RIP Sibte Jafar

Letter March 22, 2013
Sibte Jafar was but one among the many who have fallen. And there will be many more unless drastic action is taken.

KARACHI: With the murder of Professor Syed Sibte Jafar Zaidi, our society lost an individual whose absence shall be acutely felt. A renowned poet, educationist, social worker, philanthropist, and above all, a warm and exemplary human being, Ustad Sibte Jafar, as he was fondly called, left an indelible impression on the many thousands who were privileged enough to be touched by his work and art.

His death is not just the loss of his students or the Shia community — which is mourning the untimely demise of yet another intellectual to senseless bigotry — it is also an irreparable loss to the world of arts and culture. A masterful exponent of the art of sozkhwani, Sibte Jafar was also the founder of Idaara-e-Tarveej-e-Sozkhwani, an educational and cultural institution which aimed to revive and impart the classical tradition of soz and marsiya khwani. His voice and presence will be sorely missed in many a Muharram to come.


Sibte Jafar knew he was a marked man. Despite receiving numerous death threats, he refused to abandon his work and leave Pakistan. For those who are still reluctant to call a spade a spade, Sibte Jafar was a victim of what is now widely referred to as “Shia killing” or “Shia genocide”. It’s true that not every Shia who is murdered is a victim of “targeted killing”. It’s also true that there are many prominent personalities, Doctor Asad Usman and Parveen Rehman among others, who have fallen prey to senseless violence. Yet, it would be disingenuous to deny that Shias across Pakistan are being targeted simply because of who they are. In recent years, scores of Shia professionals, especially in Karachi, have received death threats from (apparently) banned outfits. Those who can, flee to safer climes. Those who can’t or won’t, like Sibte Jafar, end up dead.


It’s important, of course, to emphasise that all killings are equally condemnable and tragic. Calling one atrocity as part of an ongoing campaign of targeted killing, or genocide, over another that goes unnamed, doesn’t create a distinction between worthy and unworthy victims. In other words, these terms aren’t simply rhetorical flourishes designed to privilege one victimhood over another. Rather, it’s simply recognising something for what it is. This, it needs to be emphasised, is the first step to forcing the powers that be to take action against outfits who continue to create mayhem with impunity.


Sibte Jafar was but one among the many who have fallen. And there will be many more unless drastic action is taken. For now though, he leaves a legacy which mere mortals can only dream of. All men yearn for immortality. There are very few, though, who manage to achieve it. Sibte Jafar will live on through the thousands of people whose lives he touched and his mournful elegies will continue to resonate through the recitals of his students for many years to come.


Rest in peace Ustad. You have earned it.


A citizen


Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2013.