Adezai blast : A village at war

The whole population descended on Sheikh Neka Baba graveyard in the evening to dig up graves.

PESHAWAR:

As the early spring sun beat down on Adezai Village on Wednesday, the whole population seemed to have descended on Sheikh Neka Baba graveyard, some two kilometres north of the village.

The graveyard, situated on a high plain some distance from the village, presents a beautiful view of the village and the plains of Peshawar. However, the hundreds of villagers present were not there for the scenery -- they were digging graves for the loved ones they lost in the suicide attack that killed at least 37 and injured over 50.

As the villagers move the freshly dug soil, a teary-eyed villager, Inayatullah, identified each grave. One of the gravediggers asked him when the bodies will be brought for burial. “I do not know, but these graves must be prepared by 5:00 pm,” Inayat replied, and they went back to work without batting an eye.

Sheikh Neka is a relatively large graveyard, but on Wednesday every portion of this cemetery was dug up. An air of uncertainty and disbelief looms large, and villagers seemed to be sleepwalking. Their appearances were not gloomy, nor were they chanting slogans against the government or Taliban -- they were overcome by shock.

“There are eight graves being dug where we stand, five on the far corner, eight on the west and five on the south towards the village,” a villager told The Express Tribune.

“This village is at war and from today we will not spare the enemies of the faith,” a highly charged Gul Bahadur said as he joined the conversation. He said they always had an enmity with Taliban, but it will be an open war from now.

A huge heap of shoes, blood stained caps and shawls were piled up amid pools of blood at the attack site. There was no crime scene tape around the area.

A group of young village boys peeked from a distance at the police officials inspecting the scene. As soon as police personnel left, they rushed to the scene and gathered around the heap. A villager rushed forward and angrily told the boys to disperse. “You people should not let crowds form as you know the mentality of our enemies,” Bahadur said.

He said anyone coming to a funeral prayer is our guest and no Pashtun can shame himself by casting suspicion on a guest, which explains why so many were martyred that day.

Noor Mohammad, 60, lost a son in the blast. Raaz Mohammad had matriculated last year and was searching for a full-time job. He was grazing his cattle in the meadow when he saw pallbearers arrive with a corpse. He joined them for funeral prayers -- his respect for the dead left him dead.

Adezai village is very conservative and there are usually very few women visible in the streets. However, on Wednesday, women in shuttlecock burkas were everywhere as they went door to door offering condolences to families who had lost loved ones.

Asadullah, a teenager, said, “Today the whole village is mourning as all the dead and injured are our kith and kin.”

Towards the end of the day, when villagers usually go homes to rest, all of Adezai’s souls converged on the graveyard, to bid farewell to over three dozen souls departed.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2011.