We don’t need ‘a million more’ Aitzaz Hasans.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]itzaz Hasan, we are told, stopped a suicide bomber from entering his school in Ibrahimzai in Hangu district on Jan. 6. Actually, we don’t know if his surname was Hasan or Hussain. There is confusion about this basic fact. I will settle for Hasan. In any case, either of these surnames can get you killed for the greater glory of Islam.
Ibrahimzai, we are informed, is a Shia-dominated area. Reports also tell us that there were around 2,000 students in the school, gathered that morning for the routine fall-in. It would be safe to surmise that most, if not all, the students in the school belonged to the Shia faith. It is equally safe to argue that the suicide bomber was sent to kill as many of them, as his approach, position at the time of detonation, the amount of explosive in his jacket, and the number of ball-bearings and nails that would be dispatched as high-velocity projectiles would allow him to.
It is logical to assume that if Hasan hadn’t stopped the bomber from entering the school—the only way he could have done that was by grabbing the bomber—there would be more boys dead and injured than just one, in this case Hasan. As for the bomber, we all know that he dies. So that number doesn’t really count. Or does it? Perhaps it does, but we will come to that later.
For now, let’s say some more about Hasan. What was he doing outside the school’s main gate? We are told he was late for the morning fall-in and was not allowed in as punishment. This means Hasan was not exactly what we would call a disciplined student, one that goes by the book. From his photograph, released with reports of his self-sacrifice, he seems like a big boy—and fat. Not fat-fat, as in obese, but one whose genetic makeup would be a matter of existential concern for him if he lived in the upscale neighborhoods of Islamabad, Lahore or Karachi. He doesn’t look like a boy who could have scored with the girls, and he certainly needed to go to a stylist instead of getting a shabby 30-rupee haircut from a barber.
Except, in Hangu, he probably had other concerns. The basic ones, like how to survive from day to day, not in the sense of where the next meal would come from—his father labored in the U.A.E. so we can be sure things weren’t too bad on that front—but when a Lashkar-e-Jhangvi/Pakistani Taliban zealot would come to claim him as his ticket to Paradise.
We can reconstruct that morning for this unkempt, not-too-disciplined, fat boy: a very ordinary boy on a very ordinary morning who did something extraordinary because someone tried to kill the boys at school. We can also see that if Hasan was a studious student, he would not have been late. In which case, he might have been killed with many others or got injured or perhaps escaped with his ordinary life. Other boys are probably happy that he wasn’t the nerdy, by-the-book type. Are they also thankful to the teacher—we don’t know which teacher punished him—for keeping Hasan outside?
There’s another character, too, in this drama—the suicide bomber. Hasan could not have traveled the distance from ordinary to extraordinary without the bomber. If we are looking for who contributed the most to raising the stature of Hasan, it’s the bomber. Let’s not mistake that for an altruistic act. The bomber was selfish; he wanted his place in Paradise. And he believed he was sending everyone else to Hell.
We are talking about the dialectic here, between Hasan and the bomber. The teacher who punished Hasan doesn’t really matter. He was merely enforcing an ordinary rule because Hasan was late. Just like Hasan, the bomber was also a young man—much older than Hasan, but young nonetheless. Why did one young man choose to wear a suicide jacket while another tried to stop him?
It is important to mention Hasan’s sacrifice and celebrate his extraordinariness. But if we don’t want other Hasans to die, we also have to focus on the bomber. But, wait, shouldn’t others emulate him? I hope not. There’s something extraordinary about the ordinariness of collective life. Hasan sacrificed himself to sustain the ordinariness, even triteness of the life at school: the morning assembly, the humdrum of teaching and being taught, the routine punishments, the returning to home on tired feet to an ordinary meal, getting into bed, thinking ordinary thoughts until sleep comes on “limbs that had run wild.”
The paradox is fascinating: the extraordinary in the service of the ordinary. Andrea Sarti, in Brecht’s play, Life of Galileo, says to his teacher, Galileo, “Unhappy is the land that breeds no hero.” Galileo replies: “No, Andrea: Unhappy is the land that needs a hero.”
What does a hero do if not sacrifice himself in order for others to live ordinary, day-to-day lives without the rush of adrenaline? Where children are safe, parents have boring 9-to-5 jobs, lives are regulated through laws that no one likes but most still adhere to, where a family picnic doesn’t turn into a drama requiring extraordinary courage and skills in jungle warfare?
As we both mourn and celebrate Hasan’s sacrifice, an act that almost none of us can, to the last man and woman, emulate, let’s not forget that he died so we can lead ordinary lives, go to our hairstylists, worry about weight gain and several of the other banalities of life that constitute modern existence. We do not need ‘a million more’ Hasans because, as I said, there are two characters in this drama: Hasan and the bomber. Neither is complete without the other.
