Peshawar blast: 20-year-old’s dream cut short

Nauman was en route to a college interview when killed in US consulate vehicle blast.

PESHAWAR:

Muhammad Nauman was aware that September 3 was D-Day for him: he had a make-or-break college interview that morning.

D-Day, however, took on a whole new meaning for the aspiring young man.

On September 3, a suicide car bomber struck a US consulate vehicle in Peshawar. As fate would have it, Nauman was one of the unlucky passersby who lost their lives in the attack.

Focused, sober and devoted, the 20-year-old was an ordinary young man who dreamt of becoming an engineer.

Nauman belonged to the Bamphoka village in Buner district, an area known for its articulate young men and women.

He passed his SSC and FSC examinations from the Government Degree College Daggar Buner and completed his middle education from Fateh Jang.

He was also an active member Islami Jamiat Tulaba.

Unlike some young men his age, Nauman never wasted his time indulging in unhealthy activities and remained focused on his studies.

Although he failed an admission test into the Islamia College University, he did not let it break his determination.

Nauman’s friend Waqar Elahi recalls he said he applied time and time again to the engineering programme. However, Nauman knew his circumstances and understood the value of time. Therefore, he set aside the unflinching desire of becoming an engineer and applied for Islamia College University’s BBA programme.

And it worked out – Nauman got the interview call a day before his tragic death. He met his cousin Muhammad Fayyaz and excitedly told him that he’ll be going to Peshawar to give his interview.

On Monday morning, Nauman set out to meet his brother Menhajudin, an employee of USAID, to take some cash from him.

On his way, Nauman came under the deathly fold of the suicide blast; shattering his life, dreams and his parent’s peace. When his mother heard the news of her son’s death, she fell unconscious. She and Nauman’s father, Mirajuddin, a retired primary schoolteacher, now have one son and five daughters.

Along with his grief, Nauman’s brother Menjahudin regrets that, if only he knew his younger brother would be killed, he would have gone to give him the money himself instead of calling him there.

Time, it appears, was not on Nauman’s side, after all.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2012.