Without parallels: Ijaz Ahmad’s last stand
A special police force constable, the man was one of the few brave volunteers who stood up against militancy
PESHAWAR:
It was almost a year ago when special force constable Ijaz Ahmad called me and said Niaz Gul, the head of Mashogagar Aman Lashkar, had died in a powerful blast in Garhi Mali Khel. A few days later, it was Ijaz who called once again to tell me Muhammad Fida, the commander of the Suleman Khel lashkar who had been injured in the Garhi Mali Khel blast, had succumbed to his injuries.
I received another such call on Monday morning, but it wasn’t from Ijaz. Someone else called to tell me that Ijaz had been killed.
The loss of a friend for me was the loss of a husband and a father for his family. Ijaz was the father of two girls and two boys. At 36, Ijaz’s life was cut short when he was shot in a deadly ambush.
The trusted men
Ijaz, Niaz and Fida were indeed very close. When the late SP Kalam Khan wanted to form a committee of locals to support the police against militants, everyone was asked to float names of trusted men from the surrounding villages, men who wouldn’t turn against the police. A handful of men nominated each other, including Ijaz, Fida and Niaz.
Since Ijaz was jobless and broke, he was happy to be recruited by Kalam as a constable in the special force then known as community police. Even though it was not a formal police job, the small group of friends nonetheless signed a stamp paper to the effect that they would support each other and the police and handed the written agreement to Badhaber police.
It was the late Dilawar Khan of Adezai Aman Lashkar who first introduced me to Ijaz for a potential story. Dilawar told me in 2009 that deputy speaker Khushdil Khan had provided AK-47s to local villagers to raise an aman lashkar but after two months of duty the guns were taken away from those in Telabanad “due to unknown reasons”.
He suggested I call Ijaz—someone he described as a good man—and that was the start of a lasting friendship.
Ijaz was also a good friend of SP Kalam’s, a fount of information on the man who was known for his anti-militant stance. He accompanied the SP frequently during the night patrols in the suburbs of Peshawar. At times it felt like after Kalam’s family, Ijaz knew most about the cop.
The special police constable or razakar once said whenever Kalam went on a night patrol, no one dared to attack his convoy even when militancy was at its peak in the area. It was Kalam’s effective strategies which he developed in his time in Swat, hinted Ijaz.
Ijaz cared deeply about the dynamics of the places where he worked and the volunteers he worked with. When, after the death of Fida, militants turned Suleman Khel into a no-go area, Ijaz became restless about the development.
“We often say one man can’t make a difference,” he commented on the situation. “But it is not true; one old man Muhammad Fida was the biggest barrier to militants in the village.” As generous and nuanced with his criticism as he was with his praise, Ijaz was vocally disapproving of one of the former Badhaber SHOs and the subsequent lack of law and order under him, even when it resulted in his salary being blocked.
After that Ijaz started working with the Mattani police without much protest.
Two nights before Ijaz was slain, he spent the entire night in Masho Khel with the local SHO after they learnt militants might launch a rocket attack on Peshawar airport from the area. The attack took place exactly after one night on Sunday when two rockets were fired at Bacha Khan International Airport but landed in the surrounding villages, causing no damage.
On Monday, Ijaz was gunned down by men on a motorbike who were lying in wait for his car on a deserted part of Telaband Road. The ambush left him and a woman dead and injured two other women who were travelling with him. He was later buried in his ancestral graveyard in Telaband where he once served as a councillor.
With his death, the only man left in Telaband who was at the fore of anti-militant work has fallen. And the loss is irreparable for all.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2014.
It was almost a year ago when special force constable Ijaz Ahmad called me and said Niaz Gul, the head of Mashogagar Aman Lashkar, had died in a powerful blast in Garhi Mali Khel. A few days later, it was Ijaz who called once again to tell me Muhammad Fida, the commander of the Suleman Khel lashkar who had been injured in the Garhi Mali Khel blast, had succumbed to his injuries.
I received another such call on Monday morning, but it wasn’t from Ijaz. Someone else called to tell me that Ijaz had been killed.
The loss of a friend for me was the loss of a husband and a father for his family. Ijaz was the father of two girls and two boys. At 36, Ijaz’s life was cut short when he was shot in a deadly ambush.
The trusted men
Ijaz, Niaz and Fida were indeed very close. When the late SP Kalam Khan wanted to form a committee of locals to support the police against militants, everyone was asked to float names of trusted men from the surrounding villages, men who wouldn’t turn against the police. A handful of men nominated each other, including Ijaz, Fida and Niaz.
Since Ijaz was jobless and broke, he was happy to be recruited by Kalam as a constable in the special force then known as community police. Even though it was not a formal police job, the small group of friends nonetheless signed a stamp paper to the effect that they would support each other and the police and handed the written agreement to Badhaber police.
It was the late Dilawar Khan of Adezai Aman Lashkar who first introduced me to Ijaz for a potential story. Dilawar told me in 2009 that deputy speaker Khushdil Khan had provided AK-47s to local villagers to raise an aman lashkar but after two months of duty the guns were taken away from those in Telabanad “due to unknown reasons”.
He suggested I call Ijaz—someone he described as a good man—and that was the start of a lasting friendship.
Ijaz was also a good friend of SP Kalam’s, a fount of information on the man who was known for his anti-militant stance. He accompanied the SP frequently during the night patrols in the suburbs of Peshawar. At times it felt like after Kalam’s family, Ijaz knew most about the cop.
The special police constable or razakar once said whenever Kalam went on a night patrol, no one dared to attack his convoy even when militancy was at its peak in the area. It was Kalam’s effective strategies which he developed in his time in Swat, hinted Ijaz.
Ijaz cared deeply about the dynamics of the places where he worked and the volunteers he worked with. When, after the death of Fida, militants turned Suleman Khel into a no-go area, Ijaz became restless about the development.
“We often say one man can’t make a difference,” he commented on the situation. “But it is not true; one old man Muhammad Fida was the biggest barrier to militants in the village.” As generous and nuanced with his criticism as he was with his praise, Ijaz was vocally disapproving of one of the former Badhaber SHOs and the subsequent lack of law and order under him, even when it resulted in his salary being blocked.
After that Ijaz started working with the Mattani police without much protest.
Two nights before Ijaz was slain, he spent the entire night in Masho Khel with the local SHO after they learnt militants might launch a rocket attack on Peshawar airport from the area. The attack took place exactly after one night on Sunday when two rockets were fired at Bacha Khan International Airport but landed in the surrounding villages, causing no damage.
On Monday, Ijaz was gunned down by men on a motorbike who were lying in wait for his car on a deserted part of Telaband Road. The ambush left him and a woman dead and injured two other women who were travelling with him. He was later buried in his ancestral graveyard in Telaband where he once served as a councillor.
With his death, the only man left in Telaband who was at the fore of anti-militant work has fallen. And the loss is irreparable for all.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2014.