Sanjay Dutt hailed Chaudhry Aslam as Pakistan’s hero, says widow

A decade after Karachi’s fearsome counterterrorism officer Chaudhry Aslam Khan was killed in a TTP bomb blast, his widow Naureen Aslam Khan has opened up about the life they lived behind the headlines.

In a conversation with Dialogue Pakistan, she shared the personal challenges she faced before marrying Chaudhry Aslam. She said that she was not ready for the marriage and did not like policemen. Her mother insisted, saying, “We have given our word, so we cannot step back now.”

She added, “If life ever gave me another chance, I would choose Chaudhry Aslam a million times I swear.” In 1994, when he became SHO Gulbahar and began conducting operations, people started calling him “Chaudhry”, a name that soon became his identity.

Naureen further said that while Chaudhry Aslam is remembered for his bravery, the family has paid a lifelong price for it. “My children have sacrificed a lot. We also wish to enjoy simple things like having tea at a roadside hotel, but we cannot. This is not a normal life.”

She recalled that Aslam taught her how to use guns, saying that he wanted to make her a “Chaudhrani.”

Sharing a past incident, Naureen said, “One day, I was at the hospital receiving a drip when he arrived. He got a phone call, and suddenly his face changed. He came forward, removed the drip himself, and we left immediately. Seven months later, I got to know that a bomb blast had been planned just three minutes after we left, because our location had been traced.”

Naureen said that Aslam often told her that films would be made about him, and now it has turned out to be true. “He used to say, ‘There is no going back from where I stand today.’

Chaudhry Aslam admired Sanjay Dutt, especially after the release of Khalnayak, feeling a personal connection to the character. She shared, “Sanjay Dutt once said that if Pakistan has one hero, it is Chaudhry Aslam. Aslam responded by saying, “I am Sanjay’s fan, and he’s my fan."

Regarding the Dhurandhar film, Naureen said, “I don’t know how closely Sanjay Dutt will relate to Chaudhry’s character.” She added “I believe the actor is not the most important element, the story writer is what truly matters.

However, Naureen admitted she could not relate to certain elements of the trailer. “There were specific scenes that felt unrealistic,” she said. The trailer depicted a supernatural link between a human and a jinn leading to the birth of Chaudhry Aslam. Naureen emphasized that Aslam’s mother was a very modest woman with strict values, making such claims untrue.

She also noted that some of Chaudhry Aslam’s traits became iconic, such as his signature white kurta–shalwar. “Let’s see how India portrays his character,” she concluded.