Death on duty
Karachi:“I will not come home tonight and sleep as I have a lot of work to do.” These were 42-year-old Arif Khan’s last words to his wife, Gulshan, who doesn’t sleep till her husband comes home.
Arif Khan is the cameraman, who was killed while capturing footage of the October 18 blasts on Thursday: an explosion on a truck accompanying Benazir caravan took place, leaving more than 150 dead and about 500 injured. Khan, an electronic media camera man, was filming the truck in question when all of a sudden, an explosion was heard. On sensing the gravity of the situation, Arif jumped from the truck and rushed towards other side. In the meantime, another, a much more powerful blast occurred, turning hundreds of people into balls of flame. Smoke engulfed the entire area and as Khan was unable to find his way out, he died due to suffocation and the heavy smoke.
Already a cardiac patient, Khan was unable to survive the thick flames. Khan left behind six children, four sons and two daughters, a widowed mother and several colleagues to mourn his death.
October was a special month for both Khan and his wife, as they got married on the 20th of this month, 16 years ago. This year, however, there will be a soyem on the 20th to mark his death.
Khan’s elder son is 14 and the youngest daughter is only three years old. He wanted to move to England with his family so that his children could get a good education over there. He had also been transferred to his company’s London bureau from where he had returned to cover the arrival of Benazir Bhutto.
Gulshan, who hails from Meerut India, told The News that as her husband was always busy with work, he would often tell her that “please complete all your Eid shopping on your own as I don’t have enough time.” However, this year, he took her shopping even on chaand raat, she said as tears rolled down her face. Usually, he avoided shopping but this was the first time in Gulshan’s life that Khan gave time to the family and bought things for them. Khan was the second oldest out of his four siblings. He had 3 sisters and a brother. His funeral took place at Masjid-e- Noor-ul-Islam and was buried the Sakhi Hassan.
Source: The News
Date:10/20/2007
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