ABBOTTABAD: Students back in campus with tales of misery
By Our Correspondent
ABBOTTABAD, Oct 23: Students of the Ayub Medical College returned to the campus from their home-towns to tell tear-jerking stories of wrecked homes and lost families.
Soon after the calamity struck, these students rushed to their hometowns to make sure their families were safe. But hope soon turned to despair for most of them as they saw with horror that virtually nothing remains of their picturesqus towns and villages.
Most of the AMC students suffered a lot from the ravages of the earthquake, said Mehwash Faruqi, media coordinator of the college’s disaster management cell. Some 12 per cent of them hail from Muzaffarabad and around 35-40 per cent belong to Mansehra and Balakot.
Abida from Rawalakot and Rabia and Naureen from Muzaffarabad said their families had managed to reach Rawalpindi after surviving the quake, leaving behind their severely damaged or demolished houses and bodies of their loved ones. The three told the cell that other students faced a similar situation, with one Rehana losing her parents in the disaster that battered Bagh.
Hadia lost her dear mother. Rabia lost her little nieces. Marium and Saima lost their uncles, aunts and cousins. Mehreen, a student of fourth year, was severely injured and had her leg amputated.
And the most tragic is the death of Shagufta’s father, who died while pulling out two little children from the rubble. When he was taken out, he still had his arms around those little angels.
These are heart-rending tales of students “who have allowed us to mention their names, but the list of those choosing to bury their woe with the dead is longer”, said a faculty member.
Most students are in their third, fourth or final years and in the most crucial part of their career.
The disaster has left an indelible mark on their lives, but their urgent worry now is how to cope with the forthcoming annual exams. One doesn’t know how many of them would be able to sit in these exams by overcoming the trauma.
“Imagine well-settled families suddenly left without food, shelter and beloved ones. To lose one’s kith and kin is a tragedy, but it is made harder by the loss of one’s roof as well,” said one student. Another student remarked: “There is family but no home left. Just close your eyes and think of how hard it is to lose everything and still stand your ground.”
Families left homeless have been devastated by trauma. Relocation is not the solution to their problem. Born and bred in their ancestral towns, these families find the idea of moving out for good unthinkable.
They still want to go back, reconstruct their houses and start a new life. These girls have not only lost their shelter and near and dear ones, but have also been struck by the financial blow. All that is left of their belongings is a mound of rubble.
They are not mentally fit to study, let alone sit in exams. Life has taken a nasty turn, and they are trying to come to grips with it. How can Rehana, who has lost her parents, think of studies when right now mere survival is the big question?
The whole nation is grieving with them. How can one think of normality when faces of the dead dance before your eyes and traumatize you.
