Muhammad Younas — 2014-11-25T20:26:31Z

It was early morning of on28th of October 2014. Sahar's mother was busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen while her father, Sakhi, was getting himself ready to go to work. He looked at his motorcycle in the backyard of the home, walked to it, checked the wheels and cleaned it up with a piece of cloth.
Sarah Botool
“Can you wake the children up?” his wife shouted out from the kitchen.
“OK,” Sakhi said and walked to the children's room. He slowly pushed the door open and quietly popped his head through the door. All his daughters were in a deep sleep. Sahar, his youngest daughter who was seven was laying sleep beside her elder sisters. He gently knocked the door and called out “wake up children! Time to get ready for the school now!”

Anisa, the eldest ten years old daughter said “OK father,” then rubbing her eyes and nudging Sahar, who was laying sleep beside her on the floor, said “wake up.” Sahar woke up and asked “what time is it?” stretching her arms and legs.

“It's 7am,” Anisa answered looking on the wall clock but she immediately recalled “Aha! I won't go to school today. You know, it's sports day. What about you?”

“If you don't go, I won't go,” Sahar replied. Her eldest sister pushed Sahar out of the bed and started making it while Sahar walked to the bathroom to wash her mouth, face and hands. She looked at herself in the mirror, grabbed a tube, squeezed a blob of skincare cream out on her palm and applied it on her face and hands. She also combed her hair and put on the floral hair-band to push her shiny black straight hair away from her pretty face. She hurried to the kitchen.

When her mother saw the girls coming in the kitchen, she said “hurry up children! You'll be late of your school, if you start breakfast late.”

“Mother, today we have sports day at school and we won't have any lessons. You know, I don't like sports. I'll help you in the kitchen,” Anisa said looking at her mother. Her mother didn't say anything but looked at her husband who said “OK. If Anisa doesn't go to school, then Sahar mustn't go either.” He then looked at his wife “we're very new in this area. I want the girls to go to school together but please make sure you all stay at home.”

“Don't worry father, we won't go outside,” Anisa jumped in and started eating breakfast. “Thank you dear. I know hardly any people here,” his father admitted. “It takes time to get to know our neighbours.”

“Mother, who is Hazara Shia?” Sahar asked while eating her favourite breakfast—Paratha, “fried bread” and milk tea.
“Why are you asking?” her mother asked looking curiously at her.
“Yesterday when I was walking home, a man in the neighbourhood pointed at me and said to his friend that she was a Hazara Shia,” she told her mother. “I'm Sahar Batool not a Hazara Shia. Am I right mother?”

“Yes dear, but you shouldn't worry,” her mother replied.
“And you don't need to get scared. You must know that we live in a cantonment area. It's the safest place in Quetta City and above all I work for the Pakistan Army not for a civilian government,” his father said proudly and encouraged her daughters to tell him “if they get bullied or hassled in the area.”

After the breakfast, when Sakhi was about to leave home for work, Sahar requested her father to take her to the nearby shop on his motorcycle to buy herself chocolates and sweets as it was bit far to walk from home.

Her father kicked his motorbike to start the engine, her elder sister Anisa opened the main gate and both father and Sahar rode off to the shop. It took nearly four minutes to get to the shop. Sahar bought few chocolates bars, some sweets and a packet of spiced potato crisps to enjoy her day. His father hurriedly dropped her off near home and sped to his job.
At home her eldest sister was helping her mother in the kitchen. She was piling up dirty dishes in the sink for her mother to wash them up while her mother was busy cleaning the kitchen. “Do you know what time it is now?” her mother asked Anisa.

“It's 9:30am, mother,” Anisa replied.
“Has Sahar arrived home?”
“I don't know mother.”
“Can you check her in the bedroom? I'll wash up dishes,” she asked Anisa. “She may be playing in the bedroom.”
“OK mother.” Anisa obeyed her mother and went to the bedroom. Sahar wasn't there. When she came back in the kitchen she told her mother that Sahar might have gone to the neighbours. She tried to calm her mother.

