Kafkaesque situations?

Fatherhood is a grim challenge, especially for one who is poor, powerless such as the fathers of Naqeebullah and Mashal Khan. Naqeebulah's father, Muhammad Khan, died on Monday in a Rawalpindi hospital while Mashal's father, Iqbal Lala, is on the run fearing death. Both are the fathers of scions who had great dreams. Genuinely proud of his handsomeness, Naqbeeullah wanted to be a socialite, wanted to be on the cover-pages of fashion magazines - and not to meet his end at the hands of a trigger-happy police squad led by Rao Anwar. Mashal Khan was an idealist, wanted the Abdul Wali Khan University to be a genuine seat of learning comparable to the best in the country - and not to be lynched by a mob incited by powers within the campus. Idealism is inborn, implanted in the youth wherever they are.

Coming from the deep Northwest and having no great liking for metropolis, Muhammad Khan had come to Karachi hoping to see that the killers of his son were put behind bars and punished. But that was not to be. A year later, an ATC dismissed Rao Anwar's claim of gunning down "terrorists", including Naqeebullah, but for reasons - that only fit the ambience of a banana state - Rao was granted bail, allowed to enjoy the comfort of being at home, go abroad and join friends at late night parties. Muhammad Khan wanted to be heard by the court from his death bed in Rawalpindi, but that didn't happen. But video messages he aired will remain in the air, reminding all how grim is the challenge of fatherhood if one is poor and powerless. Pashtun norms and traditions give an easy answer to the question how Naqeebullah's two minor sons will react to this mock trial and vicious hide-and-seek to save Rao Anwar when they grow up: Pushtuns don't forget and forgive the murder. If at all there was someone who can dissuade them from taking such an extreme action it was Muhammad Khan, who is no more there.

To hold a Student Solidarity March was a great idea - that being held means driving the last nail in the coffin of Ziaul Haq's draconic rule during which student unions were banned, although some pro-government political parties were allowed to raise youth wings as political pressure groups. But Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his message on Friday 'welcomed their revival, hoping they would control campus violence and nurture good leadership'. But not much later the authorities proceeded to reverse what the prime minister had said. FIRs were registered against 250 to 300 marchers, including students, professors and rights activists as well as Mashal Khan's father Iqbal Lala who was booked for sedition. For the elderly Iqbal Lala, the Student Solidarity March was something his son loved to join, and died for that cause. Iqbal Lala didn't commit sedition by joining the Student Solidarity March, but he is facing sedition charge. Muhammad Khan, too, did not receive justice. His ordeal presents a sardonic comment on profoundly bizarre situations where the individual feels powerless to appreciate or control what is happening.