Farah Dogar Honour Killing
The Chief Justice of Pakistan Abdul Hameed Dogar has killed his own daughter Farah Dogar in the name of Honour. And right now he is roaming freely on the streets of Islamabad in his bullet proof BMW with the full support and backing of his long time friend and ally, Asif Ali Zardari. The President of Pakistan has assured him that no harm would come to him and has proved this by ensuring a total media blackout of the news. But the most surprising thing is that even the Western media is not running the story. WHY? Even when a small village girl in the remotest valleys of Swat or barren lands of Choolistan is harmed the news becomes an overnight sensation on both local and international media. But now when the upholders of the law and justice have flauntingly ravaged the life of poor Farah Dogar, there is absolutely not a single word being uttered. Then what about the human rights organisations, NGOs, women’s rights activists. Where are they? What are they waiting for? Do they also only go after soft targets? It is only now upon us, the public to spread the news of the fate of the poor young lady who was a victim of honour killing only because she married against the wishes of her family. We must spread the news before the killers get the time to chop up the dead body of the poor girl into thousands of tiny pieces and feed them to the dogs. And, if there is no dead body, then there is no case in Pakistan.
I will now tell you the story of the young couple. It was a fine sunny afternoon when I came across a young couple in the streets of Islamabad. The boy was handsome, nearly 6 and a half feet tall and she barely managed to reach his shoulders with high heels but had her womanly charms and the couple seemed perfect for each other. I noticed that the two were pleading to the crowd of people and no one paying heed. I might have dismissed them as a new breed of beggars but their get-up and attitude said otherwise. Curiosity got the better of me and I tried to skim through the crowd to see what the commotion was all about. As I neared the couple I heard the girl weeping and begging the crowd for anyone’s help to be a witness for their wedding. Obviously, the two were going for court marriage and required witness signatures, but the reluctance of everyone from such a huge crowd was puzzling, which became obvious next second when I heard the girl’s name: Farah Dogar. It clicked with a flash that she was none other but the Farah Dogar of FSc Marks infamy. She was crying that they were short of one witness but no one dared to help them, knowing fully well that she was the daughter of the Chief Justice of Pakistan who also happened to be the best friend of Asif Ali Zardari. I couldn’t stand the plight of the young couple and decided to help them. I quickly walked to the couple and pulled them out of the crowd which clearly had nothing better to do than get a quick-fix and pass their time. I got the two into my car and agreed to sign as a witness if they would tell me their story.
Their story was as simple as it gets – boy meets girl, the two fall in love and girl’s father disapproves. There have been countless movies made both in Bollywood and Lollywood on the exactly same story. The two had met while they were studying in the university. The boy, Zeeshan although had the credentials for a model, also belonged to a well-off family. His father was a Federal Secretary and had been a close confidante of the President Musharraf. Zeeshan’s family, although had no objection to the marriage, had been trying to convince him not to pursue Farah, however, they were not giving him any stiff resistance. Farah’s family on the other hand was a completely different story. Her father had openly threatened to get Zeeshan killed if Farah didn’t stop seeing him. And he might have already done so, if Zeeshan hadn’t been the son of a Federal Secretary. Zeeshan then told me that his father was an honest officer and his family did not have fortune other than the government allotted plot. Thus in his opinion it was his middle-classness which was the hindrance. I smiled at the innocence of the boy in these matters. Turning a middle-classer into an ultra-rich-classer is a matter of months in this country, if really warranted. It was not his father’s middle-classness but Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar’s feudal lordness which was the reason. Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar is one of the biggest landlords of Pakistan and he would rather kill his daughter than to marry him to someone outside the family for the fear of losing part of the family land, no matter how paltry that might be. It was the centuries old tradition that the land must remain within the family, whatever the cost to the females might be.
I tried to explain to the couple that if they went ahead with the marriage, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Abdul Hameed Dogar would have them killed. And he would have full support of his long time friend Asif Ali Zardari. However, the couple was of the view that if they were to marry they would be safe as in this case Farah’s share of the property would go to Zeeshan in case she is killed and in case both are killed the property would automatically go to Zeeshan’s family. Thus Chief Justice Abdul Hammed Dogar and his family wouldn’t dare touch the two, out of the fear of completely loosing Farah’s property. In their innocent minds they had a fool proof plan. I couldn’t argue with their logic, but unfortunately, things in Pakistan do not follow logic.
Oh, how I lament that moment when I gave in to their incessant pleading and signed the marriage certificate as a witness. Afterwards, I took them to my lawyer and got them registered, something which was not easy, because of Farah Dogar’s father’s reputation. No one in Pakistan wants to mess with a Chief Justice of Pakistan. However, I was able to get the process finished in a typical Pakistani fashion. Seemingly, money helps overcome all the fears. At the end of the day I gave the couple my card and advised them to keep in touch and apprise me of any incidents.
A couple of days later I was invited by the couple. They had arranged a meeting of their close friends to discuss their next move. They hadn’t told anyone that they had gotten married. When I arrived, I found it unsurprising to find the children of the elitist gentry sitting there. From the daughter of a Lieutenant General to the son of a business tycoon were all there. Everyone in the gathering was of the view that the couple should take the first flight out of the country and disappear for good. And I agreed.
Today morning when I received a phone call at 5am, I had an eerie feeling that it wouldn’t be good. It was from one of Farah’s friends, daughter of a media tycoon. Her message was brief. The couple was caught while trying to board a flight. Their names had been put on Exit Control List. Farrah was killed by the hands of her father two hours after capture, while Zeeshan has been confined to the darkest corners of the infamous jail. Zeeshan’s family members have been threatened with death and President Asif Ali Zardari, who had first helped his old friend by putting the names of the innocent couple on the Exit Control List has now put his whole might behind imposing a total media blackout in Pakistan. She said that the media bosses have been threatened with such dire consequences that not a single newspaper or news channel is willing to run the story – the biggest story of HONOUR KILLING – of the century.
And now, unless we the public do something, no one would ever know the fate of poor Farah Dogar. And then what about Zeeshan, who is still alive at the time I am writing this for the world.
O you NGOs, civil rights advocates, international media, bloggers, tweeters will anyone help the soul of Farah Dogar? Will anyone take this darkest of all atrocities to the echelons of justice? O will anyone come forward to ensure this crime is not buried along with the body of Farah the Martyr?