After an hour when Sahar didn't come home, her mother started to get worried and asked Anisa to go out and bring her home. She looked in the neighbourhood. Sahar was not there. She knocked at uncle Ahmed's home but she wasn't there. She came home back without Sahar.
When her mother saw Anisa without Sahar, she became really nervous “Oh my God! What to do? Where should I go now?” a series of questions popped into her head. She grabbed her scarf, put it over her head and asked Anisa to stay at home and let her know, when Sahar came home.

She went out with her elder daughter and looked carefully outside her home, she asked everyone in the street if they had seen any young Hazara girl aged seven with green dress and knocked all the neighbours' homes of the colony in a hope to find her but Sahar was not there. Her fear was now swelling in her mind. Her heart was throbbing fast but she was still hoping to find her.

Her mouth in the meantime was getting drier. Her lips started quivering when she asked people about her missing child. While walking frantically in the street, she could feel her legs trembling and her pale face easily revealed how fearful she was at not being able to find her daughter. “Please God help me find my daughter. What should I tell his father?” she thought fearfully.

She was scared to go home without Sahar but she hoped to see her at home. She rushed to the home with mixed feelings but her panic multiplied when she saw Anisa standing alone at the door. “Has she come back?” she immediately asked Anisa.
“No mother. She hasn't back yet,” she replied.

“Oh my God, my head is exploding I can't think anymore? Can you both go out again and look around,” her mother asked her daughters, crying nervously. “I don't know where she has gone? Please God, send Sahar home safely.”

For the third time, they went out of the home and started searching again. One of the sisters ran to the shop while the other one ran to a lady to ask about her missing sister. But the moment she got closer to the lady and was about to open her mouth “your sister is over there,” the lady said pointing to Sahar's body, lying on the garbage dump. Anisa couldn't believe her eyes when she saw her sister's body lying unmoving on the garbage dump face up. She ran to the home and shouted her mother to come out of the home. Her mother ran out, barefooted, on the sound of her daughter's voice. Anisa took her mother to the garbage dump and showed her, Sahar's body. On seeing her daughter's dead body she fell over her, held Sahar up in her arms and screamed “is there anybody to help me.”

Two passersby came forward and helped remove Sahar's body to the cantonment hospital from where her father was phoned to come to the hospital immediately.

Sahar's father rushed to the hospital. The police informed him of his daughter's death and asked him to take the body to another hospital for the post-mortem where a lady doctor after thorough examination of his daughter's body, asked him to come to a separate room.

In the presence of the Police, the lady doctor said that the killer throttled her to death with a rope around her neck by pulling it hard from her back and his hand repeatedly banged her forehead on the concrete floor.

On a question of rape raised by the Police, the lady doctor said that the child had been subjected to an attempted rape but being a brave girl she protected herself.
After the post-mortem examination report, Sakhi brought his daughter's dead body home and later on, she was laid to rest at a local graveyard at around 7pm in the evening. As part of the ritual, local people visited the bereaved family members and expressed their condolences and sympathies with them.

Sakhi never thought that his seven years old daughter could be killed in cantonment area, the safest place in Quetta City, Pakistan. Being so young, Sahar never knew which ethnicity group or religious sect of Islam she belonged to. But many believe that she was killed because she was a Hazara Shia. And in Pakistan, especially Quetta City Hazaras don't get bullied or hassled, but get brutally killed.

The writer is an independent UK-based journalist. He can be contacted at toyounasat@yahoo.co.uk and tweets @toyounasat. To read more stories, please click on http://www.myounas.com

Pakistan on Brink of Political Change

Muhammad Younas — 2014-08-25T20:31:00Z

The political temperature in Islamabad seems to be rising every passing day. Federal government's supporters who had earlier kept their mouths shut but they now have started holding public rallies which will surely heat up the political environment in Pakistan.
The more political tension rises in Pakistan the more Imran Khan and Maulana Tahirul Qadari will benefit. Political crisis will prompt tension and tension will trigger violence and violence will invite the “elite force” to come forward to take control of the situation.

