Young defender: Public demands Nishaan-e-Haider for Aitizaz

[Devil Soul]

Young defender: Public demands Nishaan-e-Haider for Aitizaz
By Saqib Nasir
Published: January 9, 2014

A picture of late Aitizaz Hasan making the rounds on social media.

KARACHI: As the news of Aitizaz Hasan – a student who sacrificed his life while trying to prevent a suicide attack on his school – spread, many on social media demanded for bestowing Pakistan’s highest military award Nishaan-e-Haider on the valiant teenager.

Hasan was a student of the Government High School Ibrahimzai in Hangu who stood up to a bomber on January 6 and sacrificed his life to save many others.

A journalist and senior anchor at Capital TV Nasim Zehra on Twitter demanded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to give this prestigious award to our ‘national hero’:

Nasim Zehra @NasimZehra
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We the citizens believe that State of Pk must award Nishan-i-Haider to Pk's brave son Shaheed Aitezaz #onemillionaitzaz @betterpakistan
7:53 AM - 9 Jan 2014

Nasim Zehra @NasimZehra
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Mr.PrimeMinister v the citizens believe that State of Pk must award Nishan-i-Haider to Pk's brave son Shaheed Aitezaz #onemillionaitzaz
8:01 AM - 9 Jan 2014

People from across the country also demanded that the government of Pakistan should award Hasan for his bravery and sacrifice:

Muhammad Sohail @ms9580
@ArifAlvi @ShireenMazari1 @ImranKhanPTI Raise the matter in NA to award one of the highest civilian awards to this kid

aina syeda @SIRF_SACH
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@ms9580. why Civilian? WE WANT NISHAN E HAIDER FOR AITZAZ @ArifAlvi @ShireenMazari1 @ImranKhanPTI

8:09 AM - 9 Jan 2014

Shireen Mazari @ShireenMazari1
Salute #AitzazShaheed who sacrificed himself to save others from a suicide attack. We must not let his great sacrifice go in vain.

Ahmed Zawar @sahmedzawar
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@ShireenMazari1 the KP govt should give an award in his honor and be generous to his family

7:39 AM - 9 Jan 2014

Faizan Lakhani @faizanlakhani
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Will there by any award for brave Atizaz who gave his life to save hundreds' life? #onemillionaitzazs

9:12 AM - 9 Jan 2014



Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s chairman Imran Khan also tweeted about the young teenager that his sacrifice will not go in vain:
Imran Khan @ImranKhanPTI
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Sacrifice of young teenager from Hangu Shaheed Aitzaz who gave his life to save others from a suicide bomber will not go in vain InshaAllah.

8:14 AM - 9 Jan 2014

Imran Khan @ImranKhanPTI
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KP govt as well as federal govt must recognise the sacrifice of young Aitzaz who embraced shahadat to save others.

9:03 AM - 9 Jan 2014


“I had never thought that my brother would die such a great death. He sacrificed his life to save humanity,” Hassan’s brother Mujtaba had stated in an interview with The Express Tribune on January 8.

The government should announce a civilian award, Tamgha-i-Shujaat or Nishan-e-Haider, for his bravery, Mujtaba had further added.

 

[rohailmalhi]

May his soul rest in Peace and May Allah forgive all his sins . Ameen

He has done a job which no ordinary human could have done. I think he should be given atleast Tamgha-i-Shujaat if not Nishan-e-Haider (As it is only for Army i guess).

Beside honouring his family . GOP should change the school name after him .

 

[pak-marine]

He must be awarded the highest award for bravery this brave kid took the sucide bomber head on and foiled his attempt to conduct a mass murder at a school

May he rest in peace

 

[Kompromat]

No Nishan e haider can match the bravery of this Pakistani kid.

 

[pak-marine]

Saving lives: A teenager’s sacrifice for hundreds of mothers
By Our Correspondent

Security personnel examine the site of a sucide bombing in the Ibrahimzai area of Hangu district on January 6, 2014. PHOTO: AFP

HANGU: Perhaps the only way a parent can deal with the loss of a child is to believe that it was for a cause. This is how Aitizaz Hasan’s parents console themselves: reminding each other, their family and friends that their child is a martyr and he died saving hundreds of lives.

Aitizaz reached school late on Monday morning and was not allowed to attend the morning assembly as punishment. He was standing outside the gate with two other schoolmates when a man aged 20-25 years approached the Government High School Ibrahimzai in Hangu and said he was there to take admission, said Aitizaz’s elder brother, Mujtaba.

It was during this conversation that one of the students spotted a detonator and Aitizaz’s schoolmates ran inside. But Aitizaz stood his ground and got hold of the bomber who then detonated his vest.

“I had never thought that my brother would die such a great death. He sacrificed his life to save humanity,” Mujtaba said in an interview with The Express Tribune on Wednesday.

