Did Shahida leave the house or did the house leave Shahida?

Maybe I said something wrong. Perhaps Shahida did not want to die. Probably wanted to live a quality and safe life. It was not that he did not have respect in the country and that respect was earned by himself. Although she was a woman from the besieged Shia Hazara community. Still, he didn’t give up and did what only good guys do.

That is, he was a football and hockey star at the same time. Hockey by Army Women Team and Football by Balochistan Province Team. Twenty cups and trophies are still decorated in Shahida’s room. Hockey and football jackets studded with commemorative badges hang neatly in the wardrobe.

Shahida’s three-year-old amputee does not know that his mother has gone on a tour that is endless. When he gets a little older, someone will surely tell this child that his mother lost her life in the gamble of making his life.

But this child should not be too big. Either he will be a target killer or he will embark on an unknown journey like his mother. Still, I pray that he lives a long, healthy and safe life.

If Shahida Raza had appealed to the Army or the federal or provincial government, perhaps one of them would have arranged for Shahida’s son to undergo treatment abroad. She could also go out and try to build her own future.

So why did she go to Turkey with a visa and then board a boat carrying illegal immigrants to Italy to enter Europe, taking her children with her before reaching the shore? took the future and descended into the depths of the sea.

On the day when Shahida was drowning near the coast of southern Italy, about 24 hours before, on the other side of the same Mediterranean Sea, an illegal boat full of migrants to Italy sank on the coast of Libya. Three times more people were full.

Among them was Asad Naeem, a semi-medium business man of Gujjar Khan and his cousin. Both of them gave the agent 434 lakh rupees to land them safely in Europe. Asad Naeem survived but his cousin drowned. However, there are thousands of young people like Asad who, despite surviving, take the risk again and in case of failure, risk their lives a third time.

“Before my young son becomes a target killer or a bomb,” says the mother of a Shia Hazara youth who fled the country. I will not be so sad if he becomes fish food in trying to live a new life abroad.

Unlike this Hazara youth, Gujar Khan’s Asad Naeem belongs to the majority sect and majority nationality. It also does not face a sense of grave insecurity like the Hazara and Ahmadi communities. Still, Asad Naeem believes that “all the hard work I am doing here is of no use.” If I work as hard in Europe, the future will be made.”

National level player Shahida Raza was sure that she could win her team, but she was not sure that the state would never let her lose. According to the government of Pakistan’s own records, 226,000 Pakistanis left the country legally in 2021. In 2022, 800,000 Pakistanis left here legally. As if the number of those leaving the country increased three times in a single year. Among them were ninety-two thousand doctors, nurses, engineers, IT professionals and private corporate sector employees.

Almost an equal number of youth left the country risking their lives through illegal routes. Many of them managed to land in their preferred country. Hundreds were killed on the way. About thirteen thousand Pakistanis are currently imprisoned in ninety-five countries. Half of these prisoners are in Saudi and Emirati jails.

And those who are deciding the fate of this country. They may belong to any sensitive or insensitive national organization, party or family. Their second home is also outside Pakistan and many of them have families or children. are in countries.

Maybe one day these decision makers will also leave the country. But as long as they are imposed, how many lakhs of people will have got tired of them and left this country or the world. “No one leaves his land until his house becomes a shark’s jaw” (a proverb).

Note: The opinion expressed in any blog, comment or column of DW Urdu is the personal opinion of the author, with which it is not necessary for DW to agree.