166 comments
Aitzaz is hero, at 15 already a man, I stand corrected – a superman. GOD bless your soul Aitzaz, you personify what this world needs – courageous heroes.
@Ben Santiago … Indeed is the Super Hero.
We really are proud of you Aitzaz. Thank you for saving your fellow human beings from a beast.
what a way to die. i don’t think there was any need to highlight the petty issues of coming late,haircut etc. and thereby construing him a “unkempt, not-too-disciplined, fat boy: a very ordinary boy” as claimed by the writer. dont agree with the writer completely
Completely insane article!! Yes, we do need million Aitzaz. What we don’t need is you, Ejaz.Your logic is flawed. You are insensitive. You should not be writing for any paper. Newsweek please ban this writer. Thanks!
you asshole and all the others who is with this douche bag….let me tell you that the writer was simply telling us that we can avoid such sacrifices by focusing on the reasons why those people wear a suicide jacket and help them to stop. the writer does not really disrespect the boy but i admit that the post was a bit open for misinterpretation but it does not mean that you go on saying that the article is insane…. what’s really insane is the fact that your mother popped out a kid with such a thick head.
“Hasan could not have traveled the distance from ordinary to extraordinary without the bomber”
I think you have missed the point. This wonderfully brought up young man, clearly well versed in his obligations to God and his fellow man according to all the religions I admire and respect, had no distance to travel at all; he was extraordinary. The bomber, for all his blasphemy, merely brought that to our attention,
This lad is a hero and a saint, God bless him. The juxtaposition cannot be avoided.
Alas we lost the hero in his young age.imagine what this little hero would have been once adult.we need them alive and not dead.
If he would have survived… many of us might have bashed him as we are doing with Malala
What a vapid and insulting piece. To compare anything about this teen’s “ordinary” life with his murderers is disgusting. You’re not examining a “dialectic”; you’re creating correlation where there is none.
“Sure he stopped a suicide bomber but he was fat and had a bad haircut and girls probably didn’t like him. Oh, and he wasn’t a good kid because he was being punished for being late.”
In addition, what is wrong with emulating the act of a hero? Acting to defend and protect others doesn’t mean you can’t work to help the people who seek to become radical bombers at the same time.
Go take a logic class, a class on ethics, a class on journalism, and then find a new job.
Well said..”fat”???…”bad haircut”??..one even thinks of this when writing a so -called eulogy???
Agreed. Insulting and insensitive. Even if looked at as a satirical piece, it was done in bad taste.
AMEN to this! ^ Very well said!
What you have written is nothing short of amazing and renews my faith in humanity
The fact that he had it in himself to do this unbelievable, heroic act makes him extraordinary irrespective of the act, not as a result of it. A selfless hero.
disgusting report
It shall go on ejaz, like it always has.
What does his weight have to with anything? Ignorant writing
This is easily the poorest piece of journalism i have ever read. Refer
benchilada’s comment above: “Go take a logic class, a class on ethics, a class on journalism, and then find a new job.” – hear hear!!
We don’t need one EJAZ HAIDER “journalist” !!!
Aitzaz is a good boy for ever: he acted as a heroe, may be without knowing it but because he was an ordinary man , even big , even bad student but he knew what he had to do to save his friends and teachers up to taking risk for his own life-If the world was made of more normal man as him, it would be more human, more peacefull…but not exciting for Mr Ejaz Haider, poor man !!!
benchilada and Ben Santiago thank you for your very kind and inteligent words.
Aitzaz is a real hero. Why?- his selfless act, in a cynical and cruel world shows us what actions some extraordinary people take. Articles like this are not not worth caring about. They should be consigned to the dustbin of journalism and reserved for backwater twitter chat rooms.
Aitzaz did what most people in the world outside that region would never dream of doing. He laid down his life to save his fellow human beings.
To my mind I don’t care what colour, creed or sect he belonged to, whether he was a good student or mischevious He has gone to his maker and will receive a much better reception than that misguided bomber with his nail laden vest- he will be damned for eternity.
RIP Aitzaz you are a GIANT in humanity!
What an insult to this young mans bravery, what does his weight and hair have to do with anything, I mean the boy sacrificed his ‘life’ and saved many others and your making a mockery of his appearance, not amusing, in fact Shame on you, take some lessons in the ethics of writing
Why is this article so disrespectful? I feel bad for the man who wrote it.
What a poor piece of journalism. Was Ejaz delusional when he wrote the.
He was a real lion from PAKISTAN ..
