LAHORE: The Ajoka Theatre will stage one of its landmark plays, Dukh Darya, at the Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture (Pilac). However, the schedule for the performance has not been finalised yet.

The play, memorable both for its production and script, was first staged in 2006. It was written by Ajoka Executive Director Shahid Nadeem and Madeeha Gauhar had directed it on its first performance.

Dukh Darya (River of Sorrow) is based on a real story of a woman. The play was also performed at the National School Drama Festival in Delhi years back. Its dramatic reading was held at Pilac in August this year and it would now be staged once again.

Nadeem said, “It is said ‘Truth is stranger than fiction’. Truth can also be more dramatic, more meaningful. But then, what is fiction but an edited, glossy version of reality. When I first learnt about Shehnaz’s story, I instantly realised that it was more than a story of one woman’s suffering and her struggle for justice”.

The story of the play revolves around a young village woman who is taunted and tormented for being infertile so much that she jumps into the river dividing the two parts of the disputed territory of Kashmir. However, she ends up on the other side of the border and is arrested, interrogated and eventually raped. She gets pregnant, a proof of the horror of rape in custody but also belying the allegations of infertility. She gives birth to a beautiful baby daughter, Mobeen, who is brought up in the Jammu jail until

Shehnaz is released and arrangements are made for her repatriation. However, another shock is awaiting her. According to the laws governing the two countries, she, as a Pakistani Kashmiri, can return to Pakistan but not her daughter, an India-born citizen with an Indian father. Officials of the two governments haggle over the rules regarding the citizenship and identity of the hapless mother and daughter.

“The Shehnaz story stayed with me for a couple of years. It took me to Jammu where I met Shehnaz’s lawyer Sawhney and the Jammu-based writer, Khalid Hussain. Rao Abid Hameed of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, who played a vital role in enabling Shehnaz to come to Pakistan with Mobeen, was also very helpful,” said Mr Nadeem.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2022