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'Attack on KU students was a targeted affair'
Karachi, Sept 15: Twenty-three year old Rashid Khan, a resident of Keamari and a
third year student of Islamic History at the University of Karachi was one of
the six activists of the Islami Jamiat Talba (IJT) who were targeted in Thursday
evening's attack right outside the premises of Karachi university. Today he lies
in a bed at a city hospital wishing he never took that fateful bus home but at
the same time is thankful that he managed to survive the attack in which some of
his friends were killed. Rashid Khan readily confesses that he and his fellow
activists had feared an attack on their lives but were still not ready for what
fate had in store for them and how the attack would materialize. On Thursday
evening, as they made their way home on a public bus, some unidentified men
boarded the bus and sprayed bullets into it besides chucking in a grenade for
good measure.
Rashid Khan alleges that students from a rival political
party are responsible for the attack. He feels that this is retaliation for an
earlier clash which erupted between the two groups on Wednesday afternoon.
Officially authorities have still not disclosed who they think was responsible
and say that investigations are still on to determine who was behind Thursday's
incident. Rashid sustained a bullet wound and is admitted in the Liaquat
National Hospital along with another student, Imran Ali Khan, who is in a
critical condition as he received bullet wounds and shrapnel in different parts
of his body.
Rashid and Imran are two survivors from the six students
who were targeted. Recalling the incident, Rashid Khan, who is a student of the
morning batch of Karachi University, said that he and his friends decided to
stay back till the evening to work on a group assignment. In the evening, they
boarded a public bus all together (route number G-7) as they feared they would
be attacked and wanted to stay in a group at least till they reached the main
bus stop at Hasan Square.
"We decided that we would switch buses from
Hasan Square which is centrally located from where we could all catch a bus for
our homes," said Khan during an interview on Friday from his
hospital bed.
According to Rashid, it was when a passenger boarded near
Shadi Qila marriage lawn on university road that three motorcyclists blocked the
road and some men got on to the bus from the rear door and opened fire at him
and his friends. "I immediately fainted and have no idea what happened later,"
he adds in a somewhat inaudible tone overcome with emotion. He adds, however,
that he heard a loud bang soon after the initial spraying of bullets following
which he fell completely unconscious. According to other passengers in the bus,
a grenade was thrown in from a window which exploded on passenger Sarfaraz, a
carpenter by profession.
His head was separated from his body and was
completely mutilated, Nadir Khan a representative of the IJT said. The
explosion was so loud, said by standers, that it could be heard inside a mosque
within the university premises some distance away. Nadir Khan added that
according to some eyewitnesses, a police mobile was present in the vicinity ten
minutes before the incident but was not to be seen when the attack took place.
"It is not true that the police mobile was stuck in any traffic jam
because exactly 10 minutes later they arrived at the scene and then prevented
the IJT affiliates from entering the bus, declaring that there was a bomb in the
bus and all should stay clear," said another of the IJT members at the hospital.
They also alleged that wallets and identity cards of the students were
found some distance away from the site of the accident and money from the
wallets of the deceased and injured was missing too. Not all are as lucky as
Rashid.
23-year-old Imran Ali Khan, a student of third year Computer
Science, is admitted in the ICU and is still lying unconscious. Four bullets
have been removed through surgery but the fifth bullet that pierced through his
left leg cannot be removed, say doctors. However, they are hopeful of his
recovery.
Thursday's attack has shaken both staff and students of
Karachi University due to the manner in which it was carried out as well as the
death toll it has taken. The onus now lies on the police to come up with leads
as to who would commit such a gruesome act, and more importantly, why. The News
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| Education News | | Updated: 25 May, 2012 |
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