Brave guy.all pak’s nation salute him.
very aptly written by the esteemed writer….
we need hasans to live…. live a life according to their dreams in peaceful way.
Mr. Haider, you just didn’t know what you were writing but had to write a piece so you went for it. Not clear if you are just too elitist to write about a young boy from a village or just too ignorant. Either way Aitzaz Hussain did not deserve someone like you. JOG ON!
I am sure the writer has never been late to anywhere in his life, neither he has ever been made fun of because of his appearance and certainly writer’s looks were enough for people to make absolute judgments about him. We can certainly understand the point writer tried to make of an ordinary boy doing this act of bravery because of our failures but to degrade this young boy and create a humiliating profile of him when the writer admits knowing nothing about his life is just poor jornalism.
WOW. I’m shocked this article has been published. Anywhere. What a pitiful person the author is. You’re picking on a person’s looks and weight? Their physical features? His last name? Oh my God – I can’t decide if I should cry over laugh over this. You’re questioning what the hero was doing outside the school during school hour? To this last question, I can think up million answers. I wonder why you can’t. Being late isn’t always about discipline. You have no idea what his reasons might have been–perhaps it was his first time being late, perhaps he had a family emergency and had to come to school late, perhaps he woke up late, or some other obvious, perfectly natural reason. Whatever his reasons though (that I’m still stunned you’re questioning… what on earth), we’re grateful that he was there to save his school and schoolmates. Whether the teacher was involved or not, we’re grateful that he was exactly where he was to prevent another trauma that our nation suffers from.
And then, you’re talking about his class (socio-economic status)? What’s that got to do with anything? An upscale neighborhood in Islamabad or Karachi? Seriously? Because no one else cares about a healthy lifestyle? Wait a minute – why am I even trying to reason here with an arrogant, racist, classist, selfish little person who is full of hatred for reasons we have no interest in investigating.
And attributing the reasons for his heroism to the bomber? This guy sacrificed his life in the most literal sense to do what you and I and most around us would be too afraid to do because. Giving appreciation to the bomber in this context is like saying, “Thanks to all the violence going on around the world; if there was no violence, a lot of the people we hail as heroes today–e.g., Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Bacha (Ghaffar) Khan, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, and numerous others–wouldn’t exist today. So let’s not give credit to these heroes and the risks they’ve led themselves in, but let’s instead thank all those who are in charge of terrorism, violence, hatred, war.” Wow. Just wow.
Shame on you. You should go spend some time contemplating over your life and what makes you the little person that you are. Go offer some charity to a poor human to feel good about yourself so you don’t go around writing racist, pathetic articles like these.
Peace to you anyway.
Aitzaz Hasan, may you rest in peace. The nation and the whole world is sorry that a child like you had to give up his life because the adults around were too incompetent, too incapable of doing their job. We will always mourn for you. May your soul be in peace forever and ever, aameen.
Here! Here!! Well said Qrratu! Well said indeed!
Here here and Amen to that. Disgraceful journalism
A very ordinary article about an extraordinary boy written by an ordinary man to justify his ordinary existence by putting down an extraordinary act of heroism. Disgusting piece of writing. Ejaz Haider also needs to take some writing classes. Too much repetition of the word “ordinary”. He shouldn’t even be called a journalist.
Preach it.
I don’t understand the need to bring in the Shia tangent here. Can we not celebrate the sacrifice the boy made without trying to fit him into an easily palatable stereotype?
What an unbelievably awful piece of journalism. Only a completely deluded individual with a vastly overinflated opinion of himself could be capable of such utter rubbish.
He was for sure a superb human being who sacrificed his life to save so many other kids.This is not an ordinary act of bravery.There is nothing more precious than life and this kid gave it up to save others.This article is a shame and total rubbish. Sitting in the comfort of your home and criticizing on the social media is a fashion these days. We salute to your courage Aitazaz.Rest in peace little angel (which iam sure you are).
Grow up and reflect if you have some grey cells. What Aitizaz did, you can not emulate, even if you are born ten times. His parents did a fine job in raising him and inculcating true values but alas i can not say the same in your case. Since when has scoring with girls, looks and studies become preferable than honesty, integrity and devotion to your colleagues ? I agree go get a new job !
I find this piece incredibly disrespectful. This boy gave his LIFE. At 15. What is wrong with you??
This is, I guess, a pathetic and distasteful attempt to copy NFP’s writing style.
I’m not the one who would like to accuse or attack individuals but Ejaz Haider has been exposing his racism and Khaki-love, one article at a time. It is clear either he is agenda driven or just plain insensitive and racist. Could he not digest a Pashtun + Shia hero (double sin) who foiled the plan of bastard childs of generals he loves so much?
