The simple things: ANP’s red kite comes at a high cost

Taimur Khan, 8, had gone to the meeting with his friends when the bomb exploded.

PESHAWAR:

Many people who attended the Awami National Party’s meeting on Tuesday evening went to hear the Bilours speak. But there were some members of the audience who were present only for the pretty red kites. 

The venue was bedecked with the kites. Dozens of children were present, hoping they would go home with the red trophies when the speeches wrapped up. Taimur Khan, 8, was one of them. He and his friends, like all children, just wanted something new to play with.

Taimur is a student of grade four and learns decorative craft work after school to support his family. He was on his way home with some friends when he saw the decorations used at the party’s chosen venue, Khyber Plaza.



“It was getting late and we had to get home, but we were eagerly waiting for the end of the programme. Suddenly a powerful bomb exploded with a very loud bang. After that people were just screaming,” narrated Taimur, tearing up. That was when the suicide bomber, targeting Ghulam Bilour and Haroon Bilour, detonated his explosives.

Taimur is now getting treated at the orthopaedic ward of the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) as he had shrapnel wounds in his leg, abdomen and hand. His family members were too shocked to know who to blame for such a monstrous attack.

According to the figure given by the LRH, at least 17 people were killed and 63 were injured when an attacker blew himself up near the vehicle of Ghulam Ahmad Bilour in Yakatoot, on the busy thoroughfare.

The hospital’s administration received 14 bodies and three victims died in the hospital. Among the injured, 44 have been discharged and 19 are still under treatment.

“I fell down when the explosion happened. I don’t know who took me to the hospital later but I could hear the screams of people calling for help. I could see people, the dead and injured, lying on the ground and there was a vehicle on fire,” recalled the eight-year- old.

The injured child was not sure if he would ever go to school again, but his father and other relatives at hand reassured him life would go back to normal – as it was before this incident.

Maqsood, Taimur’s father, is a butcher by profession. He said he has three daughters and one son. He worries about his injured son, and when he would recover. “What is the fault of these young children who also ended up being targets? Who should I hold accountable for this cowardly act of terrorism? I will ask everyone not to attend such political gatherings because such events will not do any good to them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2013.