ISLAMABAD – Shamim Kiyani, stepmother of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, fears for her life after being threatened by a police official operating under the nose of her stepson.
“You are risking your life, Shamim” were the last words the executive editor of an Islamabad-based newspaper could hear over telephone as she trembled with fear in the dead of the night on December 10 – the day the Islamabad High Court issued a notice to her spouse, Senator Azam Khan Hoti, in a ‘Haq Mehr’ (dower money) case. But she believes that her husband couldn’t stoop so low to employ such lowly tactics of blatant harassment.
Shamim, also a renowned social worker, has recently approached the Islamabad Police chief, seeking immediate protection against the hooligan police official, Rajab Ali, who is quite infamous for threatening and torturing people for personal gains and had been under investigation in the past for his undesirable activities.  Earlier this month, Shamim brought a lawsuit against her husband in the high court for the recovery of money on the basis of a negotiable instrument pertaining to her dowry. The matter made headlines in the national media.
In her application – a copy of which is also available with The Nation – to the Islamabad police inspector general, Shamim stated, "It all started on December 10, 2012, the date when the high court issued a notice to my husband, directing him to appear before it on January 22, 2013. The same night, I started receiving life threatening calls from Rajab Ali.”
She added that the caller, who had the audacity to introduce himself as a police officer, threatened her of serious consequences if she didn’t withdraw the ‘Haq Mehr’ (dower money or a set financial sum given to wife at the time of the marriage) case forthwith.
“You are risking your life, Shamim” was the last sentence she could hear over telephone as she trembled from head to toe with fear in the dead of the night. "For obvious reasons, I went through immense stress and strain," she said in her application.
After the call, a little browsing on the Internet helped her understand that Rajab Ali was infamous for threatening and torturing people for personal gains and had been under investigation in the past for his undesirable activities. But this information only added to her misery giving her a sleepless night.  Threatened by a rowdy policeman and abandoned by her custodian, Shamim approached the Kohsar Police Station and filed a complaint against Rajab Ali.
In her application, she requested the inspector general to immediately take notice of the life threats and make arrangements for her security. "Respected Sir, I fail to see how a sitting police officer can threaten a helpless woman, who happens to be the wife of a prominent senator and senior ANP leader. I would hasten to add here this direct and unequivocal threat to my life could not have come at a worst time, as presently I am looking after my ailing mother, who is fighting for her life. You will appreciate that knowing Rajab Ali's precursors and hearing him loud and clear by phone threatening me with dire consequences including murder, I am unable to perform daily chores, including taking care of my bed-ridden old mother. My professional life as a journalist is also badly affected by this constant psychologically torturous predicament," Shamim writes to the IGP.
When contacted, Shamim confirmed that she had given an application to the Islamabad Police chief, but ruled out her husband could threat her in this manner. "I am still Mr Hoti's wife. I would refuse to believe that my husband, a respectable sitting senator, could stoop so low to employ such lowly tactics of blatant harassment. I sincerely believe that my husband has no role to play in this dirty game. This belief makes me wonder why a third person, totally unrelated to the Haq Mehr case, would be interested in desisting me from pursuing a legal rights' case. I also fail to understand how and why my matrimonial rights and my plea for my legal and Islamic rights could anger a third person so much to come in the open with death threats," she told this scribe.
Her stepson, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Azam Khan Hoti, was not available for comments until the filing of this report. His personal secretary, Ghulam Rasool, said he would arrange a telephonic conversation but only if Hoti was interested.
An IGP Office official meanwhile said an appropriate action would soon be taken on Shamim’s application.