We have all seen images of death and destruction resulting from attacks by terrorist organizations on the news. Those images of violence that are etched in our minds and make us thankful that we had been given the good fortune to be born in a country that stands against such hateful acts. However, as Americans, we cannot fully comprehend the madness that characterizes these ruthless killers. That is until we see it through the eyes of someone who has experienced their wrath first-hand.
Syed Munawar Ali Shah and his family are currently living in the
peaceful surroundings of Ballston Spa, NY. Their lives are somewhat
normal now - their eight-year-old son attends school in the Ballston
Spa School District and like most Americans, Shah is looking for
employment.
While Shah's family's life is currently safe in the small upstate community, the situation for the Pakistan native was far different over the past three years. You see, before arriving in the United States on April 23, Shah was forced to flee his native country to avoid the murder of himself, his wife and his child at the hands of two powerful Pakistani terrorist organizations
"After living through this nightmare, I began losing my mind and had nowhere else to turn so I decided to come to the United States," Shah said of his decision to flee his native country of Pakistan after death threats against his family from two different terrorist organizations left him with no other choice.
It all began in 2006, when Shah - a prominent and well-respected attorney and business owner whose work included helping students obtain visas to study at universities abroad - was working in the back office of his business in Karachi, Pakistan (the country's largest city). It was just another busy day at the office for Shah, that was until his assistant informed him that two men had arrived and wanted to see him. Shah told his assistant to have them make an appointment, but after the news was relayed to the men, they forced their way into Shah's office and demanded "bhatta" (meaning extortion money in English) in the amount of 10,000 rupees (or about $300 American at the time).
"When I refused they became furious and drew their guns," Shah said. "They told me that if I continued to resist they would not hesitate to pull the triggers."
Shah was shocked and felt that he had no choice but to hand over the money to his attackers. He had hoped the incident would be a one-time ordeal until they came back every month thereafter, demanding more and more money each time, and to which Shah regretfully handed over.
"Since I was earning good money and my practice was growing it was not a very great hardship for me to pay the amount of money they were asking for," Shah said. "However, I was not happy to be helping to support organizations whose principals and methods were repugnant to me."
At the time, Shah's friends and family members advised him to keep giving the terrorists the money because otherwise they told him they feared his attackers would follow through with their threats to kill him.
"I saw no way out of this and in time it became routine," Shah said of the more than $50,000 terrorists extorted from him over three years. "It does not matter how much money you have if your family is not safe."
Later, Shah found out that the men were agents of the Muttahida Quomi Movement (MQM) - a major political party in Pakistan. Shah said while the group is recognized as a political party in the country, it also operates like a Mafia, through extortion and other criminal activity. To show how vicious these criminals are, Shah said when Pakistani lawyers were protesting against the dismissal of the nation's chief judge by President Pervez Musharraf in 2007, MQM operatives attacked them and burned alive seven of the protesting attorneys.
The group is also widely known for its notorious street battles with fellow terrorist group Jundullah - a radical Islamist organization similar to the Taliban and connected to al-Qaida - who has been banned by the Pakistan government but continue to operate with impunity in the country. The battle between the two organizations for control of Karachi has resulted in the death of a number of innocent people who have been caught up in the cross-fire of the two competing groups.
While Shah continued to pay the terrorists, eventually the money they demanded increased, leaving Shah feeling nervous and helpless. They also threatened to kill him and kidnap his son if he went to the police - a move that Shah later found out made no difference due to corruption and fear in the city's police department.
"I was so nervous and afraid and unable to sleep at night that I found it difficult to concentrate on my work," Shah said.
At one point, the terrorists demanded that Shah obtain foreign visas for some of the people inside their terrorist organization which he refused.
"I was not willing to do anything for criminals who are robbing people in their own country in broad daylight and looked to commit acts of terrorism," Shah said. "I feared that helping their people to go abroad would damage the reputation of my country."
When Shah told the terrorists of his decision not to help them obtain the visas, they again threatened to kill him on the spot. He tried to explain to the men that he could not provide them the visas due to a lack of educational qualifications he needed to obtain the credentials, but they continued to insist, eventually leaving with death threats against Shah and his family.
