|
|
|
| February 21, 2007 | Wednesday | Safar 3, 1428 |
Dear ones journey through hard time: Children’s deaths in Samjhota blast
FAISALABAD, Feb 20: When misfortunes come they don’t come single spies but in battalions seems to have become the fate of a family which has lost five innocent children in the bomb explosions that snuffed the light out of the Samjhota Express just the other day.
Passing through the school of affliction, two members of the family have been issued visas only for 10 days instead of one month to bring the injured and bodies of their dear ones back home after an abrupt change in the visa issuance policy by the government.
How can they bring the blast victim relatives back home and how can they come to terms with the government’s non-cooperation are the questions they seek to find answers to amid the visible cloak of uncertainty.
Rana Shaukat, a victim of the ghastly train tragedy who is being treated at a New Delhi hospital, had gone to India along with his wife Rukhsana and six children — Ayesha, 15, Asma, 8, Aqsa, 1, Bilal, 12, Hamza, 10, and Rehman, 4, to attend a wedding ceremony of his nephew Shabbir Ahmad. The wedding ceremony took place in Charolhi near New Delhi. Five of the children were entrapped in the inferno that became the fate of the bombed train.
Rana Attaur Rehman, younger brother of Rana Shaukat, applied for visa to reach India but he was told that his passport was not valid. Owing to Atta’s inability to proceed to India, Shabbir Ahmad who had recently been wedded (in India) decided to accompany his father Rana Liaquat to India.
Shabbir Ahmad told Dawn that he had to spend a night at the Lahore railway station as there was no facility being extended by the government which had issued them a 10-day visa.
“Previously, we used to be given a month’s visa but the incumbents have now been informed that nobody would be allowed to get a visa for more than 10 days as fresh instructions have been issued by the authorities concerned,” Shabbir said; expressions on his face showed signs of desperation and anxiety for not being able to find the time enough to bring their relatives back home.
“No arrangements have been made by the governments to quickly transport the deceased and the injured to their home. The people have been asked to make all arrangements on their own if they want to see their relatives in India,” Shabbir blasted.
“We are going to Wagah and then leave for New Delhi on Wednesday but it seems that the travel will not be obstacle-free,” he said and added that his father was not in a position to travel with him owing to his broken health but, then, he had no other option.
As if the natural hurdles were not enough, Shabbir said, they did not know how to reach the Wagah border as taxi drivers had been demanding exorbitant fares.
Shaukat and his family had stayed in India after the wedding ceremony as they waited for the completion of travel documents of Shabbir’s wife, an Indian national. However, the bride could not manage her travel to Pakistan as the Indian government did not issue her visa.
Meanwhile, Shaukat’s ageing mother Irshad Bibi, who is in her seventies, seems lost for words since she heard of the deaths of her grandchildren. She was in Sargodha when she learnt about the incident.
Shaukat’s younger brother Mujeebur Rehman said his cousin had confirmed from India that all children killed in the blasts had been identified.
“We have been trying our level best to talk to our brother (Shaukat) but it seems all in vain because of strict security measures by the Indian government.”
It is learnt that no district government official or any representative bothered to visit the aggrieved family. Mujeeb criticised the provincial as well as district government representatives for “not even having a word of consolation with the family.”
|
|
|
|