The sit-in protests have so far been peaceful in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan. But will they remain peaceful in near future? Nobody knows. Will the protesters keep their nerve intact? We can hope so. But what if the federal government doesn't pay attention to the six demands of Imran Khan comprising Nawaz Sharif's resignation, re-elections, electoral reforms, formation of an impartial interim government through consensus among political parties, resignations of Election Commission of Pakistan's member and to invoke article 6 of the constitution against those involved in the ‘rigging' of May 2013 elections and awarded punishments.

Media reports suggest that the federal government seems to have accepted all demands except the resignation of the prime minister but Imran's focus on the resignation of Nawaz Sharif seems to have taken the political climax to the next level.

After having lunch with the incumbent prime minister, tea with Jamat Islami leaders and supper with the Chaudhary brothers, Asif Ali Zardari, PPP leader suggested the prime minister not to resign. While Imran Khan on other hand is adamant to go home with the resignation of the prime minister, seem to have put the political dialogue to the dead-end.

What next, if the dialogue doesn't go ahead? Will the government use force? Will protesters occupy the Parliament House or Prime Minister House? How long the protest will go? What about the “invisible forces”? Will they turn their eyes blind on the situation? But for how long? The protest is causing daily loss of Rs 150 billion to the national economy. The value of Pakistani currency is devaluing on daily basis. The image of Pakistan is deteriorating internationally.

Many political parties agree with the most of the demands but they condemn the style of the protest especially the language tone of Imran Khan. Many believe that if Imran Khan and Maulana Tahirul Qadari succeed, then a new authoritarian system may likely come into force to not only restrain the freedom of media but also the judiciary including political structure.

However, if the ongoing protest meets with failure, then the prime minister may likely emerge as a despotic ruler and he may pressurize rival political parties especially Imran Khan to the utmost level to wipe them out from the political landscape of Punjab. The prime minister may also put some kind of ban or may start controlling some media groups which kept supporting the protesters.

In the meantime, there are some people, who talk about the third option. They believe that Chaudary Nisar, present Interior Minister or any other influential personality may surprise the people of Pakistan by dividing PML (N) into two potential groups to form an impartial interim government with the support of other political parties. While some others believe that Shahbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab's resignation and acceptance of other demands may help ease the political tension.

However, if the ruling party didn't like the third option, then what other option is left to subside the mounting political tension. Can't think of any, accept one. Left Right, Left Right and of course Left Right.

The writer is a UK-based independent journalist and can be contacted at toyounasat@yahoo.co.uk. He tweets at @toyounasat. To read more articles, please visit http://myounas.com

Sorry Latifa, You are a Hazara

Muhammad Younas — 2014-07-29T21:19:18Z

It was a pleasant day in Lal-o-Sar Jangal, Ghor Province Afghanistan. Latifa was thrilled since morning because she was going to Kabul City with her husband today for the honeymoon. Her husband, Nauroz had already told her to get all necessary stuff ready by 10pm.

Nearly a month ago, she got married with Nauroz, his village mate. She was just 22 years old, a young lady with full of dreams to enjoy the marriage life. It was early morning, when she left her bed to start the day but it was not the routine day. She couldn't sleep properly as the honeymoon excitement kept her awake nearly all night. She hurriedly prepared breakfast for the family. Her blood was running fast in her veins. She seemed flying today—feeling over the moon. She wanted to finish all house chores as quick as possible and she also wanted to finish packing before the set time.

In the evening, her parents visited her home to see off her. She cooked a sumptuous dinner for the family. All family members enjoyed the dinner. Latifa promised to bring beautiful wool shawls, scarves from Kabul and warm shoes for her mother-in-law.