A few days later his attackers returned and asked if he had changed his mind. Shah told them he had not and at that point they put a gun to his head, blindfolded him and forced him into a car. They drove Shah to an abandoned building in the suburbs and locked him in a room. For several hours they beat and cursed him. After the beatings had subsided they blindfolded Shah again and left him on a highway in the middle of the night.
Following the incident, Shah moved his family to his mother-in-laws home in Karachi's Gulshan-e-Iqbal neighborhood. However, before long Shah's attackers found him and his family and continued to make threats against their lives if he failed to acquire the visas. Shah remained persistent in his refusal to do anything illegal even as they kept insisting and eventually the men threatened to kill his son in front of him if he did not meet their demands.
At that point, Shah decided to approach police and open a case against his attackers by filing a first investigative report (FIR) at three different police stations.
"The police did nothing," Shah said. "They said they were not willing to arrest criminals backed by leading political and religious groups, not to mention those with a reputation of being merciless killers."
With no help being offered by police and it being unsafe to stay at his mother-in-law's home any longer, Shah moved his family to his sister's house in Karachi's Gullstan-e-Johar neighborhood.
The family was safe for the time being until March 24, 2009, when Shah and his family drove to get a bite to eat at a nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken and his attackers appeared out of nowhere, surrounding his car. Shah's sister advised him to step on the gas and he was able to narrowly escape the criminals.
"My sister's advice allowed me to break their barrier and save our lives," Shah said.
It also should be noted that during this time, MQM was not the only terrorist organization attempting to track Shah down to receive the visas necessary to leave Pakistan and carry out terrorist attacks abroad. In January of 2008, Abid Quershi, a member of a leading political party in Pakistan and a client and friend of Shah's, was kidnapped by members of the Jundullah terrorist organization. While Quershi, who was recovered by police a month after his capture, was in custody of the terrorist group, members of Jundullah found Shah's name while sifting through his cell phone for people who could be of service to them. The men asked Quershi about their relationship to which he told them Shah was a business associate who had processed several visa applications for him. Seven months later, Jundullah's people started calling Shah and asking him if he would be meeting with Quershi to which Shah denied knowing him. One of the group's member's eventually set up a meeting unknowingly with Shah and started demanding money and visas from him as well.
"It was horrifying because I was already suffering at the hands of the MQM party and now I was being trapped by a new group of terrorists who are known to be even more brutal than MQM, if that is possible," Shah said.
At that time, Shah decided the situation had gone too far and with nowhere else to turn he decided to come to the U.S. to stay with his brother-in-law and sister-in-law in October of 2008. While in the U.S., Shah considered applying for asylum; however, his existing clients who had already paid for his services started calling his office to demand he fulfill his contractual obligations. Being an honest businessman, Shah decided to return to Karachi to complete his clients' orders.
"My situation became far worse after my return to Pakistan than it had been before," Shah said.
The threats against his family worsened and with threats from the groups to kill his son in front of him if he did not meet their demands, Shah decided to pull his son out of school and hired a guard to protect him.
"We became prisoners in our own home and slaves in our own country; I was even forced to close my business that I had successfully built up over 15 years," Shah said.
After the incident where Shah and his family narrowly escaped the clutches of the terrorists by speeding away, Shah decided to move his family to the U.S. once and for all. However, there was one catch, his wife was five months pregnant with their second child at the time and due to complications with her pregnancy, they were strongly advised by their doctor not to travel or her life and the baby's life would be in jeopardy.
The decision for Shah was not easy, but he feared for his family's lives so much that he decided to take the chance, and on April 21, 2009, Shah booked the first available flight to the U.S. - leaving his homeland, family and his life's work behind.
Almost as soon as the plane took off, Shah's wife's condition worsened and right before they landed in Manchester, England for a layover she was in premature-labor - delivering the baby boy as the plane landed. The baby would die in Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester 12 hours later. Fortunately, the doctors were able to save the life of Shah's wife, who remained in the hospital for two days after the flight. They would later bury their child in Manchester with the help of members of the local Muslim community.
"It was a terrible situation," Shah said.
