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Arfa Karim
In death, Arfa can continue to be a guiding light for millions of ambitious children.
Arfa will continue to be a guiding light for millions of ambitious children. PHOTO: FILE
The natural tendency when someone dies too young is to mourn the potential of a life that was cruelly ended before a person could achieve anything. In the case of the 16-year-old Arfa Karim Randhawa, who died on January 14 after complications resulting from an epileptic stroke, that natural desire to mourn should also be accompanied by celebration of a person who in her short life, did manage to achieve more than what most of us could hope for in their lifetimes. At the age of nine, she became the youngest-ever Microsoft Certified Professional, earning kudos from Bill Gates himself and an invitation to visit his company’s headquarters in America. A year later, she was certified as a pilot by a flying club in Dubai. Not only is Arfa the youngest ever recipient of the Presidential Award for Pride of Performance, she was also awarded the Fatima Jinnah Gold Medal in Science and Technology and the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award. The word genius may be bandied about too freely, but in Arfa’s case it was a moniker well-earned.
Various government figures are busy renaming buildings and technology programmes after Arfa as a tribute to her achievements and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. But there is more that can be done to honour her memory. Unlike Arfa, whose parents provided the full support necessary to ensure that her talent could blossom, there are other potential geniuses who do not have that kind of emotional and financial backing. It would be far better to establish a trust in her name and this could financially assist those, like Arfa, who show precocious talent and intellectual promise. Even though we do not know where Arfa’s limitless skills would have led her, we should ensure that future Arfas are not lost simply for lack of resources. It is also important to ensure that her memory lives on and she is not forgotten like so many heroes in this country. Arfa Karim was an inspiration in her lifetime; in death she can continue to be a guiding light for millions of ambitious children.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2012.
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Reader Comments (57)
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My little daughter Arfa
You gave all of us here a reason to cry
GOD BLESS YOU
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salam…
Arfaaaa lovee youu…. And always miss you……..PAKISTAN gonna miss you alot….
I am happy that you are in best place now…..love u sister….
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while writing these lines,tears are shedding like a fall,oh man.. our lil angel left us,my younger sis left me,but hey we are proud of you,whenever I had any arguments with our neighbors and whenever they called us backward,I always had a reply ARFAAAAAA…ALLAH tumhy Jannat ul Firdous mein jagah de Behna.AMEENRecommend
feel sorry and sad may Allah bless her.Recommend
Thank You for making pride Pakistan In the whole World,.
Allah Tum ko Behna Jannat Ma sab se ala Mokam per faz farmay Ameen,.
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@ :-(
u were so lucky arfa its really a moment of grif for pakis to lose u :) u was lucky to fulfill some of ur desires……… some ppl know so much but there economical doesnt allow them to cum up :)
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Please do not force your child to come into the race of becoming young dash and dash. Let everything come with age.
Early success means lot of pressure to sustain in next test when these test doesn’t matter. Please do not take away the childhood from their children due to this race. Satara Akbar is also on the same footstep. A wrong trend has been set in Pakistan
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These lines are for that LITTLE STAR (Arfa Karim) who was very precious diamond for our country and she’ll remains alive in the history of Pakistan and in the hearts of our nation…
*Hazaron saal Nargis apni be nuri pe roti hai
RecommendBari mushkil se hota hai chaman men deed-a-war paida*
It feels like a big hole has been made in my heart by what has happened, what a sweet child she was, she felt like a daughter though I wasn’t lucky enough to meet her. She thought so much about her country, a country for which she had such plans, that is what is so sad and brings tears to my eyes, so innocent was her thinking when the rest of us have given up all hope for Pakistan, she brought that hope back to life. Ya Allah please give this child a good place in heaven. Ameen.
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I love u my sister.. I want to build a worldclass IT university at your name.. And i wil also discover digicon valley which was your dream.. Promise, luv u sis
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There are no appropriate words to express the sorrow and pain of loosing such a precious life…… إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعون
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In just a short sentence PAKISTAN has lost a precious and bright gem and a reason of being proud
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May her soul rest in peace
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May Allah grant her highest place in in Jannat..We miss you Arifa! You made Pakistan proud and your name will be there on records forever, keeping the green flag high with honor..
