Aisha Masood is nurturing the Defence for Human Rights as a leading organization on the theme of enforced disappearances. (Photo supplied)
By Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso
August 5 2022
Inspired by the disappearance of her father, Aisha Masood has become a chief advocate for ‘desaparecidos’ in Pakistan.
In February 2015, I was on a mission to Pakistan to attend a conference organized by the International Commission of Jurists. That mission brings back memories of families of the disappeared.
With photos of their loved ones, they took turns telling tales of pain and showing their loved ones’ photos with the hope that we might be able to help find truth and justice. Etched on their faces was unfathomable grief, but also hope against hope that one day, their desaparecidos would return.
I toured historical places. During these light moments in between the five-day intensive meetings, I enjoyed the company of the then 21-year-old Aisha Masood, daughter of disappeared person, Masood Janjua. With his friend Faisal Faraz, Masood was forcibly taken while riding a bus to Peshawar and has never returned.
July 30 was the anniversary of the disappearance of Aisha’s father. It has been 17 long years since Aisha lost her father against the backdrop of political turmoil, as dictator Pervez Musharraf ruled the country both as president and chief of army staff and supported former US president, George W. Bush, after 9/11, thus giving up Pakistan’s sovereignty. He unsheathed the sword of war on terror.
Aisha’s mother, Amina painfully recalled: “We have been witnessing 20 years of illegal wars, carpet bombings, assassinations, arbitrary detention, torture, mass displacements and enforced disappearances in Pakistan and Afghanistan and spill over in half of the world. Hundreds of households were impacted. They suffered irreparable loss of lives; their human rights flagrantly violated.”
“They just behaved as if all was well, although I could see the pain and anguish on their innocent faces”
Amina remembers the emotional and financial impact of Masood’s disappearance. Leaving no stone unturned, she linked with all contacts, including those in power corridors, filed legal petitions and launched campaigns. These she did while being the sole parent of Mohammad Bin, 14, Ali, 13, and Aisha, nine.
Aisha was only nine when her father disappeared 17 years ago. She was neither too mature to fully understand why her father was taken by the Pakistani intelligence agency nor was she too young not to notice the vacuum caused by his absence.
Aisha fondly recalled beautiful memories of her father. “He was fun, loving, and hyper. He reminds me of myself now. He was passionate and daring to try new things. In a way, I see a little of him in all of us, myself, my brothers, and my mother. One of my favorite memories of my father is that he used to take one child out every weekend alone with him to a nice place for dinner. It was like one-on-one time with each child. I remember he took me to a fancy hotel, and we had mango dessert. I felt like the luckiest kid in the world. My father used to lie on the bed and close his eyes and I’d jump on him and say ‘I will do your makeup today.’ I put powder on his face, made ponies of his tiny hair. He laughed and enjoyed it.”
Amina remembers how her children noticed their father’s disappearance. “They were not too small not to notice everything — how their grandparents and I kept crying, how our family and friends gathered at home for meetings. The children acted remarkably well. They just behaved as if all was well, although I could see the pain and anguish on their innocent faces.”
A year after Masood’s disappearance, Amina led a series of protests against enforced disappearances in Pakistan. Gradually, her children understood why their father disappeared. At a very young age, they were involved in mass actions — distributing food among the protesters and joining their mother in picking up and dropping off aggrieved families.
In her heart, Amina knew how her children silently missed their father. Aisha kept a picture of Masood and herself under her pillow for quite a long time, she said. Remembering her children growing up, she said: “They believed that Masood would come just any day — keeping the terrace door open for years to come and be comforted by this idea. For years, they were also angry with the government. Aisha and her brothers are extraordinarily intelligent and brave. They understood the situation of Pakistan’s blind obedience to the US.”
The Masood children are integrated with other children who, like them, lost their fathers due to enforced disappearances. While they have not formally formed an organization, their voices against rights violations reverberate loudly in the country.
“The work I do means the world to me. It makes me feel that I can change lives, give hope and courage to struggling people”
I was a lecturer at the 2017 Asian Young Leaders for Democracy organized by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. Aisha was a selected scholar. As I spoke about enforced disappearances, Aisha’s presence was a stunning lesson of the poignant drama of enforced disappearance.
Aisha is the campaign and project coordinator of the Defence for Human Rights. She made a short film and a storybook published by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy in 2021. She proudly says: “The work I do means the world to me. It makes me feel that I can change lives, give hope and courage to struggling people.”
Constantly interacting with victims, intently listening to their stories, and coping with the pressure of helping them are stressful. For Aisha, the topic is very sensitive. “The most difficult thing for me is that the victims’ families expect a lot from us. We have a huge responsibility.”
Aisha enjoys planning, reporting, social media, and documentation. She strives to achieve more through legal aid, psychosocial accompaniment and health support. She makes herself feel less of a victim by instilling professionalism in her work.
From a victim, Aisha has transformed herself into a human rights defender. Enthusiastic to learn new skills, she nurtures the Defence for Human Rights as a leading organization on the theme of enforced disappearances.
On the 17th anniversary of the disappearance of her father, Aisha conveys a message to the children of the disappeared. “To all children who are going through what I went through, who are lost, unable to process the situation, packed with emotions, uncertainty and hate towards the system: From this experience, I have learned never to give up, for the world is full of opportunities. Set your goals, always fight for what is yours and never be afraid of standing up for your rights. I know the world might seem to end when you think about your disappeared loved ones. The uncertainty of this situation makes people crazy. But have hope that in the darkest of things, there lies some light. You are survivors, NOT victims.”
Aisha further pondered: “Enforced disappearance impacts a whole family for years. It impacts the whole way people look at their lives. It changes people and families. It breaks families. It should be seen as a humanitarian crisis.”
A blend of landscapes, plains, deserts, forests, hills, plateaus and beaches, Pakistan is known for its beauty. But beneath this beauty are the sufferings of thousands of desaparecidos and their families who are now part of Aisha’s larger family.
– UCA News