It was around 10pm, when her husband asked her to leave home. She kissed her elders' hands to seek their blessings. In traditional Hazaragi dress, she was looking stunning with a bridal scarf. They both left home and arrived at the bus station, where a mini-bus was waiting to get them on board. The driver put their bags on the roof and tied them up. The commuters took a sigh of relief when the bus started moving forward.

“We will arrive in Kabul in the afternoon,” the driver said loudly and sped the bus bit fast.

“Why the bus doesn't go in the morning?” she asked her husband inquisitively.

“It's safe at night rather than in the day light,” Nauroz replied confidently.

The mini-bus was going slowly but the commuters could easily feel the jerk and the bump as it was running on the rough and unpaved road. The bus was swaying to either side when it moved bit fast. However, Latifa wasn't feeling the knock and jolt because she was thinking about Kabul City, her honeymoon.

“Do you know which place we should see first in Kabul?” she asked.

“What do you think?” her husband replied.

“I don't know. This is my first time going to Kabul.”

“After lunch in Kabul, we'll take a rest for a few hours, and then we'll go to the cinema. We'll watch a Hindi film. What do you think?”

“Sounds great to me.”

She didn't know how Kabul looks like. She heard a lot about Kabul City, especially Bagh-e-Babur, Bagh-e-Bala, Qargha, Kabul Zoo, cinemas and of course shopping malls. The beautiful national park Band-e-Amir and historical Bamiyan city known for its giant Buddhas were also in her list before coming home.

When the bus reached Feroz Koh, it stopped.

“Why it's stopped?” she asked curiously.

“I think, it's a normal checking by the authorities—not to worry,” her husband explained.

Three bearded armed men got on the bus. One of them put the gun on the head of the driver and shouted to get off the bus.

“Who are they? What are they doing?” she asked nervously.

“I don't know—may be Taliban. Don't know,” Nauroz said fearfully.

Both of the armed men were pulling commuters off the bus. She couldn't believe her eyes, when a dark bearded armed man with thick eyebrows and a large nose dragged her out of the bus. She was horrified. She was made to line up beside the bus with other commuters. She also saw more armed men who were getting passengers out of the three buses and were lining them up. The women and children were crying. Armed men were asking everybody to show their ID Cards. She didn't know, why they were asking ID Cards?

After checking ID Cards, the armed men were letting some commuters to go, while some others' hands were being tied on their back. She started crying when her husband's hands were tied on the back. She realized that only Hazaras were being singled out and lined them up against the bus. The armed men were kicking and punching Hazaras. After excluding Hazaras from others, armed men started torturing and shooting including women. She also felt something in her head and after that she didn't know, what happened to her.

In the morning, the horrifying news struck to the national media and the social media networks.
15 innocent people were shot dead in Feroz Koh area including three women and a 9-month old child. Nobody was found injured. They were shot killed because they were Hazaras and Shias. Latifa's body was lying dead beside her husband. Her hands were also tied on the back. She received several bullets but the bullet in the head took her life. She was killed because she was a Hazara and it was the only crime.

As routine, Kabul government issued clichéd statement vowing to bring terrorists to book. It's worth mentioning, that for the past one month, around 50 Hazaras have so far been slaughtered by the religious terrorists in different parts of Afghanistan. No single terrorist in this regard was brought to justice, which is a matter of great concern for Hazaras in Afghanistan.

Angry protesters from different parts of Afghanistan including Kabul, Herath, Mazar-e-Sharif, Bamiyan and Daykundi even from Quetta City, Pakistan took to the street to express their solidarity with aggrieved family members and demanded Kabul Government to stop the killings of Hazaras in Afghanistan and provide full protection to its citizens. Many believe that if the recent ongoing Hazara killings were not stopped immediately by the government, it would further divide Afghanistan on ethnic lines.

The writer is a UK-based independent journalist and can be contacted at toyounasat@yahoo.co.uk. He tweets at @toyounasat. To read more articles, please visit http://myounas.com