Even worse, Shah's wife now blames him for forcing her to take the trip and it resulting in the loss of their child. Shah, however, stands by his decision which he is certain would have otherwise ended in all of their deaths if it had not been made.
A New Beginning: Life in the United States
Since arriving in the United States, Shah, his wife and his son have moved in with his brother-in-law, Iftikhar Ahmad, an IT specialist for AIG, and his wife in Ballston Spa.
Ahmad, who has lived in the United States for more than 20 years, says he fears for his family members' lives if they were to return to Karachi.
"I am 100 percent positive if they return to Karachi the terrorists will not spare their lives," Ahmad said.
Shah, who has a five-year visa, is currently only allowed to stay in the U.S. for six months at a time.
However, Shah and Ahmad have hired Jill Nagy, an immigration and naturalization attorney out of Troy, NY, to prepare an application for political asylum for the family.
Nagy said that most of the cases take somewhere between six months to a year to complete and only a small fraction are actually successful. The case will initially go to an administrative proceeding with an asylum office, and if it is not successful at that level then there are a number of appeals courts where the case can be tried.
Nagy added that she usually only handles around 12 cases a year involving political asylum, and this is the first case she has handled involving someone from Pakistan.
As for living in the U.S., Shah said that he has been overwhelmed by all the support he has received from people since arriving.
"Everywhere we go when we tell people our story they have such sympathy towards our situation and want to do all they can to help us," Shah said.
Ahmad, who has lived in Ballston Spa for the past four years, said he feels extremely safe in his neighborhood and it is as though everyone is his friend. He added that he knows if anything happens he can knock on one of his neighbor's doors and they will be there for him or he can call 911 and the police will be at his door to help him - a sense of security that currently does not exist in Karachi.
"I tell all my friends living in Pakistan that they have not seen the real side of Americans nor do they know the truth - all they see is what is on the news and they think that is how all
Americans are," Ahmad said. "Just like the average American doesn't know what is going on in Pakistan. They think that everyone is as crazy as the terrorists are over there, but the truth is 98 percent of the people are law-abiding citizens and the other two percent are giving a bad name to the rest of the people."
Shah's sister and brother are also both on the run in Pakistan after a broadcast on one of Karachi's local news stations released a story featuring his sister in disguise, telling Shah's story. While Shah's sister continues to live in hiding in Karachi, his brother has fled the country and is now looking to obtain political asylum in Holland.
While Ahmad is doing all he can to try to make Shah's family comfortable here in America, he notes that is important that the world knows what is currently going on in Pakistan, as much as it is they know Shah's story.
"We want people to know what is happening over there" Ahmad said. "Shah's story is just one story as there are a lot of other people who are also victims of these merciless killers."
The United State government has also not been shy about disclosing their concerns over what is currently occurring in Pakistan. During the presidential campaign last year, Barack Obama said he would order strikes against al-Qaida targets in Pakistan even without the country's permission. Obama's remarks came after he was criticized for being too light on foreign policy and amidst a debate about what to do about al-Qaida and Taliban forces, who had shown a resurgence along the country's northwest borders. Since then Obama has followed through with the missile strikes on the region. In April, around the same time Shah was forced to flee his homeland, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in her first congressional hearing, warned that Pakistan was in danger of falling into terrorist hands because of failed government policies. This problem is highlighted by the fact that Pakistan is a nuclear-armed state.
"I think that we cannot underscore the seriousness of the existential threat posed to the state of Pakistan by continuing advances, now within hours of Islamabad, that are being made by a loosely confederated groups of terrorists and others who are seeking the overthrow of the
Pakistani state, a nuclear-armed state," Clinton said during the hearing.
Ahmad believes it is crucial that the United States steps in and puts someone in power that can be trusted. He also pointed out that bombs being dropped along the country's northwest border have decimated many of the schools which has resulted in the next generation of Pakistani people in that region being uneducated and more susceptible to joining terrorist organizations.
"Education is the key to stopping terrorism, not bombs," Ahmad said. "The only way we are going to get out of this mess is turn future generations of these merciless killers into educated, compassionate and law-abiding citizens."
