Her name was sara.she was tall,blond,blue eyed and all the lads fancied her.She lived in a village in the hazara district of north Pakistan.
When she was fifeteen,her family engaged her to a handsome seventeen years old,called Sami.
They attended the same college,in the nearby town of Haripur.
Sami met sara almost everyday,and his love for her increased everytime he saw her.She had a marvelous smile,and sami always felt privillaged,everytime she gave it to him.
Acress the nearby national highway,there was another village,with about hundred homes.Both villages had about the same population.
In this other village,lived Zarak.A tall grey eyed muscular blond man.Too moody to fall for any girl,although he was fancied fancied by most of the girls who knew him.Furthe down the national highway,Zarak had a farm of his own,in a rather deserted place.A large old villa stood on this farm,which was about hundred years old,and was not in a good shape.
Zarak's dog went mad and showed all signs of rabies.He was keeping it tied with a rope.It had been two days and he could no more see the dog suffering and was planning to shoot it in the night.
About mid day,sara was coming back from her college and Zarak's dog broke it's rope,crossed the national highway and ran towards sara.In the mean time Zarak heard his dog running away and immediately grabbed his gun,and ran after it.
Sara had a sharp mind,as she saw the dog running toward her,she climbed a tree.Meanwhile zarak arrived with his gun and shot the dog.
Zarak stood beneath the tree and saw at the dead dog,with sorrow.Zara felt safe now and tried to come down from the tree,add she fell on top of Zarak.Nobody was around and sara was on top of Zarak,both of them looked at each other,first shocked,then the laughed,and got up.Sara said thankyou,zarak said sorry,and he removed the dog to burry it ,and sara went home.
In the night both of them could'nt stop thinking about each other,they had felt each other,already.
There was a marrage in sara's village next week and,all of zarak's village was invited.
Traditionally all house holds in that area keep a gun.Most of them have Ak-47 kalashnakov rifels.It is illegal in pakistan to keep a gun without liscence , but governament issues liscence to people in these areas easily.
All men like to fire bullets in the air as part of marrage celebrations.thousands of bullets are fired in a marrage,to make as much noise as possible.People has bought hundreds of bullets from arms shops in the nearby town of Abbottabad.
Marrage in these areas were about a month long celebration.All the firing was tobe done on the last day,due to restrictions from police.
Sara met zarak the next day while coming back from college,as he was apparantly waiting for her.She gave him a very good response,and it looked as if both of them liked each other.
It then started as short meetings,whenever oppertunity arised.Sara and zarak started to meet frequently within a week.
Sami on the other hand didn't have any idea about what is happeneing to sara,but he did notice the change in behaviour.
As the date of the marrage in sara's village approached,a prominent person died and in his respect the marrage celebrations were delayed for another fourty days.
A month had passed in their relation,and nobody knew about it,when one day a child saw them talking to each other in the apple garden.This apple garden belonged to sara's family.The kid told it's mom,and she was on a nearby well,washing her clothes.The kid's mom,also saw them.By the evening many people in her village were talking about it.The next day,sara was stopped from going to college by her father,who wanted to have a word with her.
The old man asked her,if she is seeing zarak or not.She denied it.The old man said to her,it's ok then I will shut up the people talking this rubbish about my daughter.
Sara's mom approache herlater and sara told all about it to her,the old lady was shocked,and asked sara why she is doing this,sara replied that she likes Zarak.Her mom asked about sami,and sara said she didn't want to marry him.The old lady asked sara why she didn't ask assistance ron her before starting all this,and sara didn't say anything.
That night sara's mom talked about all this to raza,sara's dad.Raza was furious,as his daughter lied to him,but he was grieved that why she accepted sami as a fiancey in the first place,when she was asked about it.
That night nobody could really sleep.
Sara was told to stay indoors,by her family while they could try to find a solution for this.
It took another two days for raza to gather courage and go to sami's house.
Raza talked to sami's parents,and told them to cancel the engagement,saying that sara wanted to study more,and your son is not so educated.
They left the decission on sami.
Sami couldn't beleive what he was listening from his parents at f=irst,as he lovd sara for the last six years,and it was another one year when sara was to finish her education,and sami was to marry her.
Sami straight away said no.I can't leave her like this.
Sami was too upset when a friend of his approached him andd told him about zarak.Outraged sami went to his home,got hold of his gun and rushed for zarak's home.Som epeople from both villages saw sami rushing with a gun.
Sami banged zarak's door,and as he came out pointed the gun towards him and warned him to keep away from his fiancey.Some friends of both sami and zarak also arrived there,worried about their safety,and zarak eing a moody man,shouted insults at all of sami's group,and told them to go away.
This incident took place in the night and by the morning both villages had grudge against each other.
Both Sara nad Zarak were as clever as fox,they met the next night and decided to run away.
The next morning both of them were no where to be seen.
It was ashock for sara's family who were trying to solve the situation for their daughter.A group of elderly men approaches zarak's family and asked them to help them out of this situation.Zarak's cousins were also there,and determined to help zarak,in his love.
As the elderly talked indoors,an ugly brawl broke out among youngsters outside and some of sami's friends were injured.The elderly interviened to stop it.
Later tahat day,sami's cousins and friends met him,and promised mim to help,in getting back the girl he loves.
The matter was not taken to polece,as it had escalated the situation.
About two more days passed with no signs of zarak or sara.Later that night on eof Sami's friends spotted zarak approaching his village in the dark.Immediately sami and about fourty of his friends and cousinsa grabbed their guns and rushed towards zarak's village.Suspicious young men from zarak's village were on the lok out and they saw sami's group.
Dtermined to defend the cause of their friend,and their village,they too grabbed their guns,and within half an hour both groups awere standing in front of each other across the national highway.
Zarak was told to stay away from the scene by his friends,but he too appeared there.As zarak shouted abuse at sami,the next moment he dropped dead by sami's gunshot.
Both groups ran for cover and a frantic firing started.Both villages were being rocked by loud noise of lite mechine gun bursts.
Some people ran indoors for safety,others joined in with their guns.No body called police , as the gun shots were enough to call them.The police arived amid heavey firing across the road,and the best they could do was to block the highway,for public safety.Police called ambulances as they were expecting a lot of carnage.Seven ambulances arrived and were on the standby.
All the bullets purchased for being fired in the air for the marrage celebrations,were now being fired at each other,by both villages.
For two hours,firing continued,and women,children and old people inside homes could only pray.
Younger and more ambitious people on both sides,kept gathering there,some with guns,and couldn't resist the temptation to join in as they saw the dead bodies of their beloved ones.Some more wise tried to talk to their fellow villagers and calm them down.
The firing somehow stopped after two and a half hours.The police rushed in.But it was already too late.
Sami was also dead,and about twenty seven dead bodies were removed from both side of the road that night.
Fifeteen others were critically injured.More ambulances were called,and both the villages plunged into shock and sorrow.
The next day doctors were asking for blood donation,and frantically fighting to save the lives of the injured.Five of them died later that week.
Dead bodies of thirty youths were burried the third day,and both the villages werre now standing together,as they had seen enough already.
No police case was filed,as all those who had tobe accused were dead already.
Sara was never seen after that,and no dead body was ever found.
Two and a half hours of hysteria that left 32 men dead,in the name of family,friendship,honour,love and fellowship.
This story is based on actual events that took place in 1985,told to me by a man from sami's village.