Published on May 21, 2007
HYDERABAD: He prayed at the Mecca Masjid without fail every Friday — did 25-year-old Mohd Shafi, a native of Assam, who settled down in the city more than a decade ago.
A resident of Feelkhana, Shafi had gone to Mohajir Basti behind Mecca Masjid to attend the funeral of his wife’s grandfather who died the previous night.
He then went to the Mecca Masjid to pray along another relative, Yusuf Khan (45) and as fate would have it found themselves near the ‘takhat’ (platform) under which the explosive was kept.
Both died instantly. Shafi was among the four persons whose limbs were ripped by the powerful blast. Six more persons succumbed to injuries in various hospitals later.
‘‘Hum namaz padkar dua maang rahe the lekin woh (dua) aadhi bhi qubool nahin hui aur dono shaheed ho gaye,’’ (We were praying but even before the Almighty accepted our dua, both were martyred),’’ Hussain Khan, eldest brother of Yusuf Khan and father-in-law of Shafi told this website's newspaper fighting back tears.
Hussain Khan was also in the mosque when the incident occurred but he was near the ‘minar’ (tower), 150 yards from the blast spot. Little did he think that his brother and son-in-law were among the dead. Then the possibility dawned on him and he frantically began searching for them.
Shafi had come to the city as an empty-handed teenager from Assam a decade ago. He worked hard and set up his own poultry shop at Goshamahal, close to his house. A workaholic, he put in 16- 18 hours daily.
It was this grit that impressed Hussain Khan and he offered his daughter Meherunnisa to him in marriage three years ago. The couple have an 18-month-old son and were expecting their second child soon.
Yusuf Khan’s four children — Riaz Khan, Amir Khan, Tarannum and Ejaz Khan – are yet to come to terms with the tragedy that struck their family. They had lost their mother following an ailment a few years ago and Yusuf Khan, a rickshaw-puller, was the only breadwinner of the entire family.
Yusuf Khan gave all his earnings to his mother who used to manage the day-to-day affairs. Of his four children, Yusuf Khan loved Tarannum the most as she had yet to get over her mother’s death.
With the State Government announcing relief, including ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh, a house and one job per family of the blast victims, the two families hope that there will be no financial problems for the children.
‘‘We have to meet the expenses for ‘ziarat’ (third day ceremony) followed by rituals to be performed on 10th, 20th and 40th day. But we have not received any money so far,’’ he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment