The lost Eid: Slaughtered for being a barber
Marwa recalls how her father, grandfather and uncle were killed by the Taliban the night before Eidul Azha in 2008.
SWAT:
It was the night before Eidul Azha in 2008 when Marwa was woken up by her mother and grandmother’s screams.
“About 12 men carrying guns and knives, with faces covered, entered our house and took my father, uncle and grandfather,” said Marwa with a straight face. “My mother had hid us in the quilt but I could peep at them from the corner.”
A few hours later her family was informed that all three had been slaughtered and their bodies were thrown off in the nearby fields. The irony of sacrificing people instead of animals at Eidul Azha seemed to be lost on the Taliban. As the villagers celebrated Eid, this poor family in Balogram village in Mingora held three funerals.
No one knows why an end was put to three innocent lives. Only one of them had the ‘misfortune’ of being a barber, which, perhaps, was unacceptable to the Taliban who considered shaving off people’s beards an un Islamic act and had banned it.
In 2008, when militancy in Swat was at its peak, barber shops were attacked and blown up and barbers were punished and ruthlessly killed. The Taliban crushed anything unacceptable to them whether it was beheading the police and security personnel or barbers who violated their ‘commands’.
Marwa, 10, and a student of class three dreamt of becoming like her English teacher. But after the incident, the little family in Balogram, Swat would never be the same again. Marwa quit school along with her sister and brother.
“We moved to Mingora where we lived with our relatives, while my mother started to work as a cleaner in the neighbouring houses. I hear her crying softly every night saying life has become meaningless for her,” she said.
Sani Gul, a relative of the bereaved family, said at first the Taliban confessed to the murders, but later denied any involvement and said the cause of the murders was personal enmity. However, the three were poor people and did not have any personal grievances with anyone. “One had a sweets shop and a bakery while the other was a barber,” Gull added.
In a place where every other household has a similar story, very few get assistance or support. This four-member family was not lucky. Neither the government nor humanitarian organisations helped them. They live a harsh life, and are getting by with the help of neighbours.
Edited by Nishaa Ishtiak
Published in The Express Tribune, November 30th, 2011.
It was the night before Eidul Azha in 2008 when Marwa was woken up by her mother and grandmother’s screams.
“About 12 men carrying guns and knives, with faces covered, entered our house and took my father, uncle and grandfather,” said Marwa with a straight face. “My mother had hid us in the quilt but I could peep at them from the corner.”
A few hours later her family was informed that all three had been slaughtered and their bodies were thrown off in the nearby fields. The irony of sacrificing people instead of animals at Eidul Azha seemed to be lost on the Taliban. As the villagers celebrated Eid, this poor family in Balogram village in Mingora held three funerals.
No one knows why an end was put to three innocent lives. Only one of them had the ‘misfortune’ of being a barber, which, perhaps, was unacceptable to the Taliban who considered shaving off people’s beards an un Islamic act and had banned it.
In 2008, when militancy in Swat was at its peak, barber shops were attacked and blown up and barbers were punished and ruthlessly killed. The Taliban crushed anything unacceptable to them whether it was beheading the police and security personnel or barbers who violated their ‘commands’.
Marwa, 10, and a student of class three dreamt of becoming like her English teacher. But after the incident, the little family in Balogram, Swat would never be the same again. Marwa quit school along with her sister and brother.
“We moved to Mingora where we lived with our relatives, while my mother started to work as a cleaner in the neighbouring houses. I hear her crying softly every night saying life has become meaningless for her,” she said.
Sani Gul, a relative of the bereaved family, said at first the Taliban confessed to the murders, but later denied any involvement and said the cause of the murders was personal enmity. However, the three were poor people and did not have any personal grievances with anyone. “One had a sweets shop and a bakery while the other was a barber,” Gull added.
In a place where every other household has a similar story, very few get assistance or support. This four-member family was not lucky. Neither the government nor humanitarian organisations helped them. They live a harsh life, and are getting by with the help of neighbours.
Edited by Nishaa Ishtiak
Published in The Express Tribune, November 30th, 2011.