A victim of violence: No stranger to tragedy, Haseena Nasim has lost three sons in three years
Her children are being targeted and killed despite not being associated with any gang.
KARACHI:
When Haseena Nasim saw the blood-soaked and lifeless body of another son, she wished she would go blind.
"I prayed to God that He make me go blind so that I would not have to see him like this. How can a mother see so many of her children killed? I have gone through this ordeal thrice."
In the past three years, Haseena has lost three sons; one after the other, one each year, all falling prey to the senseless violence and targeted killings that have plagued Lyari in recent times.
In her late sixties, the devastated mother says that a part of her has died with each of her sons. She does not visit the graveyard anymore, nor does she look at their pictures; she is too drained out for that, the memories pain her too much. "I don't have the strength anymore," she says quietly.
The three deaths have made her understandably wary. At every echo of distant gunfire, she runs outside - barefoot, desperate and panic-ridden - to make sure that none of her surviving children are in danger.
The killings
Haseena lived in the rundown Dhobi Ghat neighbourhood of Lyari, where half-naked children play on the streets alongside open gutters and heaps of garbage. Here she worked all her life as a maid, doing other peoples' laundry, sweeping their houses and scrubbing their pots in order to bring up her nine children.
While life was never easy for Haseena, it has become doubly difficult in the last few years. Her eldest son died of fever, and her husband - who worked for a charity organisation - of paralysis. Shorn of her partner and one of her sons, she also had to witness another son turn towards drugs. And then when it seemed things could not get any worse, the killings started; the first in March 2012, the next in June 2013 and the third in May this year.
"It is only the innocent who are killed," said Haseena with a wry smile. Other women huddled around her to console as she sat on the grey floor, a few gleaming utensils lining the dark room.
She lost her first son in March 2012 when fighting broke out between the Muhajir and the Baloch. Her teenage son, Sufyan, left home with his cousin to get some credit for his mobile phone. Only his body came back, riddled with bullets.
In the summer of 2013, her 20-year-old son, Arsalan, a rickshaw driver, was abducted. A day later they received a phone call that informed them to pick up his body from the Edhi morgue. "Arsalan left behind a 15-day-old son," said Haseena, her words chocking in her mouth.
After losing her second son, Haseena decided to leave the streets of Lyari behind. She moved to a two-room house in Malir, in the hope that her children will be safer here. Her son, 22-year-old Waseem, however, decided to stay behind as his workplace, the fishing harbour, was nearby.
But death and despair followed Haseena to Malir. Waseem was on his way to meet her when he was also gunned down.
Why were they targeted?
It remains unclear as to why Haseena's sons were targeted, especially since neighbours and relatives insist that none of them were associated with any gang, nor were they involved in any criminal activities. "Maybe they were targeted due to their ethnicity," suggested a relative.
Despite losing three sons, Haseena has not turned to the police. No cases were registered for the murders as she believes the law enforcers won't do anything.
However, she did seek help from MNA Shahjahan Baloch, taking the papers documenting her sons' deaths to him, appealing for help. In return, the parliamentarian signed and attested them, but instead of helping her out, directed her to look towards the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Haseena was left on her own.
"Violence has decreased in Lyari due to the operation, but when I see Rangers patrolling the area, I feel like going up to them and asking them, 'What is the point of you being here now? My sons are already dead'."
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2014.
When Haseena Nasim saw the blood-soaked and lifeless body of another son, she wished she would go blind.
"I prayed to God that He make me go blind so that I would not have to see him like this. How can a mother see so many of her children killed? I have gone through this ordeal thrice."
In the past three years, Haseena has lost three sons; one after the other, one each year, all falling prey to the senseless violence and targeted killings that have plagued Lyari in recent times.
In her late sixties, the devastated mother says that a part of her has died with each of her sons. She does not visit the graveyard anymore, nor does she look at their pictures; she is too drained out for that, the memories pain her too much. "I don't have the strength anymore," she says quietly.
The three deaths have made her understandably wary. At every echo of distant gunfire, she runs outside - barefoot, desperate and panic-ridden - to make sure that none of her surviving children are in danger.
The killings
Haseena lived in the rundown Dhobi Ghat neighbourhood of Lyari, where half-naked children play on the streets alongside open gutters and heaps of garbage. Here she worked all her life as a maid, doing other peoples' laundry, sweeping their houses and scrubbing their pots in order to bring up her nine children.
While life was never easy for Haseena, it has become doubly difficult in the last few years. Her eldest son died of fever, and her husband - who worked for a charity organisation - of paralysis. Shorn of her partner and one of her sons, she also had to witness another son turn towards drugs. And then when it seemed things could not get any worse, the killings started; the first in March 2012, the next in June 2013 and the third in May this year.
"It is only the innocent who are killed," said Haseena with a wry smile. Other women huddled around her to console as she sat on the grey floor, a few gleaming utensils lining the dark room.
She lost her first son in March 2012 when fighting broke out between the Muhajir and the Baloch. Her teenage son, Sufyan, left home with his cousin to get some credit for his mobile phone. Only his body came back, riddled with bullets.
In the summer of 2013, her 20-year-old son, Arsalan, a rickshaw driver, was abducted. A day later they received a phone call that informed them to pick up his body from the Edhi morgue. "Arsalan left behind a 15-day-old son," said Haseena, her words chocking in her mouth.
After losing her second son, Haseena decided to leave the streets of Lyari behind. She moved to a two-room house in Malir, in the hope that her children will be safer here. Her son, 22-year-old Waseem, however, decided to stay behind as his workplace, the fishing harbour, was nearby.
But death and despair followed Haseena to Malir. Waseem was on his way to meet her when he was also gunned down.
Why were they targeted?
It remains unclear as to why Haseena's sons were targeted, especially since neighbours and relatives insist that none of them were associated with any gang, nor were they involved in any criminal activities. "Maybe they were targeted due to their ethnicity," suggested a relative.
Despite losing three sons, Haseena has not turned to the police. No cases were registered for the murders as she believes the law enforcers won't do anything.
However, she did seek help from MNA Shahjahan Baloch, taking the papers documenting her sons' deaths to him, appealing for help. In return, the parliamentarian signed and attested them, but instead of helping her out, directed her to look towards the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Haseena was left on her own.
"Violence has decreased in Lyari due to the operation, but when I see Rangers patrolling the area, I feel like going up to them and asking them, 'What is the point of you being here now? My sons are already dead'."
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2014.