For treatment: UK denies rejecting APS student’s visa

Tweet from verified account confirms Ahmad Nawaz’s paperwork in process.

PESHAWAR: British High Commission (BHC) Islamabad on Tuesday clarified Army Public School (APS) student Ahmad Nawaz’s visa has not been rejected and it is still under process.

The clarification was made on Twitter from the BHC’s verified account, @UKinPakistan. The tweet stated the “visa for #APS student Ahmed Nawaz has not been rejected. Is in process.”

.@AmirAbbasTuri: visa for #APS student AhmedNawaz has not been rejected. Is in process @PhilipRBarton

— UK in Pakistan 🇬🇧🇵🇰 (@ukinpakistan) February 3, 2015

According to the injured student’s father Muhammad Nawaz, a BHC official contacted him on Tuesday for the completion of some documents. Muhammad said he told the officer that he had completed all the documents at his end, however, the paperwork for finances has to be sent by the Government of Pakistan.



“I contacted PM House officials repeatedly; they did not attend my calls,” added Muhammad. He said his son’s condition is critical but the officials were processing the trip very slowly. He appealed to the government to provide requisite financial documents to the BHC so the visa is processed immediately.

Fifteen-year-old Ahmad is a student of grade nine at APS Peshawar which was attacked by terrorists on December 16. At least 150 people were killed, mostly students. His brother Harris who was a year younger was among those who died in the onslaught.

Ahmad is currently at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) where doctors have advised his parents to shift him to another facility as the injuries on his arm cannot be treated at LRH. Doctors say Ahmad is at risk of losing a limb. The federal government has announced a fund to treat the young boy at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England.

Deadline for enquiry to be made public

On Monday, parents of some of the children martyred on December 16 gave the government 48 hours to make the incident’s investigation report public.

The government had not contacted the parents till the filing of this report. Talking to The Express Tribune, deceased student Asfand’s father Ajun Khan confirmed no one from the federal or provincial government has contacted them. Ajun is a member of the Shuhada Forum.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2015.