Teen Martyr of Pakistan

Some times ago a wise person said ‘Heroes aren’t born, they are made’, but this quote has proved wrong by a Pakistan teenage boy Aitezaz Hassan, who sacrificed his life to save hundreds of lives of his school mates. We can say that some heroes are born to be heroes, to do something heroic. Nobody can deny his parents contribution in his upbringing, the strong character building which made him courageous enough to take such a bold step, but still the fact is that this young boy was born to fulfill an epic purpose.

Aitezaz Hassan Bangash and his cousin Musadiq Ali Bangash were on their way to Ibrahimzai School in Hangu district, northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, January 06, 2014, when a suspicious man wearing school uniform (actually a suicide bomber) tried to enter in the school during morning assembly, he was wearing a suicide vest, the students noticed something unusual about the man and started shouting to stop him. Aitezaz Hassan was nearby and he heard the shouts, without wasting time he approached and tried to confront the man, grabbed him, the suicide bomber got panicked and triggered the bomb, both the boy and bomber died instantly. No other student or staff member at school got any significant injury. Two other students were injured minorly.

Aitezaz was studying in ninth grade, left behind his parents and two sisters. His father, Mujahid Ali, has returned from his work in the United Arab Emirates, not to mourn his son’s death, but to celebrate his life. His father said he is proud of his son, “Though I lost my sweet son I have no regret for what he has done. He has done a heroic job and I am proud of his bravery.”

Aitezaz has been declared national martyr and awarded with national award Sitare-e-Imtiaz. His school has been named after his name.

A local resident Nawaz Khan spoke to media calling for Aitezaz to receive a great recognition and award for his bravery. He said, “He saved the lives of hundreds of students. He deserves more recognition than Malala Yousafzai.”

Nawaz Khan said it very right, we all know about Malala Hoax, how foreign NGO’s working in Pakistan and Western media portrayed Malala. Her ‘incident’ was used to depict Pakistani women as a low and pathetic figure. The government also used that hoax to grab aids and donations from foreign countries on the name of so called upholding the social status of so called suffering female population of Pakistan.

No doubt that Aitezaz Hassan is far more honourable than any kind of Malala. He confronted the danger while he knew that it was life threatening, and not only he confronted but successfully killed the danger, saving hundreds of innocent lives.

In the first week after this incident, no government official approached his family, let approaching aside, no government official even visited that area. Only the security officials and army people visited the area to gather the details. A lot later after breaking the news over national and international media, the government official finally visited, most probably to have some snapshots for next day’s newspaper.

He deserves better praise and recognition. Hope our government will not forget his family.
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Tags: pakistan hero

Category: Social