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God Bless you Arfa i will miss you so much Rest in peace my love!
your Dearest Louis
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“It is also important to ensure that her memory lives on and she is not forgotten like so many
heroes in this country. ” . totally agreed
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Arfa We will miss you alot…………………..
Pakistan Will Miss You……. :’(
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إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعون** I Love MY Sister Arfa Kareem
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You never die.You always live in our Heart & Thinking.I realy Miss u dear ARFA. You becomes ideal many of us.YOU ARE THE PROUD OF PAKISTAN.May u live in peace.(AMEEN)
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Arfa we will miss you so0o0o much ……..
you are Princess of pakistan….!!! :’(
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I am very sad because our golden future is passed away.
I love you my sister ARFA.
May ALLAH please with her.
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i love you sister and i miss you very muchRecommend
Good bye, little angel. We will miss you so much.
Your death has brought tears to our eyes.
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Fasilabad a city of Pakistan has born so many telented persons like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, great Arfa and so many hockey players but I do not know why the popularity of this city do not exists for a longer period?We have no Nusrat FA,Arfa Karim and famous for making so many hockey players.
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I miss Arfa alot nd nt only me the entire pakistani nation miss Arfa ! by having a great mind in Pakistan we could do anything ! from being a developing country we could be developed country ! but its upto Almighty Allah that how long a person live …. bt its a very big loss to our nation nd the world ……. I hope that her parents come back to normal life as soon as possible !! RIP :((
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God Bless you and your family
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Pakistan missing you a lot because you were an asset for this country. May Allah her soul rest in peace.
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i love ypu sister . i miss you all life i proud of you sisterRecommend
may ALLAH bless her n rest her soul in peace….
MAY ALLAH GIVE HER SHADOW UNDER THE KINDESS OF HAZRAT MUHAMMAD(S.A.W)
AMEEN
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arfa u will live in the heart of pakistan
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may her soul rest in peace……………………………………
im feelin very sad wen i heard tht newz tht she’z death may tht god give fully power to her family to drunk tht sad newz…………….
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may ALLAH Bbless u
we all r sorry
a graet loss
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I miss Arfa alot nd nt only me the entire pakistani nation miss Arfa !
God Bless you Arfa i will miss you so much Rest in peace my love!
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arfa u r the shining star for whole nation. we all miss u so much luv u soooooooo much dear. may Allah rest ur soul in heaven
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luv u arfa
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hey everyone its a big loss 4 u asnd i encourage her strength .may she go 2 paradise
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its a big loss 4 u ppl and may she go 2 paradise
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lv u arfa:(we all will miss u alot.MAY GOD BLESS UA SOUL WID ETERNAL PEACE AAMEEN
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arfa u know u were sister for me and I am the same age like u i love u may allah bless u in heven.
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arfa realy misss u so much nt i but the whole pakistan bez u r the shining star of the pakistan May Allah grant her highest place in in JannaYour death has brought tears to our eyes tLUV U SISTER 4 EVER
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You never die.You always live in our Heart & Thinking.I realy Miss u dear ARFA. You becomes ideal many of us.YOU ARE THE PROUD OF PAKISTAN.May u live in peace.(AMEEN)
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hi am sohail saeed 4rm abottabad am a great salute to arfa kareem.arfa is my beautiful prety and the most intelligent sister.i always prey for arfa no one comes after arfa .i miss u sooo much arfa .allah tmhe jinnat tul fardoos ma jaga ta farmahey.meri wish thai k ma tm se zror milon louve my sweetest behina arfa
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J
I miss Arfa alot nd nt only me the entire pakistani nation miss Arfa ! by having a great mind in Pakistan we could do anything ! from being a developing country we could be developed country ! but its upto Almighty Allah that how long a person live …. bt its a very big loss to our nation nd the world ……. I hope that her parents come back to normal life as soon as possible ! i love my sweeetest and beautiful behin arfa love u behina
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hi am sohail saeed 4rm abottabad am a great salute to arfa kareem.arfa is my beautiful prety and the most intelligent sister.i always prey for arfa no one comes after arfa .i miss u sooo much arfa .allah tmhe jinnat tul fardoos ma jaga ta farmahey.meri wish thai k ma tm se zror milon louve my sweetest behina arfaYou never die.You always live in our Heart & Thinking.I realy Miss u dear ARFA. You becomes ideal many of us.YOU ARE THE PROUD OF PAKISTAN.May u live in peace.)may ALLAH bless her n rest her soul in peace….
