Samiya Mumtaz, Sarmad, Erfan Khoosat’s haunting readings of letters of death row inmates leave Islamabad audience in tears

What could be worse than being told that you are going to die? How can killing common prisoners end terrorism?

The haunting questions and testimonies at the centre of Limbo — A Dramatic Reading Of Letters of Prisoners on Death Row asked by an evocative Erfan Khoosat created many unforgettable moments during the performance held at Islamabad’s Pakistan National Council of Arts on Monday night to mark the Day Against Death Penalty.

The performance was organised by Justice Project Pakistan, a legal action non-government organisation that represents the most vulnerable prisoners in Pakistan facing harsh punishments, along with Olomopolo Media. The ticket cost Rs1,500.

Erfan, along with his son Sarmad Khoosat, the actor and director, and Samiya Mumtaz, from the famed Meri Zaat Zarra-e-Benishan, donned orange jumpsuits for a night and read out letters penned by death row inmates in Pakistan, sharing glimpses of their life in prison, forced confessions, their family life (or lack thereof), and their personal existential thoughts, interspersed with regulations from the Pakistan Prisons Rules, which Mumtaz read in a stern manner.

Sarmad also read passages from George Orwell’s 1931 essay A Hanging. The three sat on a dimly lit stage in three identical cubicles comprising a black bench and a hanging lamp which lit up as the spotlight kept oscillating between them.

Letters detailing the lives of three condemned prisoners — Aftab, Murad ur Rehman and Dr Ali — were shared with the almost full house at the 400-seat PNCA auditorium. The bulk of the Urdu letter reading fell on the trusted shoulders of Erfan, whose earnest reading brought tears to the eyes of people in the audience. The performance humanised the emotions, fears, and feelings of death row inmates, with many people deeply impacted by the life of Dr Ali, who, during his time in the prison, impacted many young minds and encouraged them to complete their education. Despite repeated requests by his peers, his appeal against the death penalty was rejected and he was executed in 2015.

The conceptualisation by Kanwal Khoosat along with Talha Mufti’s direction succeeded in highlighting the inhumane struggles faced by condemned prisoners and their families and it ended with a standing ovation. From telling parents to bring a charpoy to collect the body after execution, to rules which state that the executioner will be paid Rs10 per execution, the performance encompassed the different facets of the lives of death row inmates. It lasted a little over 40 minutes and proved to be gripping, chilling, and intense, and it made the slight technical issue with the video subtitles forgivable.

Thirty-four months have passed since the last execution in Pakistan, shared Thomas Seiler, Charge d’ Affaires, Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Pakistan, while taking the stage before the performance. He said the practice is “cruel and inhuman” and hoped that the trend continues to decline in Pakistan.

Sarah Belal, the executive director of Justice Project Pakistan, said the purpose of the performance was to allow people to think critically about the death penalty. “Have we even heard the voices of the condemned?” These are the real stories of real people.

Contrasting with the bleakness of the auditorium, the bright lobby of the arts council was brimming with chatter as people started gathering for the performance. Many people participated in an interactive session, ‘This Is (Not) A Game,’ in which tabs were set up for them to play the role of a woman navigating Pakistan’s justice system after her husband is arrested. The game is available here.