Twin blasts at IIUI: Two years on, the memory still brings tears

Students, staff remember victims of the tragedy.

ISLAMABAD:

There is no death.

The stars go down

To rise upon another shore,

And bright in heaven’s jewelled crown

They shine forevermore

These lines from John McCreery’s verse were etched at a blast site, to remember the victims of the bombing incident at International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) that occurred two years ago.

A large number of students and staff members gathered at the site and lit candles in the memory of the victims. They remembered the eight students and one employee who lost their lives that day and offered prayers for the departed souls on Thursday.

Ayesha, a student of BS Engineering who witnessed the blast at the cafeteria gate of the women’s campus, recalled the blasts, “I cannot describe the scene. There was an upheaval — bodies and injured students on the ground. There was blood everywhere.”

She pointed towards the door, “I always think of the moment whenever I cross the cafeteria door.”

Waqas Malik, another student of BS Engineering said, “We were in class when we heard a blast sound. We rushed out, and within two minutes there was another blast at our own campus. The blasts created panic among students.” They were shocked and didn’t know what was happening; they rushed to the parking lot and then to the blast spots for rescue. Meanwhile, Rescue 1122 teams arrived in time to save several lives, he added.

Shaukat, a security guard, whose timely intervention had averted another blast at the cafeteria, is still performing his duties at the university. A security official, asking not to be named, said that a piece of shrapnel is still in his body and doctors are not taking the risk to operate on it to avoid complications.

None of the family members of the victims turned up on the occasion. Deputy Director Protocol Lubna Amjad said that the administration had invited the families last year, but did not this year.

IIUI Rector Prof. Fateh Muhammad Malik, Vice-President Dr Sahibzada Sajidur Rehman, Director Women Campus Prof. Qaiserah M Alvi, Student Advisor/Provost Dr Sadia Tahir along with teachers, employees and students attended the memorial service. The rector said that the blast victims will remain in their hearts and memories and the administration was in close contact with their relatives. He added that extremists targeted the university, which had left a bad impression on the image of the institute at national and international level. Rehman called it a terrifying disaster, one they wouldn’t ever forget.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2011.