The first time I heard the verse; I thought it was satire. It went “Do you see my blood on anyone; The entire city has washed itself clean”. Later, I found out about the poet and his life story. It was Mustafa Zaidi’s verse, and he had died under mysterious circumstances at a relatively young age. Mustafa Zaidi mostly wrote nazam, which is a different poetic form than ghazal, which I was enamored with, so I did not encounter much else of his poetry outside of the aforementioned verse until recently, when I found out that Musarrat Nazir sang his ghazal ‘Chale to kat hi jaye ga safar’, or his verse about “coming over to his house despite a hard path”. Later, I heard about Mustafa’s last muse, a woman named Shahnaz Gul, and that she was somehow involved in his death. All I heard were rumors and hearsay. There was no definitive account of what had happened, until recently.
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Pakistan is an unfortunate country when it comes to mysterious deaths/murders of public personalities. Pakistan’s founder, M.A. Jinnah, died while his ambulance broke down on the side of a road, Pakistan’s first Prime Minister was shot to death in front of a packed crowd, the presumptive first general to lead Pakistan’s army perished in a mysterious plane crash; one of Pakistan’s longest serving dictators was killed in another plane crash; Pakistan’s first woman Prime Minister was shot to death in front of a crowd; one of Pakistan’s most famous sectarian leaders was killed Godfather-style while he was out on bail. None of these deaths/murders were solved. Murtaza’s death belongs in that pantheon as well.
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Saba Imtiaz and Tooba Masood sought to do what few Pakistani investigative journalists have done lately. They went through the archives, talked to people still alive from that era, and scrutinized the official documents from Murtaza’s death investigation. The resulting book (and accompanying podcast) presents not just details of a death but a snapshot of Pakistani society surrounding the events of that death. Elections, civil war, natural disaster, separation of two parts of a country or a civilian takeover of martial law authorities could not stop the drama of the murder/death trial. They also provide a fresh portrait of Mustafa Zaidi’s life, beyond the death, beyond Shahnaz Gul, beyond the blood-stained hands.
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Mustafa was a complicated person. He was highly educated, well-versed, and had charisma. He was inspired by communist principles in his youth and counted Josh Malihabadi, a communist poet, among his mentors. He was also quite mercurial. He attempted suicide at least twice and threatened to kill himself almost routinely. He married a German girl, but had the lifestyle of what contemporaries would refer to as polyamorous. Some might label him as a narcissistic, manipulative personality.
If Mustafa was a storm, Shahnaz Gul walked right into it. Shahnaz, a non-college educated distant royal heiress, married to a much older man, was no match for Mustafa’s machinations. She was known for her beauty and naivete. He wanted to subdue that flame. It is a familiar story. When she tried to move away from him, he got desperate, then angry, and then vengeful. We don’t know who killed Mustafa, but Shahnaz was the last person to see him alive and was found unconscious in his room.
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One of the biggest takeaways from the book was the way Pakistan’s media sensationalized the murder mystery. Rupert Murdoch’s editors would be proud if they ran the type of stories and coverage that was done by every major newspaper in Pakistan at the time. They went to all lengths to either pin the blame on Shahnaz, or to get her photographs and life details while she was in captivity. For Shahnaz, it was more than just a murder trial. It was a media trial as well. Her husband, Saleem, comes off as one of the heroes of this story, standing behind his young wife like a rock. He may have used Shahnaz to enter Karachi’s social scene and “gentry”, but he was loyal throughout this ordeal, taking care of his daughters while his wife was in custody.
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The other big villain that comes up in the book and this story is the role of Karachi “socialites”, who turned their backs away from Shahnaz before one can spell “socialite”. Despite her semi-rural background and naivete, Shahnaz had wined and dined with these people, opened her house for their parties, shared her dreams and aspirations with them. And for what? None of them showed an iota of courage, no one dared defend her actions. What a sad bunch of hedonists and opportunists.
Another angle in the story worth mentioning, was the debauchery of Pakistan’s intellectual elite, Mustafa being one of them. Men of a certain stature, openly pursuing other women while being married, and making up lame excuses for their behavior. There is even an example of this in the book when a famous actress was found in Mustafa’s bedroom by his friend Naseer Turabi, while Mustafa’s German wife Vera was home. When Turabi brought this up to Mustafa, he started reciting new poetry for him to deflect the question.
Who Killed Mustafa Zaidi? No conclusion was reached by the official investigation, or the book. The best guess is that he committed suicide, given his mental condition and previous attempts. The official investigation had various irregularities, which is common in Pakistan even today. Police officials are not trained in handling crime scenes or collecting evidence, thereby weakening prosecution’s case. In this case, even the medical examiner (called Police surgeon in Pakistan) did a subpar job, and a second autopsy had to be done to answer questions left untouched by the first one.
Saba and Tooba’s book is one of its kind in Pakistan. They are methodical, cognizant of the overall context, and unsparing in details. My only wish is there were more books like these coming out of Pakistan.
The writer is a freelance columnist. Follow him on Twitter
The writer is a freelance columnist. Follow him on Twitter