Unfinished stories

May 1, 2005

By Amar Jaleel

SOMETIMES we read amazing, at times unbelievable, unfinished stories in the newspapers. On a few occasions, the newspapers follow these stories, and then gradually give up. The newspapers focus their attention on the new stuff, and forget all about the stories left unfinished in the past. Among the stories left unfinished some happen to be so mind-boggling that they keep lurking in many a mind for a long time. Occasionally, they crop up. Curiosity to know the end of the stories keeps coming back to you from time to time.

About 30 years ago, an assistant professor of surgery at the Dow Medical College, Karachi was arrested for not possessing an MBBS degree. The news was shocking not only for his colleagues and students, it left countless persons bewildered on whom he had performed complicated operations successfully, and had cured them of life-threatening maladies. I don’t recall his name. He was a brilliant teacher, a humble and helping colleague, and a caring doctor. I don’t think I can reproduce the minute details of the story accurately. Perhaps the apprehended assistant professor was a contemporary of renowned surgeon, Professor Naseer Shaikh, the personal physician and adviser on health to the late prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

To say that the apprehended assistant professor did not possess an MBBS degree is not entirely correct. He was recruited to the college through the Sindh Public Service Commission. The selection board had verified his MBBS degree and diplomas in general surgery from abroad. The commission did not suspect any foul play with the documents. In the interview he was simply outstanding. He joined the Dow Medical College, and soon carved out a respectable place among his students and colleagues. During the initial investigations it transpired that not for once had he cut a sorry figure while performing surgery. He had successfully operated upon the patients rejected by senior surgeons. But one day he was arrested for not possessing an MBBS degree. It baffled everyone.

The degree in the possession of the arrested assistant professor was not his own. It was a stolen degree of a doctor in Sialkot with whom he had worked for years as a male nurse, and had assisted him in the operation theatre. During his long association with the doctor he picked up the basics of performing an operation. The doctor was so impressed by his brilliance that after a few years he allowed him to perform minor operations under his supervision. From mending hernia to removing stones from the gallbladders, he carried out operations successfully. Then came a time in the life of the doctor in Sialkot that he felt fatigued. He began proceeding on short vacations, leaving behind the clinic to his trusted male nurse. The male nurse gained immense experience from carrying out operations. During the doctor’s longer vacations the male nurse performed complicated operation and gained in confidence.

As was reported in the newspapers, the doctor collapsed during a vacation in distant lands and died. It was not revealed to the readers whether the deceased doctor had any kith and kin. The male nurse removed the original certificates, diplomas, and degrees from the clinic of his benefactor, and vanished. He did not temper with the degrees and certificates. Instead, he abandoned his own name and adopted the late doctor’s name. He obtained a new National Identity Card, the contents of which matched the basic data in the documents, his name, and his father’s name. He moved to Karachi and worked with a few private hospitals before joining the Dow Medical College.

How it transpired that the certificates in his name were not his own is an enigma. During the investigation and the trial the newspapers published the proceedings in bits. The newspapers reported his widely publicized utterance during the trial, “I admit that the certificates are not mine. But let the prosecution produce one evidence against my expertise, and that I had failed even for once in performing an operation, and had harmed the life of a patient.”

As is customary in Pakistan the case lingered on and on for years. The newspapers gradually gave up following the story. In the words of Z A Bukhari, the godfather of broadcasting in Pakistan: “The media are a monster. The monster doesn’t like stale forage. The monster thrives on fresh stuff everyday.” That is why the newspapers do not pursue old stories for a long time. They feed the monster with fresh stories. What kind of a punishment was awarded to the assistant professor/male nurse? It remains an unbelievable unfinished story.

There are numerous unfinished stories published in the newspapers that require an ending. One such story is about Suleman Buledi, a 22-year-old scion of a powerful Balochi tribe. A Karachi-based newspapers during the ‘50s had accorded wide notoriety to him in car-snatching cases in Karachi. Was Suleman Buledi apprehended? Was he produced for trial? Did he die in a police encounter? His remains an unfinished story. So is the story about an infant who was born with two tiny wings. The clergy had opined that the child would fly after nine months. Did the child fly after nine months? It remains an unfinished story. Ever heard of Amal Kansi, one who was wanted dead or alive by the FBI? He was apprehended, and whisked away to the US. Who pocketed the fabulous head money?