Written by: Ayesha Amir
Posted on: October 20, 2023 | 
| 中文
Book cover and the author
Shahbaz Taseer’s memoir of captivity is a stunning tale of bravery and conviction. He was kidnapped by militants in the August of 2011, and found his way back home in March of 2016, almost four and half years later.
This memoir is an emotional read and a page turner. Lost to the World is a statement that staying alive and finding humanity in the most difficult of circumstances, is perhaps life’s many lessons.
Shahbaz Taseer shines through this book as an individual in his own right. He skillfully premises his tale on first telling the history of his family. Being the son of Salman Taseer, a Pakistani businessman as well as the former Governor of Punjab, who sadly was also assassinated in 2011 (a few months before Shahbaz’s kidnapping), Shahbaz Taseer explores the vessels of his own life’s privileges that stem from belonging to a Pakistani political elite family.
A group picture of the Taseer family
In his book, Taseer weaves the web of different stages of his life in captivity, where he adopted different personas: from “Shabby T”, “Ahmad”, “Yusuf Britannia” to finally “Shahbaz Taseer”. We see a truly transformative journey of pain, resilience, faith, love and longing.
Gripping, right from the start, Taseer throws in the bait for readers by describing his detained circumstances. He then pauses the tale to take us through his early life. It begins with the history of his father (who remains as a constant motif of resilience and love throughout the book), his social and political career, his mother, his grandmothers, and how Taseer found a loving home in the shape of his two siblings and prominent parents. In the heart-rending tale of Salman Taseer’s murder that follows in the book, we are set on the path of a series of shocking events to come. In a thrilling narrative, Taseer uses the method of delving into the past to hold the reader's attention. It feels like the reader is experiencing and living through everything with Taseer himself. The sensations of sound, smell, touch and sight convey a sense of immediacy to the reader.
Shahbaz Taseer after being released by the captives
Through the use of analogies to explain his own circumstances, Taseer stays true to his thought process without filtering out any so called “negative” depictions. We see an honest spill of emotion and self-reflection, where Taseer accepts his place of privilege, ponders over how it was all upended in mere moments, and actively engages with his transformative journey: the dark moments of doubts, hesitations and crushing isolation.
Shahbaz Taseer's first photo after being back in home after five years
The book details the conversations and torture at the hands of Taseer’s captives. The main antagonist of the story (and Taseer’s life in those few years), Muhammad Ali, who held the fate of Taseer’s life in his hands for those several years, comes to play a central role not only in Taseer’s misery, but also in the ways in which he was able to access kindness. This is because it was Muhammad Ali’s sweet and innocent children, studious mother-in-law and kind brother-in-law, who kept Taseer’s life from falling apart completely. In an amusing and cynical tone of writing, Taseer takes the readers along with him in surmising over how all of what was happening seemed carved out of a fiction novel or a movie. It is the truth rendered to every incident that adds to its highly shocking element. We go with him from each safe-house to safe-house, town to war-torn town, to see how life in tribal and remote areas looked like for its people.
Young Shahbaz Taseer
The most notable aspect in understanding the context of this book, however, comes from Taseer’s ability to interlace his own life with what was at play in the social and political milieu of Pakistan and Afghanistan. By explaining the history of terrorist groups, their internal workings and turmoil, we come to see the context of his kidnapping more clearly.
Central figures in the story remain Taseer’s incredible mother and father. The vision of his late father helps him pull through this challenging period, as well as the active battle his widowed mother fought to bring her son home, remain primary examples of love and faith in his family. Amidst all the pain, Taseer finds his connection with God, the spiritual experience of which he shares in this book. He also alludes to many pop-culture references, the highlight of which remains his miraculous connection with the football club Manchester United. Almost comically so, in the middle of ludicrously dangerous circumstances, Taseer forms an unusual bond with one of his captors over football, one of the many instances of friendly encounters that the book recounts.
Young Shahbaz Taseer with his mother
In this riveting and adrenaline-inducing memoir, readers will find both a heart-wrenching yet a heartwarming tale of courage in the face of adversity. The book also serves as an excellent commentary on the politics of terrorist groups during the period of Taseer’s capture. It is a chronicle of strength drawn from the love of one’s family and friends amidst difficult times.
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