Actor and television host Juggun Kazim has described her father's murder as the most frightening period of her life, revealing that although they never had a close relationship, she had hoped they would one day become best friends.
Appearing on a recent podcast, Kazim reflected on losing her father at the age of 21, the complicated nature of their relationship, and the lasting influence of the women who raised her. She also spoke about blended families, co-parenting and the importance of normalising second marriages.
Recalling the day she learned of her father's death, Kazim said she was in New York when she received a phone call in the middle of the night.
"I was sleeping in New York at the time. My phone rang, and I don't even remember who it was. The person said, 'Dada has died.' That's what I used to call him. At that time, I was 21 years old," she recalled.
Unable to believe the news, she initially assumed it was a prank.
"When I got that call, my reaction was, 'Stop pranking me.' When I called my sister, she wouldn't pick up. There was no caller ID at the time; this was over 20 years ago. When someone finally picked up and told me he had died, I asked what had happened. They said he had been murdered."
Kazim described the aftermath as the darkest chapter of her life.
"That period was the most painful and difficult time of my life. There were a lot of ups and downs, and many people in my life showed their true colours," she said. "It was a really frightening time."
Although her relationship with her father remained unresolved, Kazim said she never stopped hoping it would improve. "The problem is that before our relationship could be resolved, he passed away," she said.
She recalled thinking of him years later while receiving the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz.
"I was standing there and spoke to him in my mind. I said, 'I told you I was capable despite being called stupid and hyper, and despite your belief that women should stay at home.' I was waiting to get older so I could explain all of this to him and tell him how my brain works. Maybe then we could have become best friends."
Kazim also revealed that her father had been physically abusive during her childhood. "When I was little, my parents got divorced. I would stay with my dad on weekends and my mom during the week. My dad was very violent. He used to hit all of us a lot," she said.
Despite those experiences, she said she had come to accept that her father, like everyone else, had both positive and negative qualities. "But in English they say, 'You should not speak ill of the dead,'" she said.
