PESHAWAR, Dec 11: A shabby man in his late 20s and nervously holding his bag on a chair at Peshawar Press Club caught my attention when someone asked me to listen to his story.

Waheedullah, son of Anwar Khan, had come all the way from Dir looking for help for his younger brother, Aurangzeb, who has been in comma since Sept 2011 when he was injured in a suicide bombing in Jandol area of his home district.

The sister sold her goat to arrange money for his travel to the provincial capital and stay there.

Aurangzeb, a student of 9th class, was injured during the Taliban attack on the funeral procession of a local tribal representative.

Having six brothers and three sisters, including one handicapped brother, Waheed used to drive a cab to financially support his family. He had to quit education so that he could pay for the education of his siblings.

All 26 people, who got killed in the bombing, were closely related to Waheed’s family in Shenai village of Jandol area.

According to Waheed, at that time, after the incident of terrorism, there were not enough men in the village to dig up graves for the dead. Every family in the village was struck by the tragedy. Every family was mourning.

“No one smiles in the village as if they have forgotten it,” he says.

Waheed’s family first thought they were lucky since Aurangzeb was injured in the suicide attack. But they did not know they would be subjected to a misery that would engulf the entire family’s happiness.

Aurangzeb has been in comma since the surgery and the family, who received Rs100,000 compensation, has spent more than that on his treatment. His daily expenses, according to his brother, value Rs3,126 and that includes food supplement and medicines. The family, who did not earn this much in a day is under financial burden.

Waheed has no cab now and he has been pushed from pillar to post for help but to no avail. He had sent several written requests to the president and Baitul Maal for help but they drew no response.

Later, the government directed the DHQ Hospital to treat Aurangzeb free of charge but the treatment is not available there.

“The family faces severe financial problems and constant agony as the boy has been lying in the state of comma. It appears as if we all are in comma,” Waheed says.

The family can neither die nor live in a normal way after the tragedy.

“I don’t know why no one helps us. Are we not people of this country,” asks Waheed as tears roll down his cheeks.

True, everyone is not as lucky as terror victim Malala Yousafzai, who got the best available treatment in time and was saved. There are hundreds of other youths, who could be saved and cared for since they got injured in the same acts of terrorism.

When a bomb blast ripped through a market, a school, a police checkpoint or a police station, a gathering in a hujra or a mosque or a funeral, the breaking news is about the number of deaths and casualties. The people, who are killed or injured soon, go into oblivion and a new news breaks. And this has been happening for a couple of years in the country fighting terrorism. Whether there will be an end to this war of terrorism or not, no one knows but the people who are living in a province and tribal belt are getting hurt and losing their loved ones and there is nothing to solace them. They need much more and constant support than just one-time compensation.

It is time that the people, who lay down their lives or are attacked due to their vocal resistance or silently continue to resist terrorists, be remembered as persons not figures. They should be facilitated in getting compensation, medical help or beginning a new life all over again. The government does claim to provide free medical treatment, talks of its employment schemes and loans for the youths but what is needed is to offer tangible help to the people, who have rendered sacrifices in the war against terrorism.

They are the real heroes though unsung.