Shit Ejaz Haider. Aitizaz was not the regular late comer student. God blessed Aitizaz for grabbing suicider. There were also other childrens outside the school and they told Aitizaz to leave the suicider by fear. But Aitizaz decided that it is the time for sacrifice.
Ejaz Haider..what a stupid article..Aizaz is a hero in the eyes of every sane person around the world
Curse on you writer….Atizaz is a real national hero. Salute to him and his parents.
offcourse
I am surprised how this is published here??? Its a simply a piece of crap from an [DELETED], who dont know what he is writing.
What a garbled article! Whatever positive point the author was trying to make has been obfuscated by his “dialectical”/”paradoxical” bullshit.
Yes, the menace of terrorism needs to be stopped. Yes, we need to put an end to indoctrination and making of suicide bombers out of young children. Yes, we shouldn’t need our young children to give their lives to protect their fellow citizens from suicide attacks. (Where’s the state machinery? Where are the armed forces? What are the intelligence agencies doing?) It is true that we are living in a cruel, hypocritical, dishonest, self-interested, capitalist society.
But in this violent, sordid and cynical situation, it is self-less and courageous young people like Aitzaz who refuse to be intimated and coerced by the terrorists that ray of hope for the society. Aitzaz is our hero. He symbolizes bravery and humanity.
What the writer lacks is sensibility, sensitivity, respect for ordinary people and humanity. And I don’t think any class in logic, ethics or journalism would help the heartless writer in becoming humane and human.
Instead of insulting the martyr (just because he was an ordinary pakhtoon and shia?) and belittling his sacrifice in his pathetic attempt to sound wise, the shameless should have shown the decency and courage to hold the armed forces, the state and the so-called leaders and representatives of the people accountable for the dismal conditions the ordinary people of our country and their innocent children are facing today.
“From his photograph, released with reports of his sacrifice, he seems like a big boy—and fat. Not fat-fat, as in obese, but one whose genetic make-up would be a matter of existential concern for him if he lived in the upscale neighbourhoods of Islamabad, Lahore or Karachi. He doesn’t look like a boy who could have scored with the girls and he certainly needed to go to a stylist instead of getting a shabby 30-rupee haircut from a barber.”
I am of the opinion that Ejaz was not trying to ridicule the boy but instead mocking urban masses, who are shocked and sad by the loss of a young boy but had they seen Aitzaz otherwise they might have had the same image as the author portrays.
Also, I am not sure if it was a good way to mock but I will appreciate his reasoning regarding why no more Aitzazs.
Aitzaz you are real champ. May your soul rest in peace
Wow. This is low.
Look, the people today are selfish. They dont think about others; rather they think about themselves. What Aitzaz did was a selfless act. He didn’t care what would happen to him. He instead chose the path of a hero and saved hundreds of lives. Regardless of what he looks like or what he was as a student, he’ll always be remembered for what he did for others.
You just tried to insult and ridicule Aitzaz just for some appreciation. You’ve failed as a writer and a critique.
Shame on you, Mr. Writer
You don’t deserve to write for anyone.
Ejaz! better to write on gay rights instead of adding salt to the injuries of #AitazaHassan family
i actually thought it was very well written. his point was that yes this boy was a hero. he did a heroic act and that is wonderful. but if this incident had not happened to him, had the opportunity not to confront a terrorist not arisen he would have lived an ordinary life like anyone else. of course he should be praised and commended. but living is always preferable to dying. he made a great sacrifice which makes him an amazing person- but he shouldn’t have had to. an ideal world isn’t one with a lot of heroes- because that would mean you want as many things to constantly test your heroes. an ideal world would be one where everyone has the luxury of being ordinary. his martyrdom might be the best thing for us because we get “inspired to be selfless and a good human” but the best thing for him would have been to have a chance to live a life- however ordinary it would be. but he was an actual person reducing him to an example is actually a disservice to him. celebrating him is good- but celebrating the idea of martyrdom is not as good. dying for a cause will never be as good as living for one. i dont want to hear any more stories about a hero sacrificing himself i want to be a part of a story where everyone gets out alive.
You are perhaps the only commenter who got anywhere close to what Ejaz was trying to convey.
*sigh* I thought people were more broad minded these days. Living is preferable to dyeing and all eh. So when was the last time somebody got to live forever and got away with it. We all die at the end lady -_-. Either you can die as a nobody or you could have your name live forever whilst dyeing heroically.
Another *sigh* ma’am for I reckon that the likes of overly-life-loving-people such as your self would never understand. Try coming out of the bed covers and see the world around a bit. Happy endings are meant to stay in the books and Disney cartoons. Really sorry if you’ve been brainwashed by the media about it.
