Mardan suicide attack: With his whole life ahead

Shayan Ali was killed in the suicide blast outside the NADRA office in Mardan on Tuesday

MARDAN:

It is said no parent should have to bury their child, but the family of seven-year-old Shayan Ali had no choice but to endure this most difficult of trials. He was killed in the suicide blast outside the NADRA office in Mardan on Tuesday.

As is the case in so many incidents which pockmark the country’s history, the explosion outside the NADRA office in Mardan on Tuesday left many families with just one question on their minds. Why? Why their loved ones were so suddenly and senselessly snatched away from them?

The boy was a student of grade two and a resident of Janabad where his father works as a paramedic.

Shayan lived with two of his brothers and a sister in a rented house. The children were all enjoying their winter vacation at home when the boy was asked by his mother to get some bread from the market.

He was out for the chore when the whole city was rocked by a powerful explosion.

Shayan’s neighbor, Hassan Ali, told The Express Tribune the family rushed towards the site of the explosion, but the seven-year-old was nowhere to be found. “We were all in a state of shock,” recalled Hassan. “We never thought the boy could have been injured” he said.

However, when the family found no trace of him, they started looking for the child among the injured.

It was not until an hour-and-a-half later that the body was found in the morgue at the District Headquarters Hospital Mardan where his father also works.

Shayan’s family shifted to Mardan from Charsadda because of the father’s profession. His funeral was held at 8pm in Sarband, Charsadda.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2015.