Hi Friends, People who are familiar with the political history of Pakistan must be well aware of this name – Mustafa Khar. He was called the right hand of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The regime of Bhutto was ended by a military coup by General Zia-ul-haq. During the time Zia ruled Pakistan, Mustafa remained in exile in England and came back when Bhutto was executed. He later was made a minister in the government of Benazir Bhutto (daughter of Z. A. Bhutto and the head of PPP i.e. People’s Party of Pakistan, which was founded by Bhutto himself). Mustafa Khar was a very important name in Pakistani politics because he was the unanimous leader of Punjab. He was called Lion-of-Punjab. Punjab is a very big and important part of Pakistan and the person who is leader of Punjab automatically becomes important. Also, Mustafa came from a feudal background; he was a feudal lord of Punjab, making him even more powerful. Feudal Lordship From the introduction above, it might seem to you that this is a book about politics. It is actually not. The author of the book is the ex-wife of Mustafa Khar. In this book, Tehmina Durrani, tells us her story, in an autobiographical nature (which means that, this book is not a novel). She tells us about her childhood, youth, education, first marriage, second marriage, divorces and the vivid details of her second marriage with Mustafa Khar. Mustafa Khar being a feudal lord had a very powerful presence. He was very powerful person, he had a great personality and an overpowering presence, and he was a good politician too. But he also had some negative traits too, he was violent, aggressive, very short tempered, used to beat his wife (all 5 of them), used to beat his children, oppressed women (as feudal lords are reputed to) and was extremely possessive (he wanted his woman to be faithful while he liked to have the license to practice philandering any way he liked to any where he wanted to and with whom ever he chose). Second Marriage Tehmina Durrani had a peaceful first marriage until one day she and his husband were invited to a dinner hosted by Mustafa Khar where in she first met Khar and was instantly attracted to him. Later, as the affair progressed, Tehmina divorced her husband (first) and Khar divorced his wife (4th, I guess) and they were married. But there ain’t any knights in shining armour for poor Pakistani women, very soon into her second marriage Tehmina realized that she had made the wrong decision, she had married a man who oppressed women and had no respect for them. She also realized that the behaviour of Khar was very inconsistent. One night he would beat Tehmina with his fists and she would have a black eye and the next morning Khar would be all tears apologizing for his mistakes. Surviving a marriage is of extreme important for a Pakistani Muslim woman. If she is divorced, she is in all sorts of trouble because most of the times parents would refuse to accept a divorced daughter which would be her only refuge because due to lack of education she can not earn herself a living. But living in such a hell is even more dangerous and terrifying for such a woman because she knows that she is a mere sexual object and while her husband is philandering somewhere she is bound to be silent because there is no other option open. She has to take fists and kicks of her husband because otherwise she might be stoned to death (the punishment for a woman committing adultery according to Islamic law is stoning to death of woman, which a Muslim man can easily prove). The Educated Circles of Pakistan Some people might say that such cruel behaviour by men towards women is only existent in the uneducated part of Pakistan, the far away villages and towns of Pakistan where literacy rate is still very low and life below human standards. This one book proves it all to be false. Tehmina came from a rich and urban section of Muslim society which believes in educating their daughters (though it is only to make them suitable marriage prospects). Mustafa Khar came from a rich breed to feudal lords, powerful enough that in his village (Kot-Addu) Khar was a law himself while in Pakistan he was sher-i-punjab (lion of Punjab). Still in this educated couple, who spent more than 9 years in exile (political asylum) in England, this man beat his wife, asked her why she went out, prohibited her reading magazines, going out with her friends, going to market with his permission etc. I mean, what kind of sick man does that!! This book opens you eyes to the plight and misery of woman in Muslim society. Why you should read this book? Firstly, this book tells us about the plight and misery of Pakistani woman. No matter what the level of society – it may a be an educated and civilian surrounding like that of England or it may be some sub-human village of Pakistan without electricity, woman are being beaten by their husbands. They still can not walk out of marriages as easily as Muslim men can, just be saying ‘Talak Talak Talak’. Secondly, while Tehmina tells us in detail about her personal life she also tells us in detail about the political happenings. So we can gain some historical political knowledge also as she tells us about Mustafa Khar, People’s Party of Pakistan, Bhutto’s execution, exile of Mustafa and some other leaders, life of Mustafa in prison when the returned to Pakistan after 9 years in exile, the elections in Pakistan and rise of Benazir Bhutto and later in the epilogue, the fall of Mustafa Khar (may be the curse of dying grandmother of Tehmina came true). You can read, think and understand the plight and misery of Pakistani woman. The mentality of Islamic men - to oppress and bully their wives. Their are some moments in the book when you just want to get inside the book with a base ball bat and beat Mustafa Khar to trash, you want to slap her mother in her face and tell her why can’t she see that her daughter is dying, you want to slap her sister in her face for having an illegal affair with Mustafa.