Sorry we lost Ali Raza 

 Death on one hand is the saddest thing one can think of and on the other hand it is very inevitable as well. All who are born are to die and this principle is in vogue from the day first human was born and it will be the same till the very person dies. Some deaths are more painful, or more correctly unforgettably most anguishing, which even words can’t explain and this is what exactly happened with our Ali Raza who lost his life in Osh, Kyrgystan.

Earlier this week severe ethnic riots started in the city which have claimed more than 115 lives including Ali. Basically, the riots erupted between two groups which, as such, had noting to do with foreigners including my Pakistani compatriots. It is reported that there are more than 1,000 students from Pakistan studying in different fields in general and engineering and medicine in particular. Most of the students are studying at the expense of their parents. Ali was pursuing an engineering degree course which could have been completed next year upon five years study but it is too tragic that he was hit by a stray bullet which proved too fatal and he simply could not survive. As the bad luck had it, the worst part is that Ali did not go back home during all these four years and had thought to return with an engineering degree and not before.

I must commend the efforts of Pakistan government which promptly took cognizance of the worst law and order situation in Osh and immediately dispatched PAF planes to bring back all those Pakistanis who are stuck and stranded in the foreign land. C130 planes on way to Kygrystan took with them relief goods like tents, blankets, food and medicines and on return they flew back Pakistanis to be reunited with their families. Pakistan Embassy in Bishkek too played its important role in collecting the country men and providing them all the necessary help they needed.

I was overwhelmed to see our Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi not only at Chaklala Airbase receiving PAF C-130 flight from Kygrystan but also giving shoulder to the coffin box of Ali Raza. What words can be used to praise such a good gesture on the part of the minister to honor Ali Raza? Thank you very much Shah sahib and it is wished that in future too you will prove to be extra humanitarian. Allah blesses the innocent sole of Ali, aameen.

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With my honest and solemn prayers

Sincere Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait /zaidi.former.diplomat.kuwait