QUETTA: A man who had survived a 2007 courtroom suicide blast in Quetta with grievous injuries would have never thought that he would face a similar incident after nine years, and that this time he would not survive.

Munzar Siddique was the only survivor, out of seven lawyers, of a suicide attack on a court on Feb 17, 2007. He had received multiple injuries which developed into serious health complications that took over four months to heal.

Fifteen persons, including judge Abdul Wahid Durrani and six lawyers, were killed when the bomber entered the court and detonated his explosive belt.

The Sandeman Provincial Hospital suicide blast on Aug 8 this year proved tragic for the entire lawyer fraternity. Siddique, 47, and 56 other lawyers lost their lives while 112 were injured.

The Balochistan Law Chamber, owned by Siddique, has lost five lawyers, including Siddique himself and a barrister in the past two months. His juniors include Sabir Ali Baloch, Ghulam Haider Kakar and Agha Ziauddin.

One of his juniors, Principal of Law College Amanullah Achakzai, was killed in an attack on June 8 this year.

According to his nephew Mohammad Fasieh Alvi, his uncle was a lucky man. “He was writing a petition while sitting in the first row of benches in the court. He dropped the pen from his hand and as soon as he bent to pick the pen, there was an explosion in the court and soon he was surrounded by blood and body parts,’’ said Alvi quoting his uncle.

He was fortunate to reach the hospital in time with the help of his colleague in a rickshaw instead of waiting for an ambulance. “He fell unconscious due to loss of excessive blood. Had he not been taken to hospital in time, he wouldn’t have survived,’’ the doctors told his family.

Later that night, Siddique had to be shifted to the Combined Military Hospital since the ventilator was out of order and the tracheotomy tube was not available in Sandeman Hospital. He lost his voice in the wake of damage to his vocal cord, Alvi added.

Alvi stayed with his uncle throughout the treatment in Quetta and Karachi. Munzar Siddique used to treat Alvi like a son.

Although Siddique recovered physically, he lost his voice for almost three months.

“During this period, he would write whatever he wanted to say. His family had lost all hope for recovery,” his nephew said.

After being treated for about a month in Karachi, finally the long-awaited day came when Siddique started speaking again.

Alvi said that Siddique had adopted him after the death of his parents in 2006. He tried to fulfil his wishes and bore his studies’ expenditure. “Once again I have become an orphan today. I owe him for the life I have lived and will live,’’ he said.

One of his juniors, Mohammad Nawaz, who survived the hospital blast, recalled: “Sir Manzur and I were beside the body of Bilal Kasi in the casualty ward. He walked out with tears in his eyes to join lawyers outside the hospital in shock.’’

Like his family members, his juniors, colleagues and people in the court were also in shock over his sudden death. “He used to plead the cases of the poor free of charge. Today these people speak highly of him,” said Naveed Dewar, a clerk in his firm.

Another law firm, owned by Barrister Arbab Adnan Kasi, has lost three lawyers, including himself. The other two were Ghulam Moham­mad Durrani and Imran Shiekh.

Durrani served as a court clerk with Kasi and joined the legal profession in the same chamber. One of his juniors, Naveed Qambrani, was seriously injured in the blast and is still under treatment.

Adnan Kasi did his law graduation from Britain’s Buckingham University in the early 2000s and later joined the Lincoln’s Inn in 2005. He started his law practice in 2006, along with his clwosest friend, Senator Nawabzada Saif Magsi, in Quetta.

Adnan Kasi had the distinction of having been appointed the youngest Principal of the Quetta Law College, holding the position for six years.

“I have golden memories of the days Adnan and I spent together in London and in the profession in Quetta, I regret that I couldn’t attend my buddy’s last rites,” said Senator Magsi.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2016