Namal | English Version

Part.10

When Hashim received this news, he was standing in the corridor. He had suppressed his bitter feelings with great restraint. He was so busy that he couldn't react immediately. He made a promise to himself that if Saadi was involved, he would have to pay the price, and he turned his attention to Zumar, who was approaching him, flipping through the pages of the file in a casual manner. An elderly woman and a young girl wearing a dupatta were also with her. Hashim had met her at the end of the corridor. Zumar gave a brief response to his greeting and moved forward. He started walking with her without saying anything. A young man wearing a kurta coat was on his left side. The walk to the courtroom would have been silent if Hashim hadn't responded to the young man's bitter remarks. "They should be grateful to me for paying the money; otherwise, they couldn't have proven me a rapist in court." He looked at the girl with suppressed anger. Hashim gestured to the young man to be quiet, but he was already in a very bad mood. "I would have been acquitted with dignity, and I wouldn't have had to pay this money, and my job..." The plaintiff's mother said something bitter. Hashim quieted the young man by raising his hand and looked at Zumar with seriousness. "Madam Prosecutor, I tell you what will happen if we go to trial."

Despite the seriousness of the words, Hashim's smile remained. "Five years, maybe less than twelve years, the case will drag on in court and nothing will be proven. Thana herself had called the accused to that place. I have a record of their text messages, and Thana doesn't deny that they had a small affair. Not only will I present evidence of this affair in court, but I'll also bring ten people who Thana has never met in her life, and they'll testify under oath that she's done the same with them. I'll prove in court that she's a professional woman. Her family and community will disown her. No one will marry her, and after twelve years, when she loses the case, she'll have neither a husband nor children. So, you should really be grateful to us for offering you a settlement."

Farid smiled proudly at Hashim. Thana's mother muttered a curse under her breath, and Thana's face had changed color. Zumar smiled slightly and shook her head in denial. "Actually, Hashim, if the case goes to trial, I won't let it reach trial. I'll leak the whole story to the media within the first month. It'll be the headline in the evening news and the topic of discussion on talk shows. Thana will be invited to morning shows, where she'll sit with other women and share her story of oppression. NGOs will organize walks for her. She'll be invited to international seminars. The anti-army faction will portray her not just as Farid's Thana but as a victim of a general's son. Your social circle will ostracize you. Your boss will write suspicious comments on your report. No girl will marry you without thinking a hundred times because people can accept a murderer, but not a bad character. I'll make Thana a star, and even if you win the case after twelve years, you'll have lost a lot, and those lost connections won't be restored by your fifty-thousand rupee haircut and two-hundred-thousand rupee suit. If I were in your place, I would have stopped myself from speaking further."

The smile was gone, and a sharp gaze fell on both of them as she moved forward. Farid's face was no different from Thana's now. But Hashim remained unaffected. He shrugged slightly and followed her.

*****

She had completed her paper and there were fifteen minutes left until the exam duration ended. Until then, the invigilating teachers had asked her to sit there. Haneen was sitting with her head down, soothing her fingers, which were sore from writing and had blue marks on them. She wasn't in the habit of reading her paper after completing it, and later, she would avoid standing in a group of girls outside and matching answers one by one. Half of the answers would be wrong anyway. Just three more papers and then her BA would be over. Thank God, she comforted herself. Then she looked around. The girls were writing rapidly with their heads down. The female invigilators were patrolling, keeping a close eye on them. Haneen's gaze wandered to the bright day outside. Three, three, three, a total of nine... She would count windows, doors, and trees on the roadside, and then start again in groups of ten. She took out a pen with dry ink and started writing unseen words on the armrest of the chair. Usually, she would draw flowers or triangles and then start writing her name, Haneen Yousaf, Haneen Yousaf,  Haneen, and Haneen. Unconsciously, her pen started writing, "Hashim kirdar, Hashim kirdar, Hashim, Hashim." She jerked suddenly... then looked around with some anxiety. Her face turned a little red. She adjusted her grey hair on her forehead with unease. What she had never told anyone had suddenly come out, like an overflowing glass spills over, and one fears their own hands. She put down the pen. Then closed her eyes. The few moments, few hours she had seen Hashim or met him, flashed before her eyes. Family gatherings... festivals. He was her mother's stepbrother's first cousin. Always smiling, very impressive, but a distant relative... Standing close to him and looking at him was like standing under the Eiffel Tower in a crowd. But how long had it been since she saw him? There were no family gatherings where she could catch a glimpse of him. Who knows when she would see him again? She thought indifferently and started drawing triangles again with the dry pen nib. Then flowers, then Haneen, and then Hashim again.