Alamdar Road bombing: Two years on, friends still search for answers

Hold vigil for slain peace activist at F-6 Markaz.

ISLAMABAD: Benumbed friends and members of the civil society gathered in Sector F-6 on Saturday to hold a vigil in memory of peace activist Irfan Ali Khudi who lost his life in a bombing in Quetta exactly two years ago.

On the same day in 2013, twin blasts ripped through the Alamdar Road in the capital of Balochistan claiming the lives of around a 100 people and injuring almost as many.



Amongst those killed was peace activist Khudi, who spearheaded a number of protests in support of the battered Hazara community in both Islamabad and his hometown of Quetta.

A small group of people, mostly students from the Hazara Students Federation (HSF), stood against the dimly-lit candles holding placards that read messages such as ‘down with sectarianism’ and ‘salute to the revolutionary martyrs of Alamdar Road’.

Addressing participants, Naimat Sarwari, vice president of the HSF, said since January 2013 Quetta, as a city, has only seen downfall. “We were once known as the city of love and brotherhood and now it’s a different story altogether”.

Sarwari said Khudi was a hero and stood up for a cause that needed voice and attention. He said while so many cases of violence have come to light not a single criminal has been charged.



“It was luck that I missed the bombing that day by a few meters, but our bad luck that we lost hundreds of members of our community,” said Imran Manzoor.

As a member of the Pakhtun Students Organisation (PSO), Manzoor, a student, was also interning with a local newspaper in Quetta when the incident took place.

“I recall getting a call from a friend about the first blast. The delay of a few minutes saved my life and made me witness something that has scarred me forever,” he said.

Manzoor further shared that hundreds of families had moved out of Hazara Town in Quetta owing to security risks. However, with recent times, things have slightly improved. “We have witnessed lesser target killings, bombings too have decreased with the sense of insecurity.

Peace activist Tahira Abdullah, who recently visited the Hazara martyrs cemetery in Quetta with Khudi’s mother and family, questioned as to how many Shias would be killed before a concrete step was taken against the killers.

“This is not just a matter of a sect or community, such acts are against humanity,” said activist William Pervaiz.

Another activist, Shezreh Hussain, told The Express Tribune that time had come for the people to step out and protest. “This is not a matter of one person or a community but the entire nation,” he said.

Members present at the vigil also took the opportunity to express solidarity with the families of the victims killed in the Rawalpindi Imambargah bombing that occurred Friday night.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2015.