Salute to a Mother
by Altaf Ahmad Qureshi – 28 August 2004
With tears rolling on her cheeks, she came out in the streets of her village holding to her chest, a portrait of her son murdered just two days ago and went door to door asking the villagers to vote for the candidate of the Pakistan Peoples Party who was contesting against Shaukat Aziz, a candidate designated as Prime Minister much before the bye-election by dictator cum unconstitutionally elected president Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf. Before she entered the second street, she found that she was not alone and was accompanied by at least 15 other women. Then she shouted “if you are against the tyrants and Sardars, then come out, O’ mothers, with me”. She was flocked by dozens of women and they started marching towards the polling station which was out of the village on the main Fatehjang-Kohat Road.
This is not a story taken from any book. It is a true happening. Her young son Ajab Khan alongwth his brave friends Babar and Nasir was murdered on the 16th August 2004, by the political opponents in the broad day light. They were all in their early twenties and were active workers of the Pakistan Peoples Party. They had become a political threat to the district Nazim and his ruling clique in the Attock district. Hence their physical elimination had become a must. Bullets were speared into their bodies when they were busy in making arrangements of a reception for the PPP procession to be led by PPP Punjab President Qasim Zia.
Next day i.e August 17, their funerals were attended by thousands of people and were laid to rest in the afternoon. Both the towns i.e Doyaan and Qutbal, were sad and silent. Even the birds had forgotten chirping. In the evening, the residents of these two towns had decided to boycott the polling.
Next day i.e August 18, was the polling day. I alongwith other PPP workers was on duty at Qutbal. The town gave a deserted look and there was no body expect the polling staff, personnel of the law enforcing agencies and a few of us. We had put up our polling camp opposite to the premises of the polling stations at a chhappar hotel (way side cafe if you can call it so) when Arif, a young PPP worker, came there alongwith 7/8 other young boys. They sat with us. They were weeping with tears. They were proud of their friends Babar, Ajab Khan and Nasir. They used to work for the party as a team. They informed us that the polling had been boycotted. We tried to convince them not to boycott. Arif and Qaisar were in agreement with us but the rest of them wanted chairperson’s political secretary to come to talk to the elders of the three murdered. I rang up Naheed Khan who rushed to both the towns and talked to the elders. Finally the elders agreed to participate in the polling.
The polling had already started and the PML Q people availed the opportunity in the absence of the PPP workers and started bringing in females for casting votes at 8:30am. The PPP supporters started pouring in around the mid-day. Ajab’s father and mother and Nasir’s maternal uncle were busy in bringing the PPP voters to the polling stations.
Riaz his elder brother Ejaz, Qaisar, Arif and their friends had, by now taken over the polling camp and when Maj® Tahir Sadiq, the Attock district Nazim came there at about 3:30pm along with his armed men in at least 30 vehicles and also surrounded by another 10 police vehicles had to face a shameful situation. The PMLQ camp had turned into a PPP camp. He came out of his big heavy vehicle and when he saw the PPP flags fluttering at his camp, he rushed to his vehicle and all then varnished away in not more than two minutes.
When Ajab Khan’s mother came to poll her vote holding her son’s portrait in her hands, every body present there wept and cried. Even the polling staff could not hold their tears. We all must salute Ajab Khan’s mother and we salute all those mothers who have brought up such brave and courageous sons who are always prepared to lay down their precious lives for their country and democracy on one signal from the leader of the oppressed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. May God rest their souls in peace and give strength to their parents to bear this loss.
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