Joy turned to grief — family mourns journalist’s death
MIR ALI, June 19 2006: Family of the murdered tribal journalist, Hayatullah Khan, was busy making arrangements to celebrate his return when authorities informed them they had found his body. Hopes of Hayatullah’s safe return were raised after Zaheer ul Islam, the chief administrator of North Waziristan, reportedly told Hayatullah’s younger brother, Ehsan Ullah Khan, on May 15 that he would be able to give them “good news” about Hayatullah between June 15 and 20. However, the family ended up having to arrange the funeral of Hayatullah when his body was found on June 16.
‘There was a festive atmosphere within the family when I told my mother, brothers, sisters, Hayatullah’s wife and children about what I had been told by the chief administrator, I had ordered garlands to celebrate his return,” Ehsanllah said while talking to Daily Times on June 18, After burying Hayatullah, his family appears to have at last come to the end of a six -month ordeal that started with Hayatullah’s kidnapping. “We at least have closure because we have found his, (Hayatullah’s) body, we were mentally prepared for such an act from people who had held my brother for the past half year,” Ehsanllah said in a voice chocked with grief.
The family spent six months and 13 days lingering between hope and despair, “Waiting for any news about him was the hardest thing for us. During his captivity, we did not know whether he was alive or dead and if he was alive then in what condition, when we used to think of him, it seemed we would go mad with grief,” he said. Security agencies, he said, ‘~used to reassure me that Hayatullah was alive and the family should not worry about him and that he is being held for the sake of national interests”. Ehsan Ullah said that he had believed what he was told by the intelligence agencies. “I could not understand the game they were playing with us,” he said,
“At times, I was suspicious of their intentions when they suggested that the more we stayed quiet, the better it would be for Hayatullah,” he said, He said that he had no longer any confidence in the government’s claim that it would hold an inquiry into Hayatullah’s murder. “You hold inquiries when you don’t know what happened. In my brother’s case, the whole world knows who kidnapped and killed him,” he said. Asked why he was sure that local Taliban or Al Qaeda was not involved in Hayatullah’s killing, Ehsan Ullah said, “The Taliban have a standard operational procedure and they execute people the day after they kidnap them, Why did they keep my brother a prisoner for over six months, if I they were going to kill him in the end,” he said,
Ehsan Ullah said that Hayatullah’s gruesome murder might have provided militants with a new propaganda tool to use against the government in the tribal areas. “Do you think killing innocent. People will help promote peace in the area?” he said. He vowed to avenge his brother’s killing according to the area’s customs. “If we ever identify who kidnapped and killed or had any hand in my brother’s death, we will deal with him according to our traditions,” he said. STAFF REPORT
Source: Daily Times
Date:6/19/2006
” 
” 
” 
” 
” 
