Time to recover: ‘Despite two surgeries, Justice Baqar is in high spirits’

Doctors performed two surgeries on the judge on Wednesday, say he is out of danger now.

KARACHI: For a man who had undergone one surgery and was preparing for another, Justice Maqbool Baqar was in high spirits on Wednesday afternoon.

Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre’s deputy executive director Dr Seemin Jamali visited Justice Baqar, who is undergoing treatment at Aga Khan University Hospital. She met him right after he was operated on the first time and believed that his condition was stable.

“He recognised me. He talked to me and seemed to be in high spirits,” she told The Express Tribune. Admitting that the attack on Justice Baqar was shocking for everyone, she was happy that he survived it miraculously. “I think the good man inside him has kept him going,” she said. “Judges like him are our asset.”



Dr Jamali was not too sure about the nature of the wounds he sustained but she was assured by the other doctors that his condition was stable. The doctors had operated on his face when she met him outside the operation theatre. “Mentally he was very exact but it’ll take some time to recover.”

Meanwhile, over a dozen other injured men from the attack were under treatment at Jinnah hospital. Dr Jamali said she treated over eight injured men, of which one Rangers official died during treatment. Another injured person had to undergo an eye operation while six other men were discharged after treatment. “We kept praying for all the injured and worked with heavy hearts.”

Apart from Justice Baqar, Aga Khan hospital also took in nine injured men from the blast, said its media public affairs assistant manager Rasool Bux Sarang. All the injured are in stable condition and a few of them will be discharged by Wednesday night, he added.

Sarang told The Express Tribune that Justice Baqar was being treated at the private wing of the hospital and would probably be shifted into a private room by Wednesday night. “His condition is out of danger,” said Justice Baqar’s representative, Syed Ismail Shah. After the surgery on his face, the doctors will operate on his right leg, he added.



Justice Baqar came under attack on Wednesday morning when he was going to Sindh High Court along with his security personnel. Eight men, all of whom were part of his security convoy, and his driver died, while Justice Baqar was rushed to Civil hospital. After the doctors said he was out of danger, he was moved to Aga Khan hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2013.