‘I have not told my mother of Shahid’s arrest’

“For the past three months, life has been hell. I have been forced to hide the truth from my mother, yet discuss it with Pinki (Zehra). When she asks why Shahid hasn’t been calling, I either evade the issue or lie, saying that he had called in her absence,” says Mohammad, a call centre employee, who has spent close to Rs 12,000 on international calls in the last three months.

“I speak to my mother often, but she does not know about Shahid’s arrest. She asks about my nine-month-old daughter Zuvaria and enquires about Shahid. I try and talk as normally as possibly without letting my emotions show,” says Zehra, on the phone from her home in Rawalpindi.

Shahid and others had been to a mosque in Barcelona for tablighi jamaat (preaching sessions) when they were arrested. “Shahid started tabligh in 2001, when he moved to Barcelona from Rawalpindi. My mother is a little orthodox and if she had found out that he was in the jamaat when he was arrested, it would have intensified her fears,” says Mohammad.

While Mohammad and Zehra’s mother is an Indian, their father is a Pakistani national, who is currently working in Kuwait. “Most of the relatives from my mother’s side are settled in Pune and my mother was also born and brought up in Pune. Zehra and I were educated at Don Bosco School here and I am currently pursuing my graduation from the University of Pune,” says Mohammad, who has applied for Indian citizenship, which is likely to come through by next month. “I haven’t informed any of our relatives who live here about Shahid’s arrest,” he adds.

Zehra got married to their paternal cousin, Shahid, and moved to Rawalpindi. In one of her calls to Mohammad, on January 18, before Shahid was arrested, Zehra had said she was worried because she had not heard from her husband. “He used to call her at least twice a day and when she did not receive his call, she got worried. I told her that he might be busy,” says Mohammad.

On January 20, Zehra received a call from one of Shahid’ friends, informing her about her husband’ arrest. “She called me to ask whether I had the phone number of our distant cousin who works with the Pakistani Embassy in Madrid. It was then that she told me about the arrest,” says Mohammad.

He called up the Pakistan High Commission in Spain and spoke to Javed Umrani, the official investigating the case. “He was diplomatic in his response and told me that they were investigating the case. However, I was shocked when Umrani told me about similar arrests made in 2004, when the suspects were released in 2006,” he says.

Even as he continues to wait for the release of Shahid, Mohammad knows that time is running out. “If Shahid is released soon, my mother will never know he was ever arrested. But it’s getting increasingly difficult to keep the news from her,” he says.