LUV Jihad: Case Study 1

Family Not Taliban Killed Writer Sushmita Banerjee Says Afghan Government

The mystery over the death of Indian writer Sushmita Banerjee, is seems to have been demystified. The Afghan government says it was “not the Taliban but family who killed the writer.”  Since the death of the writer, many sources confirmed it as a deed of the Taliban and it was taken for granted.  But suspicions start to form since the Taliban denied its involvement in her death.  And since then new truths started to emerge one after another.  The Kabul and Afghan government believe that her Afghan family and husband have incurred in this situation.  It has been said they the family was ready to get the writer’s husband married to his brother’s widow. The writer’s husband allegedly had an affair with her.  It seems that an ideal way in Afghanistan to escape the law where the crime of family killings is concerned, is to slur the name of the Taliban.

Writer Banerjee wrote A Kabuliwala’s Bengali Wife and later a movie named Escape from Taliban was also adapted into film from the book.   The book created considerable waves since its release.  It depicted the crimes and torture of the Taliban, but in it, the woman managed to escape from those extremists and returned to India in 1995.   The book A Kabuliwala’s Bengali Wife is based on Banerjee’s own life.  So, when her bullet torn body was found, it was widely believed that it was an act of the Taliban. Her book and movie could quite possibly have enraged them.

According to the the Afghan government, it is not matter of terror.  It suggests that either family members shot her or they had hired a criminal to kill her.  From Kabul, it was confirmed that it was not the Taliban, but family members behind her death.

Banerjee’s husband, Jahnbaz Khan was unreachable by phone.  He had switched it off.  However, when he finally could be reached, he did not want to talk to anyone and passed the phone to his brother.  His relationship with his wife Sushmita had become rocky, following his deep love for brother’s widow Sultan Bibi.  Sushmita divulged her anguish on Facebook as she wanted to come back to India.  But just before she could, she was killed and the family had not even attempted to show any responsibility by contacting her family to inform them.   Her brother managed to find out from a news channel.  The behavior of the family seemed mysterious at first and now it seems suspiciously like they have really done something terribly wrong.  The Afghan family had apparently agreed upon Janbaz’s wedding with Sultan Bibi because unlike Sushmita, she was still able to bear children.

Sushmita was disgusted at repeatedly seeing her husband with Sultan Bibi.  She was planning to get married herself to her Facebook friend Deepak.  Deepak, 40, who has a wife and three children, said on Monday, “Yes, we were about to get married.”  Sushmita’s friend Shalini said, “Janbaz’s affair with someone else made her desperate to marry again.”  But the businessman to whom she would get married to, was a perfect stranger to her; she had only known him for one month and they had not yet met in person.  Yet she was still willing to marry him.  The negligence of husband and his  family had made her seem desperate.

Sushmita’s brother was willing to bring her body to India to perform the post-mortal rituals.  But by the time he had come to find out of her death, their family had already buried her.  The Afghan government said that it would not be possible to give back the body.  Seemingly it is the rule in Afghanistan that it is the husband who must grant permission to have the body exhumed.

A spokesman from Kabul, on behalf of the Afghan government said, “The demise of Sushmita is saddening.  She deserved better. But it’s a conspiracy on her family. If the Taliban had killed her, they would not deny it. They would proudly declare why they’ve killed her.”  So now it appears that it was not the Taliban but the family that killed the writer.

Kabuliwala's Bengali wife