-TW- 1989 to 1999 – Pakistan - 5yrs to 15yrs
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When getting to Pakistan, Shaan and his uncle were greeted by soldiers at the border. Soldiers who were protecting Pakistan from Indian people. One of the soldiers holding a huge rifle walked to Shaaq and asked, "Who are you and why are you here?" Shaaq answered saying, "I am here to be a citizen.," in his rumbled accent. The guard answered with, "Leave or you will be shot." Shaan's uncle then, in a louder tone asked, "Why? Why do I have to leave? I am here to protect my nephew." The guard then pulled his rifle toward Shaaq. He then picked up Shaan and jogged slowly away from the soldier. The soldier then started pushing down on the trigger. Hesitantly, he pushed it all the way. Then, BAM!! Shaan's uncle was lying in the dried dirt, head down, blood rushing from his body into a red puddle. Shaan cried until he could not cry anymore. He shook his uncle over and over repeating the words, "krpaya (please)," in a whimpering voice. His uncle did not respond. One of the soldiers then ran out to Shaan and picked him up, almost dragging him. Shaan resisted by kicking and screaming. At this time, Shaan realized that he needed to stick up for himself. Shaan was taken to the Pakistan military base where he was examined for any explosives or weapons then fed food. The officer there questioned Shaan in Urdu, which he did not understand. "Is this boy stupid?" asked one solider to another. They put Shaan into military training to become a soldier. Until 1999 when Shaan turned 15 years old, 10 years after his uncle died. 1999 in Pakistan was when the Pakistan Military decided a bloodless de 'tat. Shaan was a part of the de 'tat as a military forced soldier. He would do intense training every day to the point where he would throw up blood. Tears running down Shaan's eyes he sat in despair. A soldier with a green cap on ran over to Shaan and patted his shoulder, "Are you okay Anan?" he spoke. Anan was a nickname the soldiers and rest of the crew had given him since they could not fully pronounce his Indian name. Shaan looked up at the solider in the green cap and said, "I am tired." The guy in the green cap then laughed at Shaan and yelled to the rest of the men, "he says he's tired guys!! Boohoo!! Oh no Anans tired!!". The guys then laughed at Shaan making jokes. Saying things like, "He's a wussy." "You little b*tch" "He doesn't deserve to be here" Shaan then got up and stood silently. He looked down at his bare feet and thought, thought about how these people killed his uncle then tried making him a prison soldier. He then balled his fist and threw a punch at the other men. They all jumped on him and beat the crap out of him, his eye was purple, and his nose was bleeding. Shaan was then taken to a cell, and a guard there was assigned to watch him. Instead of watching Shaan. He befriended Shaan. His name was Zahur, a name that was meant to be radiant. That is sure what he was. Incredibly happy and joyful, brought a lot of laughs to Shaan. He was 17, close to Shaan's age. Zahur would tell Shaan that he was handsome, good looking, and "a turn on." At the time, Shaan did not know what those terms meant, except handsome. Shaan would say thank you and reply saying, "You are pretty good looking too." One night, Zahur had come to Shaan's room beaten half to death. Shaan panicked and tried to stop his bleeding by pressing extra shirts from his drawers onto Zahur's wound. By the time the wound had stopped bleeding, Shaan was all over Zahur. Shaan did not know why he was feeling "turned on" but, he had committed the deed with another male. Afterward, Zahur was lying in bed with Shaan, Zahur says, "Do you want to run away to America with me?" in a whispering voice. Shaan says, "We could get in trouble, and maybe be killed.," in a worried tone. Zahur replies, "We won't. There is a boat going to America tonight at 3am. If we can just sneak on, maybe we will get there in the next 3 days." he says in a louder tone. Shaan replies with a grunt. "What An? It will be okay. I promise." Shaan agreed and that night, they successfully sneaked onto a boat that was sailing from Pakistan to the USA.