Murder of Noor Mukadam, resident of a posh locality of Islamabad and daughter of a former ambassador Shaukat Mukadem, is known not only to each and every Pakistani with no exception whatsoever, simply because all local press has for days together published details about the case. American, British, Australian, Indian and other global media outlets also reported in detail the Noor Mukadam case. She had been exhaustively mentioned at the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and other social networking sites and mobile applications and it proves that her case has been exceptionally publicized right from east to west and south to north which is not a common practice in any case.
Honestly speaking, I am facing a very complex situation as how to pen, or for that matter, why to pen or why not to pen. But nevertheless the event itself speaks aloud pushing me to pen on the issue where miseries of the aggrieved father are continually multiplying on different counts from variety of angles from 20th of July, 2021, when Noor was very savagely murdered by her longtime friend Zahir Jaffer who is not only an American citizen but also he is son of a well-known rich business family.
Zahir Jaffer called Noor on 18th of July, asking her to come to his house to see him as the next day he is flying off to the United States by the Qatar Airways. So Noor went to his house same evening where the pet dog did not bark on her since she had been a frequent visitor to the house and therefore her face was very much familiar to the dog. Otherwise, the dog by nature itself had barked on her. She stayed with Zahir Jaffer on 18th and 19th nights while she lost her life on 20th in the same house.
What perplexes me the most is that as to why and how her father was not alarmed when he did not see Noor in the house on 18th and 19th as she had been with Zahir who is not her husband in any case? May I dare to ask him, if not annoying, as to how could he sleep, on both the nights when his daughter was ‘missing’ from the house is not understood by me? I am 78 but still very much remember that decades ago when I was primary school student, my father told me that his father (my paternal grandfather) has set a rule that all members of the family must be back in the house well before the sun set prayers. In the glorious past, there was complete cohesion, peace and tranquility in the house but our rich and those belonging to upper echelon quite deliberately ignored the past traditions and instead tuned up towards liberalism whereby neither the children bother to take permission from their parents to meet opposite genders nor the parents watch whom their children meet and why.
Anyhow, Noor went to Jaffer’s house all alone without permission from her parents to be with him. He loved Noor and wished to wed her but when on 20th July, she refused to wed him, he simply could not absorb such like greatest shock of his life and thereby he killed her instantly. After killing her, he telephoned his parents in Karachi, telling them that he has killed Noor. His father – Zakir Jaffer – told his son that you need not to worry at all and I know well what to do and how to do. He instructed workers to dispose-of Noor’s body in a manner that neither anyone knows about the murder nor there should be any trace or sign left at house about a murder.
Jaffer’s parents were arrested on 24th of July on the pretext that they knew or believed to be knowing the murder but instead of informing the police, they called the workers to hide the crime and dispose-of the body which is tantamount to implicitly in the crime and hence they are facing the music. ‘Justice for Noor’ was the top trend on Twitter and many women have not only voiced but also came on streets demanding nothing but justice for the victim. Regretfully, they have quite intentionally ignored the point that under what rules, if at all any, Noor could become friendly with a male? Does Islam allow such intermixing with the opposite gender? I doubt if Pakistan allows meeting opposite gender but if still one meets ignoring all the principles and morality then they deserve to meet such like fate.
Noor’s friends and her sympathizers have issued a call to all celebrities, elite and netizens of the capital to gather in front of the National Press Club in Islamabad on 22 September to register their anger for murdering Noor. The gathering stuck to slogans like #JusticeForNoor and also #StandWithNoor. Her father Shaukat Mukadam not only joined the demonstrators but also addressed the gathering demanding for nothing but justice. I totally differ with Shaukat for a valid reason and not otherwise, saying that had he and his wife not allowed Noor to meet Jaffer, she had been alive even today, living with her parents. But ever since her parents felt proud knowing that Noor is a friend of a business tycoon, the tragedy has struck and she is not only killed but even her skull was severed from her body which too heinous, and horrible even to describe.
Time itself is a great healer and the grief of losing anyone like father, mother, brother or sister lessens gradually after passage of time. Eventually, all those who once bitterly cried on death comes to terms with the time and the dead is only remembered occasionally but in this case Shaukat’s grief is not lessened even though couple of months have already passed since Noor is killed. Instead, the lifelong grief becomes fresh as and when he faces a court hearing and, therefore, Shaukat is being continually punished for allowing his daughter to be friendly with a stranger.
I being myself a father of a lady doctor wish that my compatriots, particularly those who belong to our upper echelon, and are very proud to be called as ‘liberal’ and ‘care free’ like Shaukat and Jaffer allowing their sons and daughters to intermix alike, must learn lifelong lesson from Noor to avoid facing such like heart-breaking and horrendous result, unless and until they support ‘my body is my choice’ slogan.