This world is run by the sacrifices people make so that the rest of the population can live comfortably.
I think you are the one who is brainwashed by the media. Why do you have to sacrifice your life to be a hero or help the world? That is the sort of thing that happens in the movies . Most of the hero’s are the unseen ones, not the ones in the stories you read. That isn’t to say that there are not those who put their lives on the line all the time so that others don’t have to, and do them I am great full. But sacrificing your life does not mean you have actually die. A parent sacrificing all their time and money so that their kids and loved ones live a better life, is still a sacrifice, and one that has become all too uncommon. Do I think Aitzaz is a hero and made the greatest of sacrifices? Of course he did. And what the author of this article wrote was pretty uncalled for. But what if it had been someone else? What if he was the only provider for a family? Would you sacrifice your time and money to provide for them? The world is not run by the few people who make the kind of sacrifices you are talking about. It’s run by the majority of everyday people. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to be in a world where we don’t have to die to stop some crazy person from killing everyone.
“Either you can die as a nobody or you could have your name live forever whilst dyeing heroically.”
I’d encourage you to go die heroically as per your beliefs, but than isn’t that what suicide bombers are trying to do.
Aitzaz did a noble thing, and for that he should be commemorated. But his heroism is based on a chance event. Take that chance out and he becomes an ordinary man. Fortunately or unfortunately we cant seperate Aitzaz from this event, and his noble act will live on long after we are gone.
Martyrdom is something to be proud of, even his family is not mourning, whole nation is proud of him, if my brother was in place of him, i would have been proud of him. Every one has to die one day, but this dying with this pride and achievement and standing in the row of martyrs is one thing to be proud of, this is a thing every true muslim want to achieve in life. learn from history those who achieved martyrdom are still alive in history, rather than those dying a natural death, but those like author, who are afraid of death and who will eventually die a natural death without achieving this kind of pride in life, can’t understand the logic of sacrifice.
jiss dhaaj sy gyaa wo maqtal main wo shaan salamatrehti hai
yeh jaan tou aani jaani hai,iss jaan ki koi baat nai.
Guess what? That suicide bomber was was also trying to be a martyr. Should we be proud of him? Aitzaz, I highly doubt, was thinking “here is my chance to martyr myself for my beliefs so that I can be in the history books”. I like to think he did it because it was, deep down, instinctual to him. That means he truly did have a good heart and cared for others, it had nothing to do with religion. And THATS what makes him a hero. Not because a book or a religion told him to do it.
And going down in the history books be damned. That is such a childish view. What of the doctor who’s saved countless lives, but died in his sleep of old age? Are you going to claim that he has no pride, of himself or from others?
You are shameless Dear
Try to understand. The writer is pissed off because the life of the bomber (and “the amount of explosive in his jacket, and the number of ball-bearings and nails that would be dispatched as high-velocity projectiles”) was wasted as he could not kill as many as his senders wanted him to. Surely, he was the other (decidedly more important) character of the drama, and his role was screwed by a lazy, ugly, fat, bad boy who was, to top it all, was also an abominable Shia. We should sympathize with the writer of this piece for feeling frustrated on a job which could have done much more neatly, as has been happening till now, except perhaps in the case of the teenager Malala Yousufzai who could not be knocked off by a clumsy Talib.
What a heartless way to describe a 15 year old who just lost his life for other 15 year old’s..Mr. Ejaz, the least kind of respect you could have given to the boy was by not commenting on his looks and habits. I didn’t read or heard anybody commenting about the boys personality before reading this low-level piece of journalism. One can not just add ‘masalas’ in every story. I don’t know where you spent you up-bring years but people all across the globe respect their dead ones and especially the ones who die for others, knowingly or accidentally. How will you apologize to Aitzaz now that he is dead?
why am I even trying to reason here with an arrogant, racist, classist, selfish little person who is full of hatred for reasons we have no interest in investigating.
Aitzaz Hasan, may you rest in peace. The nation and the whole world is sorry that a child like you had to give up his life because the adults around were too incompetent, too incapable of doing their job. We will always mourn for you. May your soul be in peace forever and ever, aameen, I appreciate the remarks by Qrratu
The extraordinary having to save the ordinary. And, then…. Andrea Sarti, “Unhappy is the land that breeds no hero.” Galileo replies: “No, Andrea: Unhappy is the land that needs a hero.”
Brilliant and well juxtaposed.
I wish the commenters understood the point.
It says at the bottom of the page..”Please post a comment”….well the comments that I can think of posting for Mr. Ejaz will surely not be posted here…all I can say that will be posted here is that Newsweek should post an apology…that’s the least they can do to this boys family, unless Newsweek considers this journalism.
