ON May 19, my cousin Prof Sher Ali Wazir along with his colleague was on way to Bannu from Mirali, North Waziristan district, after taking classes at the Government Boys Degree College, Mirali. When he reached near Bannu, a bomb planted in his car went off, causing multiple and serious injuries to him.

Prof Wazir was immediately rushed to a hospital in Bannu from where he was shifted in a critical condition to a Peshawar hospital as there was lack of medical facilities and specialist doctors. One of his legs, badly damaged in the blast, was later amputated from near the ankle and he got disabled for life.

He is still in hospital, where he is being provided treatment till he recovers fully. A number of his colleagues, members of civil society and legal fraternity, social workers, nationalist leaders and others have visited him in the hospital to inquire about his health. Students affiliated with different political parties have also held protest demonstrations in Bannu and Peshawar against the horrific incident, demanding justice for the professor.

The news about the incident also went viral on social media, but no one from the provincial government has so far bothered to even contact the family of the injured professor.

It has often been seen that whenever a police constable or a soldier, leave alone an officer, is injured or martyred, the chief minister not only pays a visit to his residence, but also announces compen-sation for them. But for the architect of the nation and society, there appears to be no sympathy on the part of the provincial chief executive which is rather strange.

Guldar Ali Khan Wazir
Lakki Marwat

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2022