In the wilderness of youth

Is there a perceptible boundary, in this land of the pure, between the realms of the supposedly legitimate authority and the manifestly powerful lawbreakers? And how do the two sides fare when, at some point, the chips are down?

This confusion arises again and again when one learns about some major encounter in which shadowy figures of the underworld seem to be involved. More often than not, the rich and the powerful tend to get away with whatever reprehensible act they may have committed. That is how, alas, the system works. Or, at least, this is the impression that the people are left with.

But I am not sure where this gruesome crime that has created a sensation in recent days belongs, in terms of a wrangle between different elements of law enforcement and investigative agencies.

Obviously, I am talking about the Mustafa Amir murder case. The focus has been on how the crime was committed by the main suspect Armaghan. Both were close friends engaged in activities that have not yet been fully revealed. Drugs have emerged as one of the notable ingredients of the mysterious concoction that this case has become.

Actually, I was all set to write about the Pakistan Literature Festival that the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, had organised in Sukkur on Tuesday and Wednesday. The urgency of putting up the show on weekdays was dictated by the arrival of Ramazan, a month that changes the entire rhythm of life. The rush of events during the last pre-Ramazan days had set the social calendar ablaze, in a sense.

The Sukkur festival also seemed more relevant because of its cultural and social significance and the impact it made. Besides, the experience of travelling by road from Karachi to Sukkur – and back – added to the excitement of attending a literary festival in northern Sindh.

But throughout the week, the Mustafa Amir murder continued to occupy my mind. I felt overawed by the details that have flowed from it. Very disturbing questions have been raised about how our society functions at some specific levels.

Essentially, we have here a glimpse of the life and the waywardness of a class of youth that lives in an upscale sector of Karachi. Mainly, it is a sprawling housing authority. For ordinary citizens, it is a spectacle to watch the kids of, say, feudal lords and tribal chiefs going around in their flashy four-wheelers, escorted by armed guards. There have been stories of scuffles and skirmishes and even gunfights between gangs.

It is in this world, partly, that the characters featured in the Mustafa Amir case have operated. As far as drugs are concerned, we have long been getting reports about the spread of the menace in elite educational institutions. However, how can this happen without the involvement of some law enforcement functionaries?

Talking about those young people who live on the edge of the criminal underworld, I am also reminded of a different breed that lives a difficult life in places like Sukkur and the adjoining rural areas. They were there at the Sukkur festival in thousands. They may have been attracted by the musical programme or the mushaira but were also exposed to various sessions that included young panellists and dealt with subjects that concern the young.

Whenever I have the opportunity to interact with them, I try to share their longings and their frustrations. It is true that most young people want to go abroad – or, in other words, want to escape from this country. There are obvious reasons why this is so. This is not the occasion to dwell on this subject in any detail, but I do feel that this society, with its instinct for intolerance and obscurantism, is not kind to the young. To be young in Pakistan is not to be.

While the children of the rich can live in their bubble, the young who come from the middle and the lower middle class remain prisoners of the reality of Pakistan. It is a country where good education or even education as such is not available in the private sector. The young women cannot even breathe freely.

Having said this, I have to say that the young women of Sindh that I came across during the Sukkur festival, mainly those who were moderators and participants in a number of sessions, are so confident and smart. If there is any hope for this society, it resides in the struggle of the young women who want to move ahead and become independent. But the odds they face are truly formidable.

It is not the same, of course, for the playboys of a posh locality in Karachi. This brings me back to a story that has kept us in a state of shock for weeks. Apart from its coverage in the mainstream media, social media is pulsating with revelations that match the horror of crime thrillers.

It is so complicated that while Mustafa Amir had disappeared on January 6, to be murdered by his friend and left in a charred car near Hub, it was on Friday, February 28, that a published report said that a special police team was formed to probe into the ‘criminal activities’ of the main accused Armaghan and his alleged syndicate.

One measure of the high drama is that the body of Mustafa Amir was initially handed over to the Edhi Foundation by the Balochistan police and he was buried in a graveyard for unclaimed bodies. His body was exhumed over a week ago for the collection of DNA samples, which confirmed that the remains were those of Mustafa Amir. The family buried him Sunday last.

Meanwhile, many loose ends are still to be tied up. One always suspected that things that are mysterious and sinister are always lurking behind the high walls of some well-guarded houses. We now have some evidence of it. But is this only the tip of the iceberg?

The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at: ghazi_salahuddin @hotmail.com