Yet another blast!

By Dr. Muhammad Hafizullah

“Bam was one of those who lost their lives in the bomb blast,” informed the person on phone. The news of yet another bomb blast was being telecasted by multiple channels. Every channel attempted to outdo others by presenting news with a different angle. Eye witnesses were being interviewed and higher officials were being chased for more information. The story was a little different as this time a man was trying to enter the gate of judicial complex and he refused to be searched. During the scuffle that ensued he blew himself and in the process more than fifty persons received grievous injuries and twenty lost their precious lives.

My mind refused to register the news- his smiling face kept hovering in my mind. Peshawar has been afflicted with a new malady ‘a blast a day’ - claiming innocent lives, now running into thousands. More than ten times of this have been injured in these blast, mostly recovering, some losing life to it and some continuing to exist with deformities and disabilities. Most times we have been presented ‘statistics’ and the mind starts interpreting it in the light of figures. The blasts are classified as big, medium and small on the basis of fatalities. Converting figures into actual human loss and then translating into families is a painful and heart wrenching exercise. Here, someone very near and dear had lost his life in this blast; regardless of the number this indeed was a very big blast.

Bam, as was popularly known by his friends and family, young and old, intimate cronies and strangers, had very charming personality. Always calm and collected, his lips were adorned with a perennial smile. His mannerisms was very mild and he could interact with people younger and older than him with ease. His low tone would put people at comfort hence opening doors of communication. This ensured building up relations based on trust and love.

The large number of people who came to pay their last respects and participated in his burial is a testimony to his popularity. He was a classical example of ‘Maranjan-maranj’ personality. He had a large circle of friends and many of them could not control the ceaseless flow of tears on hearing the tragic news. He believed in friendship and knew how to invest in this relationship wonder he had ‘most true’ friends anyone can aspire for. All three days everyone who came for ‘dua’ confided in his elder brother that it was a personal loss to all of them.  Ismail, his eldest son, returned home with a distinction and masters in structural engineering from Leeds, UK. Soft spoken and polished engineer lamented the loss of his friend and source of encouragement. He has inherited his composure and mannerisms from his father. Ovais, the youngest son had to bear the brunt as he was the first one to be informed about the blast. Shakened up and off coloured, the young engineer was finding it difficult to come to terms with the reality. He had to initially confirm the news, recognise the body in the hospital and make initial arrangements. What he underwent can only be felt by sensitive souls but can never be quantified in words.

What started as a hobby became his source of recognition and pride! He was fond of aero modelling and along with his best buddy Habib Mufti they would craft different planes. Together, they achieved high degree of expertise and later took it up as a profession. They were together in a Middle Eastern state to produce unmanned planes for reconnaissance.  When requested, they contributed positively to strengthen the defence of their home land by producing similar planes at the fraction of a cost.

Ibrahim would always take pride in the services he rendered for his city in his capacity as an administrator of University town. He put in strenuous efforts to improve the cleanliness of the town and put new ideas in practice which were unimaginable for others! His humility won many hearts and he was approachable by all! His style of leading by example inspired his team mates and staff. Though he did not stay in the job for a very long time yet he left indelible marks due to his interest and untiring efforts.

His amiable etiquettes unveiled his upbringing under the strict eye of his late father Akram Khan – a retired Air force officer who spent later years as a diplomat serving all around the world. He was brother of the most loving and respectable religious figure of Peshawar Maulana Ashraf Sahib. Air Vice Marshal Doctor Aslam Khan was his younger brother. Bam being the younger member of the family seemed to imbibe and inherit many qualities from his illustrious father and uncles. His mother being the younger sister of Late Zafar Ali Khan sowed the seeds of humility and amicability in him which later became the traits of Bam and his family.

Bam was very close to his elder brother Khan and his sister. Most times both brothers would be together.

They, also, shared common friends hence had the same circle of friends. Khan was visibly disturbed to lose his loving brother to this unfortunate wave of terrorism. Most participants in Janaza felt anguish and pain besides feeling sad and depressed on losing a loving friend.

Though most people were tight lipped on the funeral but they had questions written all over their faces! For how long are we going to bury our near and dear ones? And for what cause are these precious lives being lost? For how long our city is going to bleed? Why are we paying the price of this ongoing terrorism? Does anyone know what is going to be our fate? Does anyone care what we are going through? No doubt Bam has been elevated to ‘Shahadat’ but will someone ask little Ovais how he and his mother and siblings feel?