Garhi Mali Khel blast: Niaz Gul fought for peace till he breathed his last

Deceased peace militia head would always be present to help victims after terrorist attacks.

PESHAWAR:

Niaz Gul was the first to reach the Sheikh Muhammadi Grid Station after the terrorist attack in April. He was usually one of the first people to reach the site of any unfortunate incident, shifting the dead and injured to hospitals. Unfortunately on Monday, Niaz himself became one of the victims of terrorism.

The last time I spoke to Niaz was at midnight on September 7. It was the night when militants ambushed a vehicle convoy on Kohat Road in Sra Khawra and killed nine people and kidnapped another 14. Niaz was there in his probox car to shift the bodies to Lady Reading Hospital. “These are all civilians who have been killed,” he said, adding that he was driving and couldn’t talk to me any longer.



He was the head of the Mashogagar Aman Lashkar (peace militia) and was present in nearly every police encounter with militants in the area in the past five years.  On Monday, he was accompanying the muharar of the local police station Sajid Hussain to the Garhi Mali Khel dispensary. When they reached the main gate, a powerful explosion killed them both on the spot.

Niaz was a difficult man to deal with although I would be regularly in touch with him and he was also the brother of my good friend Mukamal Shah, the general secretary of the Tapa Momand Aman Committee. Unlike his brother, Niaz made few friends and kept his distance with most people.

He was an active member of the peace militia since 2008 and worked closely with Badhaber police ever since. Unlike other militia leaders in surrounding villages, the AK-47 rifle he carried with him at all times had never been used to hurt anyone.

Niaz did not receive any monetary compensation for his services and cooperation with the police, but he was happy to provide his services. “Without the support of locals, police cannot do anything in this area,” he told me once. He sincerely believed that everyone must support the fight against terrorism and help restore peace in the country.

Niaz had married twice and was a father to six children. “His first born is not more than 12 years old; Niaz was the sole bread winner for his family,” his brother Mukamal Shah said.

This is not the first such loss for the family. Two years ago, his brother-in-law Aftab Sahar alias Qamary, who was a taxi driver by profession, was taken hostage by militants in Khyber Agency and then brutally slaughtered. His brother Subhan Khan was also critically injured when militants tried to kidnap him. Fortunately, he managed to escape.

It was in 2008 that deputy speaker Khushdil Khan established peace militias in every village to safeguard girls schools and electricity towers. While most members of these militias abandoned their struggle against militancy when Lashkar-e-Islam started issuing individual threats, Niaz continued his struggle till his last breath. He was a man with a difference, a man with a vision.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2013.