Author:
Saman Imtiaz
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Date Posted: 16:20:53 04/21/04 Wed
Dear MSA members,
I am Hasan Hussain's cousin writing to you from Karachi, Pakistan. As you all can well imagine this is a really tough time for Hasan's family especially for those of us who are far away from his parents and brother at this time of their need.
What makes our plight even worse is reading news reports that are insinuating this was suicide. We are too far to be able to raise our voice against this. Therefore we are requesting all of you to form a pressure group of sorts to make sure that the college conducts a thorough investigation and gives us an accurate account of the facts as they happened.
Hasan was a deeply religious person who never in his life let anything unhalal pass his lips, He got special permission from his high school in Florida to be able to pray and kept a prayer mat in his locker. There is no way he would have even considered doing something as unislamic as suicide.
More importantly he had absolutely no reason to go that way. If the police and college officials bother talking to his family and freinds, all will unanimously tell that he was an upbeat, ambitious, idealistic young man with an enormous zest for life. He comes from an affluent family with extremely loving parents and an adorable younger brother. He had a perfectly satisfying life.
Moreover, there seems to be no evidence on which they can base such a theory. There were no tools found in his room and according to their own admission, it is impossible to open the sliding doors leading to the balcony without taking out the nuts and bolts with some tool. The fact that there were no tools to be found is conclusive evidence that he could not have done it himseld. Mere absence of evidence pointing to foul play does not become evidence for suicide.
Furthermore, they have admitted themselves that their investigation is not yet complete. What gives them the right to release statements to the press based on incomplete investigation? What could be more irresponsible and inconsiderate than this?
I would also like to know why it is taking so long for them to do routine things like finger printing the room. It seems like the university is dragging their feet on this issue hoping that it will fizzle down and may relieve them from giving a final report that they can be held down to and will be unable to prove if challenged.
It is my earnest request for you to not let this die down. We must ensure that this does not happen to anyone else and in particular to a muslim if there is in fact hatred of muslims at the root of this tragedy.
I would like to share an e-mail that Hasan wrote to me with you all that shows his noble and mature thinking and also his excitement for his future and the life he was not allowed to finish.
Dear Saman Bhaji,
Thank you for the supporting words. Its always good to know you have
someone to count on when you take the kind of path people like us take.
I
think I have pretty much made my mind up on writing. I have looked
around
and nothing else seems to satisfy my need for a sense of personal
freedom,
and all other careers seem to make me feel like I am stuck on a
treadmill. I
think now the major decisions for me will be what medium of writing I
will
use (poetry, short story, novel, etc.) and what I will write about
(Right
now these questions seem bigger than the question of a career, as they
rely
on my conclusions on what the meaning of life and the role of art are.
Both
are certainly big issues, which will require years of contemplation and
discovery.) Who knows, though, I may find something else on the
horizon. But
be assured I doubt you will find me in a typical 'Desi' or
'respectable'
profession, or if I am, the Hasan you know will be quite dead and a
new,
boring, soulless Hasan will have taken his place.
In regards to your question on politics. I never really considered
politics as a career exactly. I have increasingly come to regard
"career
politicians" as personally bankrupt individuals. My view on political
issues
has always been to view them as moral issues and act as if they
affected me
personally. Right now the biggest political issue on my mind is the
plight
of American Muslims. After I feel like that is "dealt" with (if ever)
then I
would probably move on to international issues such as Chechnya,
Kashmir,
and Palestine as well as broader issues such as third world poverty and
neo-imperialism. However, I would not approach these issues as a career
politician. I think is abundantly clear, that violence can not solve
the
problems facing Muslims in the world today. I feel that first we must
establish moral and intellectual victory before any action can be taken
to
improve our plight. My solution would be a constant criticism of all
institions of oppression. I believe once we have stripped away the
rhetorical pretenses of our oppressers, victory becomes an
inevtiability
that only needs to be sought after unwaveringly. As such, I have an
abundance of criticism for a variety of institutions. I intend to
pursue
this criticism through both the spoken and written word and my top
targets
are the Republicans, Well-to-do American Muslims, Muslim
Fundamentalists,
Hawks, The Religious Right, So called 'Moderate' Muslims, the CIA,
"Patriotic" Americans, Muslim pre-occupation with a victimization
complex
(i.e. the belief that the Jews are responsible for everything wrong
with
Muslims today), etc. As you can see this leaves me with very few
allies, so
my political activities will have to be pursued essentially alone, and
I
will have to take full opportunity of the few public forums someone
would be
crazy enought to give me. Nontheless, I think only an unapologetic
honesty
can solve our problems. That kind of honesty will probably mean I will
always be considered a "fringe" political figure but at least I'll try
to
get people thinking and talking about the reality of the issues. Thats
what
I get for my radical political views, I guess. Anyway I have babbled on
quite a bit, and I hope my words add up to some sort of coherent
message.
Things here are great fun with Abbas, Daanish, and Sena Appa here. We
are
having all kinds of fun and we stayed up til 5:30 am the other day
debating
all sorts of issues (Arranged Marriage, Role of Women, What is Art,
etc.) I
suppose you had a longer telephone conversation with Sena Appa, so she
probably gave you a clearer picture of life down here. I hope you did
well
on your exam and please consider stopping by the ol' San Amaro place.
And do
write back to,
Your cousin and disciple,
Hasan
In the end, I will reiterate my request to not let this die down. We cannot allow them to malign Hasan's name when he is no more. I know Hasan would have done the same if it was anyone else in his place.
Thank-you
Saman Imtiaz
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