While the issue of terrorism in Pakistan grows worse, and the pain accumulates over these incredibily traumatic past three years for Shah and his family, he can at least rest easy, for now, knowing that his family is safe here in America.
"I am so thankful, because while we have lost so much we have gained so many friends here in America," Shah said. "No matter what happens all I know is we can never go back."
While Shah's family's life is currently safe in the small upstate community, the situation for the Pakistan native was far different over the past three years. You see, before arriving in the United States on April 23, Shah was forced to flee his native country to avoid the murder of himself, his wife and his child at the hands of two powerful Pakistani terrorist organizations
"After living through this nightmare, I began losing my mind and had nowhere else to turn so I decided to come to the United States," Shah said of his decision to flee his native country of Pakistan after death threats against his family from two different terrorist organizations left him with no other choice.
It all began in 2006, when Shah - a prominent and well-respected attorney and business owner whose work included helping students obtain visas to study at universities abroad - was working in the back office of his business in Karachi, Pakistan (the country's largest city). It was just another busy day at the office for Shah, that was until his assistant informed him that two men had arrived and wanted to see him. Shah told his assistant to have them make an appointment, but after the news was relayed to the men, they forced their way into Shah's office and demanded "bhatta" (meaning extortion money in English) in the amount of 10,000 rupees (or about $300 American at the time).
"When I refused they became furious and drew their guns," Shah said. "They told me that if I continued to resist they would not hesitate to pull the triggers."
Shah was shocked and felt that he had no choice but to hand over the money to his attackers. He had hoped the incident would be a one-time ordeal until they came back every month thereafter, demanding more and more money each time, and to which Shah regretfully handed over.
"Since I was earning good money and my practice was growing it was not a very great hardship for me to pay the amount of money they were asking for," Shah said. "However, I was not happy to be helping to support organizations whose principals and methods were repugnant to me."
At the time, Shah's friends and family members advised him to keep giving the terrorists the money because otherwise they told him they feared his attackers would follow through with their threats to kill him.
"I saw no way out of this and in time it became routine," Shah said of the more than $50,000 terrorists extorted from him over three years. "It does not matter how much money you have if your family is not safe."
Later, Shah found out that the men were agents of the Muttahida Quomi Movement (MQM) - a major political party in Pakistan. Shah said while the group is recognized as a political party in the country, it also operates like a Mafia, through extortion and other criminal activity. To show how vicious these criminals are, Shah said when Pakistani lawyers were protesting against the dismissal of the nation's chief judge by President Pervez Musharraf in 2007, MQM operatives attacked them and burned alive seven of the protesting attorneys.
The group is also widely known for its notorious street battles with fellow terrorist group Jundullah - a radical Islamist organization similar to the Taliban and connected to al-Qaida - who has been banned by the Pakistan government but continue to operate with impunity in the country. The battle between the two organizations for control of Karachi has resulted in the death of a number of innocent people who have been caught up in the cross-fire of the two competing groups.
While Shah continued to pay the terrorists, eventually the money they demanded increased, leaving Shah feeling nervous and helpless. They also threatened to kill him and kidnap his son if he went to the police - a move that Shah later found out made no difference due to corruption and fear in the city's police department.
"I was so nervous and afraid and unable to sleep at night that I found it difficult to concentrate on my work," Shah said.
At one point, the terrorists demanded that Shah obtain foreign visas for some of the people inside their terrorist organization which he refused.
"I was not willing to do anything for criminals who are robbing people in their own country in broad daylight and looked to commit acts of terrorism," Shah said. "I feared that helping their people to go abroad would damage the reputation of my country."
When Shah told the terrorists of his decision not to help them obtain the visas, they again threatened to kill him on the spot. He tried to explain to the men that he could not provide them the visas due to a lack of educational qualifications he needed to obtain the credentials, but they continued to insist, eventually leaving with death threats against Shah and his family.
A few days later his attackers returned and asked if he had changed his mind. Shah told them he had not and at that point they put a gun to his head, blindfolded him and forced him into a car. They drove Shah to an abandoned building in the suburbs and locked him in a room. For several hours they beat and cursed him. After the beatings had subsided they blindfolded Shah again and left him on a highway in the middle of the night.
