BKU attack: Survivor seeks job, better treatment

PESHAWAR: One of the survivors of the January 20 attack on Charsadda’s Bacha Khan University has requested the government to provide him better care, if possible, abroad.

Twenty-eight-year-old Samiullah, hailing from Harichand village of Charsadda, had received a bullet wound in the nose and the throat. After months of treatment, Samiullah still finds it difficult to speak, eat and drink.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Samiullah said he has sent a letter to the BKU vice chancellor, seeking support for his better treatment either in Pakistan or abroad.  The letter is copied to health minister, interior minister, Khyber-Pakhtunkwha(K-P) governor and chief minister.

In his letter Samiullah described the nature of his injuries: “The bullet penetrated into my nose and displaced my jaws due to which my tongue was also affected, resulting in severe impairment of speech.”

Samiullah told the vice chancellor that he was not satisfied with the opinion of the doctors at the Khyber Teaching Hospital – where his is being treated – that his complication could not be reduced after further treatment.

“I had not come here (university) to fight; I was here to seek knowledge. Whatever the reason of the incidence was – the success of a terrorist or the failure of a defender – I have lost my voice and want it back through proper treatment.”

“I request you [vice chancellor] to contact to and consult the responsible departments to consider me as victim of terrorism and to help me live a normal life, or at least to minimise my suffering,” the letter says in an emotional tone.

Three months ago, Samiullah underwent surgery but it was unsuccessful. He said the doctor advised him not to remove the bullet stuck in the throat as it might create more problems.

However, he said, he was satisfied with the dealings of the university administration. “I was promised that I will be offered a job after completion of my degree in Masters in English,” he added. He said he has completed his degree recently and is hopeful to be hired by the university as promised by the vice chancellor.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2016.