MAY ALLAH GIVE HER SHADOW UNDER THE KINDESS OF HAZRAT MUHAMMAD(S.A.W)AMEENRecommend
These lines are for that LITTLE STAR (Arfa Karim) who was very precious diamond for our country and she’ll remains alive in the history of Pakistan and in the hearts of our nation…
Hazaron saal Nargis apni be nuri pe roti hai
Bari mushkil se hota hai chaman men deed-a-war paidaRecommend
hi am sohail saeed 4rm abottabad am a great salute to arfa kareem.arfa is my beautiful prety and the most intelligent sister.i always prey for arfa no one comes after arfa .i miss u sooo much arfa .allah tmhe jinnat tul fardoos ma jaga ta farmahey.meri wish thai k ma tm se zror milon louve my sweetest behina arfa.Recommend
this lines for arfa karim
i am khalil from lahore cantt
arfa karim k dead hone se pakistan ko
bohat bara loss huva h
arfa karim
pakistan k liy bohat imported person thi
arfa karim for the pakistan of very very imported person
then in pakistan very loss.
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hello everybody
i am khalil very loss in pakistan
arfa karim is dead
she is the very imported person of pakistan
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My dear sister Arfaaa, i love you, you have done a great job, we all salute you with a core of heart. Allah Tum ko Behna Jannat Ma sab se ala Mokam per faz farmay Ameen, whenever i read the news of arfaa in the paper or over the internet, the tears do not stop.
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Arfa was not only intelligent young girl, she had a beautiful heart for those kids who have less resources to achieve their goals in life, Our hearts are broken, we have no words to express our grief, but there is only one prayer for her family, “GOD give Arfa’s family lot of patience to tolerate this big loss” . She was our daughter, sister and pride the whole Pakistani Nation.
Naveed Azariah
Hamilton, Canada
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may be she is better place from here,,,
may be she deserve much more,,
history says much brilient people die in b/w 20-30yr of age…Recommend
arfa sis u r proud of pakistan..may ur soul rest in peace..Recommend
My dear sister Arfa,You always live in our Heart & Thinking.I realy Miss u dear ARFA. You becomes ideal many of us.You are te PROUD OF PAKISTAN.May u live in peace.(AMEEN)
I MISS U MY SISTER ARFA
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yes we the dream chasers of arfa karim on our way to put the dream of this hi-tech angel into reality .. we know the path is way too long destination is so far.. but we can do this and we will.
http://www.digiconvalley.org
https://www.facebook.com/DigiconVally
its not more than a page or virtual existence it will be reality
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yes we the dream chasers of arfa karim on our way to put the dream of this hi-tech angel into reality .. we know the path is way too long destination is so far.. but we can do this and we will
lets join hand together to get this done.
its not more than a page or virtual existenceRecommend
She came from the heven to teach Pakistanis and went back to the heaven after completing her duty assigned to her by ALLAH. She showed us that how can we win the world.
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Arfaa is my so preety cute beautiful and intelligent sister.i love you so much and i misssssssssssss you so much.i always pray for arfa no one comes after arfa.allah tme jannat-ul-firdos me jaga ata fermay.meri wish thi k me tum se zror milon love you so much.
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