Following the incident, Shah moved his family to his mother-in-laws home in Karachi's Gulshan-e-Iqbal neighborhood. However, before long Shah's attackers found him and his family and continued to make threats against their lives if he failed to acquire the visas. Shah remained persistent in his refusal to do anything illegal even as they kept insisting and eventually the men threatened to kill his son in front of him if he did not meet their demands.
At that point, Shah decided to approach police and open a case against his attackers by filing a first investigative report (FIR) at three different police stations.
"The police did nothing," Shah said. "They said they were not willing to arrest criminals backed by leading political and religious groups, not to mention those with a reputation of being merciless killers."
With no help being offered by police and it being unsafe to stay at his mother-in-law's home any longer, Shah moved his family to his sister's house in Karachi's Gullstan-e-Johar neighborhood.
The family was safe for the time being until March 24, 2009, when Shah and his family drove to get a bite to eat at a nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken and his attackers appeared out of nowhere, surrounding his car. Shah's sister advised him to step on the gas and he was able to narrowly escape the criminals.
"My sister's advice allowed me to break their barrier and save our lives," Shah said.
It also should be noted that during this time, MQM was not the only terrorist organization attempting to track Shah down to receive the visas necessary to leave Pakistan and carry out terrorist attacks abroad. In January of 2008, Abid Quershi, a member of a leading political party in Pakistan and a client and friend of Shah's, was kidnapped by members of the Jundullah terrorist organization. While Quershi, who was recovered by police a month after his capture, was in custody of the terrorist group, members of Jundullah found Shah's name while sifting through his cell phone for people who could be of service to them. The men asked Quershi about their relationship to which he told them Shah was a business associate who had processed several visa applications for him. Seven months later, Jundullah's people started calling Shah and asking him if he would be meeting with Quershi to which Shah denied knowing him. One of the group's member's eventually set up a meeting unknowingly with Shah and started demanding money and visas from him as well.
"It was horrifying because I was already suffering at the hands of the MQM party and now I was being trapped by a new group of terrorists who are known to be even more brutal than MQM, if that is possible," Shah said.
At that time, Shah decided the situation had gone too far and with nowhere else to turn he decided to come to the U.S. to stay with his brother-in-law and sister-in-law in October of 2008. While in the U.S., Shah considered applying for asylum; however, his existing clients who had already paid for his services started calling his office to demand he fulfill his contractual obligations. Being an honest businessman, Shah decided to return to Karachi to complete his clients' orders.
"My situation became far worse after my return to Pakistan than it had been before," Shah said.
The threats against his family worsened and with threats from the groups to kill his son in front of him if he did not meet their demands, Shah decided to pull his son out of school and hired a guard to protect him.
"We became prisoners in our own home and slaves in our own country; I was even forced to close my business that I had successfully built up over 15 years," Shah said.
After the incident where Shah and his family narrowly escaped the clutches of the terrorists by speeding away, Shah decided to move his family to the U.S. once and for all. However, there was one catch, his wife was five months pregnant with their second child at the time and due to complications with her pregnancy, they were strongly advised by their doctor not to travel or her life and the baby's life would be in jeopardy.
The decision for Shah was not easy, but he feared for his family's lives so much that he decided to take the chance, and on April 21, 2009, Shah booked the first available flight to the U.S. - leaving his homeland, family and his life's work behind.
Almost as soon as the plane took off, Shah's wife's condition worsened and right before they landed in Manchester, England for a layover she was in premature-labor - delivering the baby boy as the plane landed. The baby would die in Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester 12 hours later. Fortunately, the doctors were able to save the life of Shah's wife, who remained in the hospital for two days after the flight. They would later bury their child in Manchester with the help of members of the local Muslim community.
"It was a terrible situation," Shah said.
Even worse, Shah's wife now blames him for forcing her to take the trip and it resulting in the loss of their child. Shah, however, stands by his decision which he is certain would have otherwise ended in all of their deaths if it had not been made.
A New Beginning: Life in the United States
Since arriving in the United States, Shah, his wife and his son have moved in with his brother-in-law, Iftikhar Ahmad, an IT specialist for AIG, and his wife in Ballston Spa.
