Thread by @AainaSaaf

On Aug 14 '22, the 🇵🇰 national awards were announced. Among the awardees, one was writer Shama Khalid (post-humous) and another was Faisal Naseer.

What were the connections between the two?

How did Shama Khalid shape Faisal's career?

A long thread.🧵

Here's the Dawn article on the awards. Among the many awards, two are to these ppl.

Hilal-i-Shujaat goes to Faisal Naseer

Sitar-i-Imtiaz goes to late Shama Khalid

dawn.com/news/1704970

Let's first look at Shama Khalid. She was the deputy controller Radio Pakistan and lecturer at Fatima Jinnah University. She wrote eight books and passed away in 2021. Here's a link to some of her writings.
shamakhalidkaiafsany.weebly.com

Shama Khalid was called the 'Iron Lady' for defying the social taboos in a male dominant society in her writings.

Shama Khalid was born in Rawalpindi to a homeopathic doctor. She married banker & family friend Khalid Naseer who supported her in literary pursuits. Here is a photo of the couple from Pindi.

When Mrs. Khalid died in 2021, The News obituary was as follows:
thenews.com.pk/print/801983-s…

The News wrote "She raised her children in the best possible manner and all of her children are serving on prestigious posts" Now while the latter is true, the "raising best possible manner" looks dodgy. Why would The News get it wrong?

Well firstly, it is The News so you would expect it to publish some falsehoods. But there is a deeper reason why the raising decent kids part seems wrong.

She may have tried her best but the results were not optimal.

Why?

The reason is that Shama Khalid is the mother of Faisal Naseer.

WHAT???

Yes same Faisal Naseer aka Dirty Harry who has allegedly created terror in Pakistan via torture.

Here's a family photo. Faisal has the moustache. His mother Shama Khalid is sitting.

Now why are we interested in Faisal? Well, he has a decorated CV full of honours.

- named in a statement by Arshad Sharif's mother.
- named by IK after shootings on him.
- named for Gill & Swati torture...

Quite a record. How does he keep his job?

One other thing that distinguishes Faisal is that he is alleged to take special interest in stripping people and videotaping them. He was given the name Dirty Harry for this reason.

Now the whole country knows him by Dirty Harry which must be sad for the family 😢

So the burning question is how can a son of a normal professional banker and a respectable writer turn out umm not so normal?

We don't know but there are at least some traits in Mrs. Shama Khalid that point to why her Faisal veered towards spy-craft.

Firstly, Shama Khalid was acutely aware of human psychology.

Second, she couldn't help inventing stories even as a child. There is an account where she pretended for days that she was a daughter of a Hindu and got free treats from a migrant camp.

It is up to the psychologists to explore how such a normal family raised such a man.

Or was it simply Faisal's work culture that led him to this state?

Here's a full profile on Shama Khalid and her family.

On 23rd Match 2023, Faisal will be given Hilal-i-Shujaat by the president for his services to the nation.

Does this man deserve a national award?

My vote is no, but it's sweet of Bajwa to nominate his loyal subordinates.

And oh, here is one cute pic of who I believe is Faisal and his mother.

Thanks to @MitiKaBawa for pointing out the resemblance between Shama Khalid and Faisal's mother. I just searched a bit more and found that Faisal Naseer & Shama Khalid had the same address as well...