This writer is a moron, he didn’t praised the boy instead tagged him as incomplete without the bomber. If the boy hadn’t stopped the terrorist. Many lives would have been lost and then the writer would have written “all those children are incomplete without the bomber”. A total nutcase
Shame on you Ejaz Haider. I don’t remember if I have ever read such a condescending, standoffish and nauseating piece ever in my life.
That Shia boy deserved to die because he was ugly, fact, and most ignobly, a son of a poor labourer. He was a bad student. Had he been a good student, he would have been in school and thus would have died along with other Shia boys. But he was a useless person as he was a useless student; unlike elitist liberals like me who have used our scholarships to become a shill for the military establishment. Thus, Aitezaz was loitering around the school when he saw the suicide bomber. He tried to stop him and died. He made a hero of himself. This useless boy! You can read the article and see how I have destroyed that fat boy’s reputation.
http://lubpak.com/archives/301557
One can clearly read between the lines hate against Shias & specifically against Pashtuns, RIP Pakistan with such narratives & people against innocent citizen who are trying to stand against forces of darkness. This newspaper should also review articles before publishing anything written by so called media biased unethical gods.
I request readers and commentators to google “My Name is Ejaz Helena” to see a fitting response to this disgusting piece of writing by Ejaz Haider. Ejaz must be suffering from a some severe complexes to distort the selfless act of a 14 year old which literally saved hundreds of lives. Taking cheap pots at the late Aitezaz with respects to his weight and looks is low even by Ejaz Haider’s standards.
Come on Ejaz Sahib, it’s outrageous & disgusting, especially coming from someone like you who is usually better than this. Say you didn’t mean to be that mean!
An absurd piece,you disappointed me Ejaz haider
I had to stop reading this piece of patheticness just half way down. Rather spend my time posting this comment to say you need better writing skills and a better point to make. Sarcastic writing is very old now, and so are poorly thought-out conspiracy theories, and it is plain ridiculous analysing a students ability to walk a certain distance based on his size, which by the way IS clearly obese based on his picture, but you wouldn’t know that clearly, and dismissing a student because he “may have” arrived late. Please. Stop embarrassing Pakistanis further by posting such mind boggling ideas.
what a disgusting piece … doesn’t the editor review pieces before publishing ???
Aitzaz is really a hero for the whole pakistani nation.We salute to his bravery to save other children of school.
So far writers like Ejaz Haider, Ansar Abbasi are present in pakistan we can not think of peace IF THESE WRITERS WERE IN SOUTH AFRICA THE Nelson Mandela would not have been a hero.
The above mentioned writers’ sons may be studyng in elite class schools: they do not feel the pain Aitizaz;s parents and other peoplefrom KP and FATA have suffered at the hands of terrorists.
is that a publicity stunt eijaz haider?? are u trying to be veena malik or meera??
I don’t know what Ejaz Haider is trying to get across here, but what I got from this article is the ramblings of a conceited, arrogant, elitist, patronising writer trying to impress us all with HIS jargon, and not a report on a life gone to waste. I don’t care as to what is sarcasm, what is tongue in cheek, I only know that to describe some one as “fat”, or sporting a “bad haircut”, or commenting on his social status, is nothing short of willfully demeaning.
What a senseless, insipid, spineless piece.
By writing this hate-filled lengthy disconnected article about Shaeed Aitezaz Hassan’s stature – Mr. Ejaz Haider has earned the lowest possible place in the history of Pakistan’s journalism. Mr. Haider will always be remembered by his fellow journalists and his family and friends for this act of hatred and yellow journalism through which he has hurt the entire Pashtuns, Pakistanis and Shaeed Aitezaz family. Mr. Haider may not take off his word back from the media but it should be wise if he write an article of the same length, come on TV and tender an apology to Shaeed Aitezaz family and the many people of Pakistan that has hurt. May God bestow some wisdom on Mr. Haider.
What a derisive piece of writing! From the desperate verbosity of your previous works to the shameless elitism & racism that this article smacks of, you really need to reconsider your words, your thoughts and your life! This is insulting, to say the least. It wont induce people to read your word more, it will just tell them that you are a man whose opinion is not even worth a fleeting read!!!
I am happy with whoever wrote this piece. WHy? Because inasmuch as ALL people of dignity and humanity respect Aitzaz sacrifice as embodying the tafsir of the Qur’an’s “khalaqna al insaan fi ahsan taqwim”…his singular bravery stands out all the more when some sick, satanic ignoramus seeks to denigrate this Pashtun hero. So thank you Ejaz…Your emphasis on “fat” as some form of denigration only masks the your own insecurity about yourself. And your rather idiotic summation about the student’s supposed lack of industriousness only exposes your inability to put matters into context. But again…God works in mysterious ways. As we thank the Divine for letting us see the manifestation of all that is good in this 15 year old pahlawan, we thank the Divine too for opening our eyes to the hacks that live in our society, who hiding behind poison pens, seek to devalue those whose filth even they are not clean enough to touch.
