Eternal poverty: A son begins where his father left off, and the family mourns both

Rs0.3m in aid announced by the govt will not nearly be enough, says family.

ISLAMABAD/SUKKUR:

He passed his matriculation exams at 17, was married at 18, became a father at 19 and was sick and tired of life by 24. So he just ended it.

Raja Khan, a young father from Naushero Feroz, self-immolated in front the presidency on Monday.

Did he not want to see his third baby, a baby that was born just as Khan’s body was being buried?

The suicide note he left reveals that he did not have the strength to see his children in poverty anymore. He pleaded with the government to take care of his wife and children after his death, a plea that was heard but not understood.

“The DCO came today and gave us a cheque for Rs300,000 and a promise to give me a job,” said Rab Nawaz, Khan’s younger brother who had accompanied his father to Islamabad to collect Khan’s body.

Khan’s father, Roshan, who is an asthma patient, recalled how he repeatedly tried to get in touch with MNA Zafar Ali Shah for help. “The MNA gave jobs to the boys from well-off families, but my son was ignored. I was not demanding a big post for my son; the post of a clerk or a policeman would have been enough.”

Nawaz added that the money given by the government will not last more than a few months. “We were hoping the government would give the family a monthly stipend,” said the 19-year-old youth, who has completed higher secondary school. He does not believe he will get the promised job.

“My documents have been in DCO office for months now and nothing was done,” said Nawaz.

Zohra Yousuf of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said, “It is the government’s responsibility to provide for economically marginalised sections of society. This responsibility is far from being fulfilled.”

Khan had requested in his suicide note that he be buried in Islamabad as his family could not afford to come and collect his body. “My family should not be bothered to come to Islamabad. They should only be informed of my death and the place where I am buried,” Khan wrote in the note.

However, authorities in Islamabad were in a fix on the matter of his burial. Later, on the suggestion of some police officials, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Human Rights Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar was contacted and informed of the incident.

The adviser, from his own purse, arranged for Khan’s father and a brother to travel from Naushero Feroz to Islamabad, collect his body and travel back to Karachi by air. They were also provided with an ambulance free of charge.

Khokhar’s, and thus the government’s support, ended here with a few hundred thousand bucks and some ‘promises’.

From here on, Khan’s family will most likely be alone again, with one less pair of hands to try and feed it.

“Economic tyranny is leading [more and more] people to commit suicides,” said Yousuf. She said that 1,580 people had committed suicides in Pakistan in 2011, according to the data collected by HRCP from January to September.

Khan’s family was unsure of what is the bigger tragedy: his death or the birth of his son, whose coming into the world has added financial burden on the cash-strapped family.

“My brother always wanted to earn enough to support his family,” said Nawaz.

He added that Khan had been referred to Bilawal House earlier this year by officials in Islamabad, only to be told that there was no job for him. Following the refusal, he told his family that he would give it one last try this month and arrived in Islamabad on Friday.

His family did not know that he had already given up hope. The news of his death on Monday shocked his pregnant wife and his family. “He had taken money from our father to get new clothes for his prospective meeting with the MNA. He had high hopes,” said Nawaz.

Khan hoped that in death, the government would help his family get what he couldn’t give them while alive. Yet again, his hopes seem to have been shattered.

With additional input from Sarfaraz Memon

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2011.