I AM a 13-year-old daughter of Kamran Faisal, who was a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigation officer living in the NAB Colony in Rawalpindi cantonment area.

He worked away from home. He left the house on Jan 13, 2013, and was found dead on Jan 18. This is all I know about my father.

Today, I am old enough to question who was behind his murder. What had happened on that fateful night of Jan 17? How did he lose his life and why? Why, when he died in service, was he not declared a ‘shaheed’? I have been waiting to know all this for the last eight agonising years that I have spent without my father.

Is it simply a case that should be forgotten? He had two daughters and a wife who are still alive, waiting for justice or at least some explanation. I want answers.

I am tired of making up an imaginary father. I want to know him; about him. I have lost my father. A father is a girl’s ‘star’ and ‘bodyguard’; a person who is the reason to cook food at home.

Someone has lost a father, a son and a husband. Will those who matter care to answer my questions and provide

justice, or will they choose to ignore my plea? Making promises is easier than fulfilling them.

Aiman Fatima

Quetta

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2021