This is the dumbest thing I’ve read in a long time.
Ijaz, do you even know what bs you just wrote?
Very True !
Ejaz haider- sick mentality ….by the way who is this man ejaz haider ???
Disgusting.
WTH! I just read . Seriously one of the most pathetic article ever…
Great piece Ejaz! But I would disagree a bit. We do need “a million more” Aitzaz Hassans because, I am afraid, we have “a million more” suicide-jacket-wearing, wanna-be-shaheed kids. Dialectic. Remember!
What’s wrong with you man? Ok we dont want and like our people die like this but what should we do while confronting a suicide bomber or a terrorist? should we run away and let him kill many or should we try to stop him and save the lives of many? Dude a savior is way better then a killer. we mourn on Aitazaz’s martyrdom but we certainly proud of him. I urge you to please keep your crapy sense of journalism with you. Rashid Minhas died in the agae of 21 while fighting with evil and Aitazaz did it in the age of 15 just. this boy deserves not less then a highest gallantry award of this country. he may looks to you big fat mischievous and undisciplined lad but to me he looks most innocent, cute and yes a bravest of all.
an absolutely terrible article 🙁
Yeah We dont need more Aitzaz’s…..Infact we need couch-breaking potatoes like yourself that criticizes even the noblest of acts just to run their sweet little blog. -_-
What you wrote up there…. Well thats one brilliant piece of BS !
Note to self. Ignore newsweek posts. incomptetent newspaper.
who wrote this article is an unhappy ORDINARY man who thinks that he’s writing extra ORDINARY things but the point is, that you’re one of those ORDINARY ones who can just type but can’t do anything for the country, stop criticizing. I wish you would have been there, Aitzaz shouldn’t have stopped the bomber and you could die and be one of those ORDINARY victims of that ORDINARY suicide attack. grow up. Your report made you famous, in a bad way. This was just a fail attempt for impressing girls by using all the jargon you had in your mind. That fat ugly boy’s mother is dying as every single second is passing by cuz she couldn’t see her son’s face for the last time, could not kiss him, could not hug him and couldn’t see him anywhere! place yourself at the stage that his family is going through, they’re getting tortured. Stop torturing them more because their son is dead, stop writing shit about him.
This is inhumane, filthy to ridicule a martyr, make fun of his appearances when he is no more and can’t defend himself or give a befitting reply to this. I CONDEMN !!
A thoughtful and thought provoking piece of writing…taking our attention towards the fact that an extraordinary act doesn’t need an extraordinary person rather can be carried by an ordinary being who turns to be extraordinary by his act…I think this article further emphasizes on the strength of Aitizaz as extraordinary acts but extraordinary people is not something unusual but an extraordinary act by an ordinary being is awesome…(here ordinary and extraor refer to our standards of judgement)
I am Austrian and I am reading this from Austria. I came to this site because it is a well-known newspaper. I help to write the german Wikipedia lemma of this hero. What a pathetic, mean and nauseating piece of so-called journalism. I had a hard time not to puke. It is very good to read all that posts who confirm that the rest of Pakistan thinks different.
Sorry for my bad english, but on the other hand it probably saved me from understanding the more subtle aspects of outright meanness this guy spits over this hero.
This piece tells more about the writer than anyone else. Clearly the writer is pretentious who thinks people’s weight and their haircuts are important facts to the story. The writer also appears to be a coward, who cannot hide his envy at the brave act that he subconsciously knows he doesn’t have the guts to ever emulate. The writer it can be inferred from the piece would probably be too interested in scoring with girls than to save lives, and would have run in the opposite direction to the bomber to preserve his, what I can only assume e thinks, ‘extraordinary’ life. beyond the vapid writing, the writer pretends to be an intellectual by using words he clearly doesn’t understand. There is no logic in the piece and really there is no point either.
unfortunately it looked more like a critic’s review on a pice of fiction rather than a tribute to a brave boy
Pathetic writing Mr Ejaz…. disgrace to humanity.
NEWSWEEK
Sensible, Reliable, Authoritative?
A BIG NO TO SUCH A TALL CLAIM. JUST NONSENSE, UNRELIABLE, UNAUTHORITATIVE
The whole world is honoring Aitzaz Hasan.
