Not everyone who dies tragically is a ‘shaheed’

The abused term of "shaheed" is an appeasement tactic - getting actual justice is unlikely.

In Pakistan the suffix shaheed is frequently used for politicians, scholars, journalists, armed forces personnel and even militants depending upon how people or the media conceives that person. The use of the word shaheed is indeed another gift of Zia’s era when martyrdom was glorified during the Afghan war.

Our armed forces have been engaged in conflict against militants since 2004. These militants claim that the killing of innocent Muslims, mostly women and children, doesn’t make soldiers  martyrs and, that in fact they are wajib-ul-qatal (punishable by murder) for this offence. So a militant is considered a shaheed among his supporters while a fallen soldier is considered shaheed by his comrades.

The suffix has also been used widely for politicians who get assassinated. From shaheed-i-millat Liaquat Ali Khan to shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, General Ziaul Haq shaheed to Benazir Bhutto shaheed. The Bhuttos are referred to as shaheed on state television only when the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is ruling. Otherwise, they are just referred to as assassinated leaders.

In Arabic, the word shaheed means “the one who bears witness to the truth”, a translation that can be found on several occasions in this context in the Holy Quran. The most common Quranic verses that are cited while referring to shaheed (martyr in the battle) are in the chapter The Cow (al-Baqara).

In the wake of support for the killer, PPP leaders were hesitant to use the word shaheed for they feared inviting the wrath of extremists. On the other hand, his killer was dubbed a ghazi – one who survives a battle. Salmaan Taseer’s supporters used the word shaheed on posters, an act which was emphatically denounced by the Tahaffuz Namoos-i-Risalat Mahaz because they believed Salmaan Taseer to be a sinner and blasphemer, hence justifying his murder on these grounds.

It is important to realise that our society needs the prevalence of justice and our efforts should be directed towards the achievement of this aim. Who is a shaheed and who is not, is a matter that God should decide.

It is obvious that this word is highly politicised and every faction and group strives to steal it for their respective slain leader. In the end, calling someone shaheed is more of an appeasement tactic in a society where justice remains elusive.