This is the story of Shirjeel.

Nishat's brother in law's nephew had been selected for training as a commissioned officer in the Pakistan air-force but was forced to leave after about one year due to his eyesight.

At the age of about 18 to 20 he was convinced by a mullah in Karachi, after 9/11 to join the jihad. He went to Afghanistan and had great difficulty climbing in the mountains. The Afghanis were separated were separated by the non-Afghanis. He became discouraged and returned to Karachi where he went into hiding. He had to hide not only from the Jihadis who wanted him to return but also the CIA and the Pakistan authorities. He never again wanted to be involved in any Jihad activities. After 4 years there was a terrorist bombing in Karachi then a crackdown where all Jihadis were arrested. Someone reported on the boy and he was also arrested. Now after 2 years in jail he says he now sleeps well as he is safe in jail, although his family is brocken from all the worrying and his mother is now very ill. There is no legal support to get him out, no bail, no trial. He missed his sisters marriage, which has ultimate importance here in Pakistan.

Nishat says that under Islam, the word Jihad means protect ourselves from evil things. Taliban means a student of the Quran. The Quran does not say that Jihad is war. Jihad must be for only peace. Islam means peace.

Note from Judy and Ross:

Nishat was one of our hosts on our trip to Pakistan. I read in the paper today that Pakistan released 100 terrorists from jail. Maybe Shirjeel is one of them.
We are now in India. To see our blog, go to http://ross-judy.blogspot.com/ and our photos are on photobucket.com , search for ross-judy.