Target killing: Stories behind the statistics

Qurban, an Urdu-speaking office worker was returning home from work when he was shot dead near Kati Pahari, a stone’s throw away from Qasba Colony.

His three-year old daughter, Aqsa still believes that her father will return home.

“My mother has told me that his boss has asked my father to stay at the workplace. When he completes his work, my father will come home and buy me candies and new clothes. And yes, a doll too.”



Shahid, a vegetable vendor in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, had been sick for many days. With his family  going hungry, he finally forced himself to go out with his push cart to earn some money.

“When he was on his way to the vegetable market, some unidentified armed men picked him up and took him to an unknown place,” says his friend, Shadab. “Later, his dead body was found by Chhipa.”

Shahid, who was not affiliated with any political party, leaves behind four children, elderly parents and a wife. According to his wife, Shahid was ignored because he was not a part of any political party. “The government did not offer us any compensation,” says his wife. It has been more than a year since he was killed.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, April 17^th,  2011.