Ahmad, who has lived in the United States for more than 20 years, says he fears for his family members' lives if they were to return to Karachi.
"I am 100 percent positive if they return to Karachi the terrorists will not spare their lives," Ahmad said.
Shah, who has a five-year visa, is currently only allowed to stay in the U.S. for six months at a time.
However, Shah and Ahmad have hired Jill Nagy, an immigration and naturalization attorney out of Troy, NY, to prepare an application for political asylum for the family.
Nagy said that most of the cases take somewhere between six months to a year to complete and only a small fraction are actually successful. The case will initially go to an administrative proceeding with an asylum office, and if it is not successful at that level then there are a number of appeals courts where the case can be tried.
Nagy added that she usually only handles around 12 cases a year involving political asylum, and this is the first case she has handled involving someone from Pakistan.
As for living in the U.S., Shah said that he has been overwhelmed by all the support he has received from people since arriving.
"Everywhere we go when we tell people our story they have such sympathy towards our situation and want to do all they can to help us," Shah said.
Ahmad, who has lived in Ballston Spa for the past four years, said he feels extremely safe in his neighborhood and it is as though everyone is his friend. He added that he knows if anything happens he can knock on one of his neighbor's doors and they will be there for him or he can call 911 and the police will be at his door to help him - a sense of security that currently does not exist in Karachi.
"I tell all my friends living in Pakistan that they have not seen the real side of Americans nor do they know the truth - all they see is what is on the news and they think that is how all
Americans are," Ahmad said. "Just like the average American doesn't know what is going on in Pakistan. They think that everyone is as crazy as the terrorists are over there, but the truth is 98 percent of the people are law-abiding citizens and the other two percent are giving a bad name to the rest of the people."
Shah's sister and brother are also both on the run in Pakistan after a broadcast on one of Karachi's local news stations released a story featuring his sister in disguise, telling Shah's story. While Shah's sister continues to live in hiding in Karachi, his brother has fled the country and is now looking to obtain political asylum in Holland.
While Ahmad is doing all he can to try to make Shah's family comfortable here in America, he notes that is important that the world knows what is currently going on in Pakistan, as much as it is they know Shah's story.
"We want people to know what is happening over there" Ahmad said. "Shah's story is just one story as there are a lot of other people who are also victims of these merciless killers."
The United State government has also not been shy about disclosing their concerns over what is currently occurring in Pakistan. During the presidential campaign last year, Barack Obama said he would order strikes against al-Qaida targets in Pakistan even without the country's permission. Obama's remarks came after he was criticized for being too light on foreign policy and amidst a debate about what to do about al-Qaida and Taliban forces, who had shown a resurgence along the country's northwest borders. Since then Obama has followed through with the missile strikes on the region. In April, around the same time Shah was forced to flee his homeland, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in her first congressional hearing, warned that Pakistan was in danger of falling into terrorist hands because of failed government policies. This problem is highlighted by the fact that Pakistan is a nuclear-armed state.
"I think that we cannot underscore the seriousness of the existential threat posed to the state of Pakistan by continuing advances, now within hours of Islamabad, that are being made by a loosely confederated groups of terrorists and others who are seeking the overthrow of the
Pakistani state, a nuclear-armed state," Clinton said during the hearing.
Ahmad believes it is crucial that the United States steps in and puts someone in power that can be trusted. He also pointed out that bombs being dropped along the country's northwest border have decimated many of the schools which has resulted in the next generation of Pakistani people in that region being uneducated and more susceptible to joining terrorist organizations.
"Education is the key to stopping terrorism, not bombs," Ahmad said. "The only way we are going to get out of this mess is turn future generations of these merciless killers into educated, compassionate and law-abiding citizens."
While the issue of terrorism in Pakistan grows worse, and the pain accumulates over these incredibily traumatic past three years for Shah and his family, he can at least rest easy, for now, knowing that his family is safe here in America.
"I am so thankful, because while we have lost so much we have gained so many friends here in America," Shah said. "No matter what happens all I know is we can never go back."
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