Local journalist and wife would rather starve than leave.
by Rachel Gladstone-Gelman
Muhammad Khurshid is a Pakistani journalist from Bajaur Agency, who reports from and barely survives on the Pak-Afghan border. In response to his plea for help, I interviewed him and his wife to further illuminate and help bring relief from his on-going and torturous struggle against the prevalent corruption in that region.
RGG:
You and your family have had quite a struggle for food, shelter and education over the years, due to living in a region of such heavy conflict. What is your current situation with regard to food, shelter and education? Do you have access to clean water? Plumbing?
MK:
Muhammad and Fatima Khurshid scramble to survive on the Pak-Afghan border so he can report on the conflict.
Yes, this is the truth that we are still facing severe shortage of food. My children have not been getting proper food since last few years. We have been living in the Stone Age, as we are in the ruins, so we have no access to clean water. All the systems are in a shambles. My wife and children have been suffering from various diseases caused by the contaminated water, but we can do nothing. I have permanent stomach problem, but still have been surviving.
My home has been destroyed during the war. Most of the time, I remain jobless as, in my hometown, there is no media organizations. I have to travel to Peshawar or Islamabad, some four hundred kilometres away from Bajaur Agency, for getting a job. I remained this way during the last few years. I have to save my children on the one hand, and on the other I have to earn something for their survival. At the moment, I am earning nothing. I have to rely on donations, which I have been receiving from my friends living in various parts of the world. But, at the moment, I am receiving nothing as now my friends have also stopped donations, as some people have created a negative impression about me.
At the moment, my children are unable to get proper education, though they have been attending schools. My daughter is in the tenth class. She has lost one academic year because of war and violence. She wanted to study science and become a doctor, but she has lost that opportunity as, during last few years, schools remained closed most of the time.
RGG:
How are you able to write after not having eaten for days?
MK:
At the moment, I am hungry, but still I am writing. I have the power of writing. This power has been given to me by my Allah Almighty. My grandfather was a great poet of his region. So you can say that we are writer by birth. This is true that my English is not of that standard through which I can write in a good manner, but still I have been writing. I have experienced bad days, so this is not a problem for me to write when I am hungry.
RGG:
What aid, if any, has been getting into the region and how has it been possible?
MK:
Many UN organizations are involved in giving humanitarian aid to the people of tribal areas. The World Food Program and UNHCR [the UN Refugee Agency] have been providing aid to the people of tribal areas. At the moment, distribution of aid is in the hand of corrupt officials so it has not been reaching the common people. USAID has also provided funds for rehabilitation of tribesmen, but that money is also being embezzled by the corrupt officials of Pakistan. I think now the UN, US and other donor agencies must evolve a strategy for reaching the people directly. I think I can play a role in this regard, if asked by anyone.
RGG:
What, in your view, would be the first step, starting now, towards transitioning your region, Bajaur Agency, into a livable region?
MK:
Establishment of rule of law will be the first step towards transitioning Bajaur Agency into a livable region. We have natural resources in abundance, so this is not difficult for us to lead a good life. Our main problem is the rampant corruption of the rulers of Pakistan. If we succeed in rooting out corruption, then we can lead a very happy and good life.
RGG:
If given the chance, and if your current plans to help repair this region don't play out, would you take your family and leave the region, altogether? If so, where would you go?
MK:
I think I have only one option and this is success. Either I shall die or I shall succeed. I shall live in this region till the return of complete peace and establishment of rule of law. In the past, I have received so many offers from the United States and some other friends for political asylum, but I have declined all the offers. I have been selected by my Allah for a role. I am just playing that role. I shall continue to live in Bajaur Agency permanently. I cannot leave the graves of my father and my mother. I cannot leave the grave of my beloved brother, Dr Pervez Khan, who was killed during the violence.
[It was a bit unclear, but I believe that both Muhammad and his wife, Fatima, answered my questions from Bajaur Press Club, in their hometown. Fatima is currently being taught by her oldest child to write. Her oldest child, Sania, assisted her in completing her part of the interview.]
RGG:
I understand that you join your husband in the desire to get the word out about the atrocities in your region. To what degree does that help you to handle the hardships it places on your family?
F:
Actually we have spent last few years in turmoil. My husband remained jobless for many years and this is the reason that we have faced a lot of difficulties. We have spent many nights without food, but still I remained with my husband in his struggle for rule of law in tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border and peace.
RGG:
How are your children coping? What are you able to do to help them?
F:
Though we have remained in problems most of the time, but still we have been trying to manage the daily life. My three children have been going to schools. My elder daughter, Sania, is in tenth class, my son, Muhammad Kamran, is in the seventh class while Muhammad Danyal is in the fourth class. We have not yet admitted Muhammad Ilyas to school. We have been paying fees to the schools regularly. My sons have topped the schools this year while my daughter will be appearing in the exam on the 15th of this month. Yes, it will be difficult for us, but still we have been managing the things.
RGG:
How are you able to pay the fees?
F:
We have been finding it very difficult to pay the children school fees as we are even unable to provide balanced diet to our children. But somehow we manage the things. During last three or four years we have been given donations by friends from Facebook and other networks. We have received donations from Canada, United States, Spain, Australia, United Kingdom, Sweden and some other countries. We have managed the life through these donations. At the moment, my husband is jobless, but, in the past, he remained as sub-editor in an English language daily, The Statesman. He also remained in a job in Emergency Response Unit created by the government of Pakistan for controlling and monitoring the relief operation for internally displaced persons of tribal areas. Thousands of people have been displaced when the government of Pakistan launched an army operation in tribal areas. At that time, we have faced tremendous problems. Yes, I shall say that it is really difficult for us to pay school fees, but Allah Almighty is also catering to our need. I have a pain the chest during last ten years, but it is impossible for me to have a proper medical check-up by a doctor. So the life is really difficult for us, but still we are able to provide some education to our children.
RGG:
If given the chance, and if your husband's current plans to rejuvenate this region don't play out, would you take your family and leave the region, altogether? If so, where would you go?
F:
Actually this is my desire to remain in my hometown. I shall prefer to die instead of leaving this area. My whole family has been living in Bajaur Agency.
RGG:
Deep down, do you have hope for your region or do you believe you will need to leave?
F:
Actually we are optimistic. I hope that the peace will return to our region and then there will be peace and happiness all over.
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