PESHAWAR: Mohammad Ashraf Khan was again unable to even have a glimpse of the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He missed an opportunity once again.

But it was nothing new for him since for the last more than a decade or more he had been running to any rally or office where he thought a public figure could help him. All he wants is to slip his request and get heard but no luck so far for the old man.

60-year-old Mohammad Asraf Khan, a resident of Hazaarkhwani, has been running from one person to another in hope of getting compensation for his shop that was gutted in Nauthia Kabari Bazaar back in 1990s when Sardar Mahtab Khan was the chief minister and promised him help.

A father of six children, Ashraf had tried all his life to earn an honest living by selling secondhand woolies on a cart near Jinnah Park. He was promised by the then governor Lt Gen Fazl-i-Haq he would be given a shop when he was stopped from brining his cart there but that promise was not materialised ever.

The desire to earn a better livelihood forced Ashraf to go to Saudi Arabia where he toiled for about three years and was able to set up a shop of secondhand or used woolen clothes in Nauthia Kabari Bazaar with whatever he earned in Saudi Arabia. However, life once again forced him to sell items on cart when he lost his shop in a fire in late 1990s. He may have forgotten the dates of the incidents but remembers the names of the politicians he went to seek help. And till day he continues to do so but all in vain.

As the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf activists were busy putting up banners and setting up chairs in Tehsil Gor Khthree, Peshawar City to welcome Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, who was coming for a groundbreaking ceremony last Thursday, Ashraf Khan was engrossed in his worries. Should he leave his handcart loaded with used warm apparel and try to see the chief minister or should he wait for the customers instead as he could not lose any opportunity to earn his livelihood.

The fear of policemen and district government staffers, who could come anytime and force him to close his cart-business anytime was also brothering him. But he had nowhere to go.

He was pushed to the wall. He had no choice but to fight on and try one more time to see if he could reach the chief minister and drop in his request. He couldn’t.

Asraf had been carrying all the news cuttings of his applications in a plastic bag in his pocket. Anytime he could find anybody important and he was all set to present his case but looking at the plastic bag full of tattered papers and photocopies made him more depressing. He was not ready to spend more money on photocopies, simply because he could not afford it.

“I earn Rs100 or Rs200 a day. Sometimes I don’t make enough. So all I want compensation for my gutted shop so I could earn a decent living for my family,” said Ashraf, who has high hopes for his youngest son as he lost one son to hepatitis few months ago.

“My son’s teachers think he is good at studies. He sells sweets after school too,” said the old man who might have faced blows in life but still was ready to get right back up. All he was fighting for government’s support to provide him the means to earn a lawful earning for his family.

“I sell used woolen clothes in winter and fruits on my cart in summers. I cannot do any hard labour as I had been operated for my kidney ailment,” said Ashraf explaining why he had limited options and why he never left any opportunity to put his case forward to any government functionary or politicians he could.

So far the old man was fighting and did not seem to be winning. He had a long battle to fight and catch a Merlin and his days of unluckiness did not seem to end.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2017