Tragedy of Lakki’s unlucky volleyball players

By Afzal Hussain Bokhari

As the unusual chill of the first evening of 2010 descended on the noisy Shah Hassan Khel playfield in the distant Lakki Marwat quietness, the mysterious vehicle loaded with 300 kilos of dynamite sticks exploded with a deafening impact. Forgetting about the friendly match, the tall and elegant volleyball players fell to the dusty compound and moaned and groaned in pain and agony as the light bouncing ball aimlessly drabbled the unlucky ground. Holding back their screams, the near and dear ones of the blast victims lifted the dead bodies and carried them away for their last rites.

Farther to the north, up in Peshawar, some 15 hours before the suicide car bomb explosion, the lively students of privately-run local universities merrily danced in freezing temperature in the Saddar area’s ever-awake Qayyum Stadium Chowk to greet the New Year. Intoxicated with the feeling of stepping into the 2010, some of the exuberant students drove in sleek, expensive cars on the hospitable University Road well after midnight.

The massive grief in Lakki Marwat contrasted oddly with the merriment in the provincial capital. Strange indeed are the ways of nature. In order to seek forgiveness from Almighty Allah, the faithful touched the lobes of ears in anticipated fear of the unknown. They read details of the New Year night festivities and then turned to grim pictures arriving from the violence-hit southern district. The images of dead volleyball players left a lump in the throat.

Visibly perturbed at the magnitude of the tragedy, the district police officer of Lakki Marwat, Ayub Khan, told a private television channel that the actual target of the suicide bomber was a jirga (grand meeting) of the members of the local vigilante group and volunteers of the peace committee, which was being held in the nearby mosque. However, due to enhanced security arrangements around the mosque, unidentified suicide bomber brought the explosives-laden vehicle into the playground.

The New Year revelers in Peshawar said that by dancing in the middle of night they wanted to show to the people of the City and the outside world that militants could not bomb the fun of life out of them. Similarly, the sport lovers in Shah Hassan Khel also arranged a friendly match of volleyball between two local teams to show that despite threats from anti-social elements, they were not cowed down by militancy.

As things stand today, there is a thin line that separates life from death, merriment from bereavement and playfield from graveyard. Still the common people have a passion to defeat the prophets of doom. The car bomb blasts create mayhem but survivors have the urge to carry on the show of life. The kill-sport saboteurs can strike a crowded playfield but volleyball is there to live.

Many a bloodbath was given to the people of Peshawar during third quarter of 2009 by suicide bombers but explosions could not delay or stop the arrival of 2010. It might not bring any good tidings for them but young university men in their late teens or early 20s performed the thrilling ‘Bhangra’ dance to ring in the New Year.

Singers such as Naghma Mangal, Haroon Bacha and Gulrez Tabassum have sung moving songs during the violence and militancy. Their songs can make the audience cry but they also instill courage into the people to face hardships. The lines are not really quotable but the popular Indian film song rendered by late artist Mukesh carries the message to enjoy life: “Gham jab satai, seeti bajana!” (When stricken by grief, whistle or hum the tune of a song to wriggle out of the depressing state of mind).

As compared to people in other parts of the NWFP, the residents of Lakki Marwat are generally speaking far more peace-abiding, sincere and rational. In spite of being located in close proximity to the tribal Waziristan Agency, the graph of violent crimes is surprisingly low in all police stations of the upgraded district.

The people are hard-working, patriotic and straightforward. People like Masood Sharif Khattak and late Pareshan Khattak helped quite a few of the young men from the area find jobs according to their qualifications. It was pity that suicide bombers chose to target a peace jirga in a mosque failing which they struck the volleyball playground.

In smaller and the less urbanised centres, young men from mediocre homes have an understandable passion for the game of volleyball. Financially being a cheap sport, young men with lean and thin physical structures get together with a net and volleyball and start the game just outside human settlements.

With steely arms spread out, the brisk and quick players know the art of using finger-tips to toss back the ball over to the other side. One has to keep an eye on the movement of the ball and the tricks of the rival players. Those standing close to the net have the agility to suddenly go up in the air and thump the ball back to the rival team.

It is saddening to learn that the best of Lakki Marwat’s volleyball players died in the car bomb blast of January 1, 2010. Also to get buried with the dead players were the God-given agility and the art of dodging the sharp, eagle-eyed players from the opposite team. If the security cover had not been tight, the suicide bomber in Shah Hassan Khel would very likely have succeeded in blowing up the mosque in which the peace committee was holding a crucial meeting.

By striking the volleyball playfield, the saboteurs have further strengthened the resolve of the peace volunteers to stand up and fight back the anti-social elements. Apart from protecting the homes, mosques and schools, the vigilante groups will now also have to protect the playgrounds, where the entertainment-starved youth can have some fun in the afternoon. By attacking the Shah Hassan Khel sport lovers, the desperate criminals did not gain the sympathies of a single man or woman in Pakistan or outside of it.