The school is the only one in Ibrahimzai, a Shia-dominated area in Hangu. There were nearly 2,000 students in the school at the time the attack occurred. Later in the day, the bombing, which was the first suicide attack at a school, was claimed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

Aitizaz was the second of his siblings and had two sisters. He was a friend to many, respected and loved in his village, where the news of his death spread rapidly.

His father Mujahid Ali works in the UAE. He says he has not come back home to mourn his son’s death, but to celebrate his life. “My son made his mother cry, but saved hundreds of mothers from crying for their children.”

“I am ready to sacrifice my second son for Pakistan as well,” Ali added. “There are a handful of people in the world who are martyrs; I am now one of those proud fathers whose son is amongst them.”

The government should announce a civilian award, Tamgha-i-Shujaat or Nishan-e-Haider, for his bravery, Mujtaba added.

Government officials had not visited the family until Wednesday night and neither had officials made their typical announcements of ‘compensation’.

Teachers and students say they are still in shock. The principal of the school, Lal Baz, said he is at a loss for words to express Aitizaz’s bravery. “The attack targeted education and I am surprised neither the federal nor the provincial government functionary has visited the family. Their silence is condemnable.”

A student, Atif Hussain, said the vacuum left by his death may never be filled. “Aitizaz died for education and no one can snatch this right from us.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2014.

 

[Roybot]

What a brave kid. RIP.

 

[Ayush]

RIP

 

[Rashid Mahmood]

He should be awarded Tamgha-e-Shuja'at for his act of exemplary bravery..

 

[Sugarcane]

Nishan-e-Haider is military award, i don't think it's possible to give him - however he truly deserve Nishan-i-Shujaat which is highest civil award fro bravery.

 

[qaisar52]

Its really condemn able to who stand for drone attacks but never say any words against that kind of attacks. Shame on you Imran Khan and Nawaz sharif.

 

[Cheetah786]

I salute the fallen soldier he archived in such a short life what Most of us cant achieve in a life Time. Its a Honor to salute you kid.

 

[CrazyPaki]

very brave soul may he enter JINNAT-E-FIRDUAS

 

[Jazzbot]

What a brave son of this Nation, may his soul will rest in eternal peace.

 

[Devil Soul]

Father hails teenage son for saving hundreds of lives
AFP

Aitezaz Hassan, aged around 15, died in hospital after stopping the bomber, who blew himself up, at the gates of his school in the northwestern district of Hangu on Monday. – File Photo
Updated 2014-01-09 19:44:15
PESHAWAR: The father of a Pakistani teenager killed after tackling a suicide bomber hailed his son Thursday for saving “hundreds” of lives through his bravery.

Aitezaz Hassan, aged around 15, died in hospital after stopping the bomber, who blew himself up, at the gates of his school in the northwestern district of Hangu on Monday.

His father Mujahid Ali Bangash, 55, told AFP he felt not sadness but pride at his son's death.

“Aitezaz has made us proud by valiantly intercepting the bomber and saving the lives of hundreds of his fellow students,” he said.

“I am happy that my son has become a martyr by sacrificing his life for a noble cause.”

Bangash works in the UAE and was only able to reach Ibrahimzai village, which lies in an area of Hangu dominated by minority Shia Muslims, the day after his son's funeral.

“Many people are coming to see me but if they try to express sympathy, I tell them to congratulate me instead on becoming the father of a martyr,” he said.

“I will be even more than happy if my second son also sacrifices his life for the country.”

Police official Shakirullah Bangash told AFP that Aitezaz intercepted the bomber some 150 metres (490 feet) away from the main gate of the school, which has around 1,000 students, most of them Shias. The schoolchildren were the target of the attack, he added.

News of Hassan's bravery also led to an outpouring of tributes on social media.

Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States, tweeted: “Hangu's shaheed (martyr) Aitzaz Hasan is Pakistan's pride. Give him a medal at least. Another young one with heartstopping courage #AitzazBraveheart.”

Hassan's cousin Mudassir Bangash described him as an accomplished student who excelled in all extracurricular activities.

“Aitezaz was a little plump and we used to call him pehlwan (wrestler),” he told AFP. “My cousin wanted to become a doctor but it was not God's will.”

Hangu borders Orakzai tribal region, one of Pakistan's seven lawless tribal districts on the Afghan border considered to be the hub of Taliban and al Qaeda linked militants.

The district has a history of sectarian violence and was declared a “sensitive region” during the month of Moharram, considered especially holy by Shia Muslims.

Pakistan is rife with sectarian clashes, with Sunni militant groups linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban often attacking gatherings by Shias, who constitute some 20 per cent of the country's population.

 

[koolio]

RIP to you, you are extremely brave taking on this evil dog, which to be honest many of us would think twice, its a shame nobody has visited that area since the bombing incident, The boy rightfully deserves the highest civilian award.