PAK BUS HERO'S BROTHER A JIHADI KILLED IN J&K
New Delhi March 7:
Mehar Mohammed Khalil, the bus driver whose smart thinking and rapid reaction saved the lives of Sri Lankan cricketers on Tuesday, is the brother of a mujahideen fighter killed by the Indian army in Kashmir in 1995, reports , London.
And back home, Khalil himself is a supporter of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a legal Islamist political party that wants to impose sharia across Pakistan. He also believes that the 03/03 attackers were Indians. Khalil's story hardly detracts his act of courage. But it does typify the curious contradictions that exist in Pakistan society.
The 38-year-old Khalil lives with his parents and brothers in a small house built by his grandfather in Lahore's overcrowded Yateem Khana district. As he spoke to the reporter, a relative whisked away a photograph of his dead brother, Shakil, "with a Kalashnikov rifle over his shoulder, a camouflage cap on his head and a radio in one hand", reported. "Printed in Urdu across the photograph were the words: Mujahid martyred in Kashmir. Died in Udhampur, India, 25 August 1995. Codename: Abdullah."
Newspaper records show that on August 24, 1995, a terrorist codenamed Abdullah, owing allegiance to the Harkat-ul-Ansar, was indeed killed during an attack on an army camp in Bandipore. But Bandipore is in Kashmir whereas Udhampur (mentioned in the photograph, is in Jammu. In between posing for photographs with the Sri Lankan team shirt given by the grateful players, the staunch Jamaat supporter told The Times, "this attack would never have happened under Jamaat".
The bus driver works for New Diamond travel agency and earns 15,000 Pakistani rupees per month. Father of two sons and two daughters, Khalil was rewarded with Rs 5 lakh for his heroic action. Like most Pakistanis, he was unwilling to consider the possibility that the attackers were homegrown. He seemed convinced that they were from India. "Their complexions were Indian-type," he said authoritatively. "They were definitely not Pakistani. Foreign forces are involved in this."
New Delhi March 7:
Mehar Mohammed Khalil, the bus driver whose smart thinking and rapid reaction saved the lives of Sri Lankan cricketers on Tuesday, is the brother of a mujahideen fighter killed by the Indian army in Kashmir in 1995, reports , London.
And back home, Khalil himself is a supporter of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a legal Islamist political party that wants to impose sharia across Pakistan. He also believes that the 03/03 attackers were Indians. Khalil's story hardly detracts his act of courage. But it does typify the curious contradictions that exist in Pakistan society.
The 38-year-old Khalil lives with his parents and brothers in a small house built by his grandfather in Lahore's overcrowded Yateem Khana district. As he spoke to the reporter, a relative whisked away a photograph of his dead brother, Shakil, "with a Kalashnikov rifle over his shoulder, a camouflage cap on his head and a radio in one hand", reported. "Printed in Urdu across the photograph were the words: Mujahid martyred in Kashmir. Died in Udhampur, India, 25 August 1995. Codename: Abdullah."
Newspaper records show that on August 24, 1995, a terrorist codenamed Abdullah, owing allegiance to the Harkat-ul-Ansar, was indeed killed during an attack on an army camp in Bandipore. But Bandipore is in Kashmir whereas Udhampur (mentioned in the photograph, is in Jammu. In between posing for photographs with the Sri Lankan team shirt given by the grateful players, the staunch Jamaat supporter told The Times, "this attack would never have happened under Jamaat".
The bus driver works for New Diamond travel agency and earns 15,000 Pakistani rupees per month. Father of two sons and two daughters, Khalil was rewarded with Rs 5 lakh for his heroic action. Like most Pakistanis, he was unwilling to consider the possibility that the attackers were homegrown. He seemed convinced that they were from India. "Their complexions were Indian-type," he said authoritatively. "They were definitely not Pakistani. Foreign forces are involved in this."
