Last year, Naeem Shah was awarded a scholarship of one million rupees from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) for high marks on his exams. He’d scored higher than many of his peers and most surprisingly, he’d done it while imprisoned.
Shah was sentenced to 25 years in jail for murder in 2011 for a crime in Malir district, Sindh. The first three years in jail were tough for Shah, and he said his jail mates were often rude to him. His routine was different, and he missed his family, friends, and neighborhood in Landhi. He soon realised he didn’t want to spend his time in jail languishing, so he enrolled in matriculation and later went on to intermediate studies. “It took me few years to understand the system here,” he said. “Officers helped me get started at getting back to my education.”
Shah, now 36, is from a low-income household and didn’t have money to pay for his school fees, so officers inside the jail helped him with his school fees. He was able to complete his education from Allama Iqbal Open University, sitting for his matric exams in 2018 and his intermediate exams in 2021 when he studied education, civics, Islamiat and commerce from the Insititute of Chartered Accounts of Pakistan. Over the past few years, books have become his best friends as he worked to improve his test scores as he prepared for intermediate exams.
But despite his academic accomplishments behind bars, he still can’t redeem the scholarship because he has 14 years left of his sentence. The scholarship – which includes tuition fees and a monthly stipend -- is only redeemable if Shah studies at the ICAP center but because he still has jail time left to complete, there’s no possibility for him to study outside. The necessary exam will take place in January, but Shah won’t be able to attend. “I cannot appear in the exam just because the testing facility is outside the jail,” he said. He has appealed to the institute for support, asking if they can arrange a test facility in the jail for him so he can make use of the scholarship.
Life before jail
Before he was sentenced, Shah lived a normal life, working in his father’s transport business with his older brother to help the family make ends meet. He would study during the day and work part-time at night. Then his life took a turn one night when coming back from his school with a friend when a fight erupted with two others, and one of them was murdered.
Shah’s mother, Taj Bibi, remembers the evening when her son came home and dropped off his books, saying that a friend of his had a fight and he was going to help them resolve it. “That was the last normal conversation I had with my son,” Bibi said, covering her face with a white chadar. Bibi has been going to visit her son for the past 11 years, hoping he can one day return and live a normal life along with his three brothers and four sisters.
Before his conviction, Shah had been engaged for four months to Nasreen*, a girl from his area, and Bibi also wishes to see the two end up together. “She is waiting for him to return,” Bibi said as she wipes tears from her eyes.
The family of the victim filed a case against Shah and his friend for murdering their son. Shah’s friend died four years after the incident, leaving him as the only suspect in the case. Bib said her family believes Shah didn’t commit the murder.
The young man who was murdered lived a few streets away from Shah. He said he didn’t know him very well but when his friend asked him to join him to meet him, he obliged. “I didn’t know that he would shoot him when he asked me to accompany him on his motorbike,” Shah said. His case was heard by a court in Malir. After a trial lasting five years, the court found Shah guilty under section 302 of Pakistan’s penal code, which governs the punishment for murder.
Shah has been granted remission multiple times for his social work inside the jail, helping inmates understand their cases and find lawyers while he also focuses on his studies. He has completed 11 years of his sentence so far but believes with remissions he hopes he will be released in the next 3 or 4 years to be with his family and lead a normal life with his fiancé.
For now, he finds solace in his studies and his work teaching and helping inmates find information about legal assistance from inside the jail. “I felt it was end of my life when I came here,” he said. “But then books and education [were] the ray of hope for me to realise there is more to life than I thought.” Apart from passing his intermediate exams, Shah has completed computer, Urdu, and Arabic courses. In 2019, he also completed a training course from the Committee for the Welfare of Prisoners, and later taught law to new prisoners.
Still, Shah’s imprisonment continues to weigh heavily on his family. His father became paralysed the day he was convicted. He was bedridden for four years and died a year and a half ago. “Seeing my life getting wasted in front of his was unbearable for him,” Shah said, sobbing. He said his father’s words echo in his ear. “Zinda hoge to wapas ajaoge,” (You will return if you are alive).
When he is released from jail, Shah said he wants to return to his hometown to start a non-governmental organization to keep children invested in their studies. “Education makes you aware and sensible,” he said. He doesn’t want children to make the same mistakes he did, and also plans to set up rehabilitation centres and technical education centers to help prisoners put their lives back on track after getting out of jail.
Shah’s family appealed his case in the Singh High Court but since the other party is absent from hearings, the case hasn’t proceeded. “There have been three hearing of his case, but the complainants didn’t show up yet,” Salahuddin Gandapur, the family’s lawyer said. He said there is strong evidence Shah’s friend committed the crime because of the weapon found at the scene, but since he died while the case was being tried, he can no longer be a suspect.
Shah’s intelligence made him a star in his family and his parents used to push him to achieve all he could. “My husband used to ask him to study and don’t waste time [with] cricket,” Bibi said. He still plays cricket in jail, though, and meets with his parents when they can make the trip. Bibi goes once every six months to see her son, bringing him biryani and palak gosht because she remembers how much he used to like these dishes. “I make it specially for him,” she said.
The family still has dreams to see Shah and his fiancé together. “We have made many dresses for them and have a lot of things planned,” Shah’s youngest sister Aneela said. She was only 10 years old when Naeem was jailed and barely remembers how her brother looks. Aneela hasn’t gone to jail to see him as the commute to prison is excruciatingly long and it is an extremely emotional experience for her to see her brother in person. However, she talks to him on the phone, wishing he’ll be back home soon.