Why does the piece smack of a bias?! Are you related to the suicide bomber, which is why you’re trying to get him his fair share of glory?! Or are you troubled that the government has actually decided to give an award to this brave teenager?! I’m sure you never wrote this sorta crap when Malala got beat up!
A shitty article, just for sake of writing! Get a life please…
this article showed the typical sick mentality targeted towards the brave Pukhtoons who are fighting for the survival of this land…The article portrayed the people living in Islamabad, Lahore as the supernatural while we the people from the Pukhtoon belt as ugly creature.These kind of things are really shacking the we feelings and is daunting the national integration.Irrespective of the fact that who he was, what he was doing and how he was looking, we should pay homage to him rather than raising questions which are less important.
Self inducing vomit. Author should be banned from writing anything in future.
It’s very funny how people are not getting the simple sarcasm, or i should say a taunt Ijaz Haider has made on our society. He didn’t call him fat or not well dressed. If you read the LAST PARA of the above article, he says that a guy who cared nothing about the luxuries of life, sacrificed himself so that KIDS OF HIS AGE CAN LIVE THOSE LUXURIES IN UPSCALE CITIES OF LAHORE AND ISLAMABAD.
Rest everyone has the right to share their opinion about his writing.
Such a pathetic article!!! I fail to understand how anyone would come up with such a mundane and pointless piece of writing over an event like this.
wow. can anybody explain to me if this was satire or some sort of humor that i just didnt understand? because i’m pretty disgusted right now.
what a stupid and ignorant article,it can tell how stupid and ignorant this writer EJAZ HAIDER is,.. http://www.newsweekpakistan.com/ plz dont publish this guy’s articles anymore.
Ejaz I have read some offensive aricles in my lifetime but you surely take the cake I read your article which I found was so tongue in cheek and it was simply garbage Hasan was a hero and lived up to his name….I hope there are only a few of you in this world
Ejaz Haider (‘Journalist’): Sometimes sticking with the clutter and not trying to break it with what you suppose is an ‘intelligent’ point of view is better. Sometimes, just calling a hero a hero works. Or being quiet is even better.
Cool down guys and please read the article again. While we do need more people like Aitezaz to save our lazy asses, we do need a few like Ejaz to open our eyes.
Here’s the problem with Ejaz Haider: he’s too into himself. Whatever comes out of your mouth, isn’t magic. This piece is not bad satire, it’s bad writing in bad taste.
OMG THESE PEOPLE JUST CANNOT READ!
Sorry mate! This is an excellent post and very well written.
Sorry Hadeel, we dont read what you do!
Sorry for your loss, mate.
Very pessimistic and weakly structured article. Filled with assumptions and personal remarks..such articles should not even be allowed to go public!
A brilliant article….everyone missed the point except for the post above….:)…Mr. Haider will either be laughing his guts out or….seething with dead ‘leaden’ anger but either ways he will be in an extreme state…cheers sir a beautiful piece of analysis…the irony of it is totally subsumed in the needless silly passions…..’ the suicide bomber’ : a hero does not exist without an anti-hero…. What would be Christ without an anti-Christ…and lastly ” khatkta houn main dil e yazdan main kantay ke tarah” (Muhammad Iqbal)…cheers sir…keep writing please
Serious low in journalistic conduct. That is one pathetic piece of writing. This kid took a call and sacrificed his life to prevent the bomber to get in. And this columnist goes on to ridicule with his wise cracks. There is great admiration for the feat of this kid in India too. Was tragically sad to read this disparaging article.
amidst the sheer mediocrity of this whole piece, i think if one wants to take any amount of acceptable, logical and appropriate stance from this, it is this:
lets just not stop at celebrating the heroism of Aitzaz. he deserves it no doubt. few can do what he did in such a situation. but, there is more on the canvas for us to think about. the holistic view that is. That bomber was also a human, once a boy much like Aitzaz at some point in his life. We should mourn the tragic waste of such blood, NOT the bomber per say but the ‘human’ within him that once was present in him. we should spare a thought for the potentially-good Pakistani citizen that was lost due to taliban/alqaeda/extremist/isreali-backed/US-backed (WHATEVER) disease. had he not been brainwashed, not been under the wrong influence, maybe he would been a sane-minded educated citizen. the grand picture on the canvas shows the sorry state of our nation, the system. we are losing people in bombs, both the victims and the bombers. if we only we could save both of them, and kill the hateful ideology which is the actual root of the problem.
but i dont think ejaz meant that. clearly, his writing was way off from this.
What a crappy article. An insult to a young teenager who sacrificed his life for the sake of his fellows and humanity. I wish the writer had seen his face in the mirror before commenting on the shape, size and the demeanor of the great hero,, may Allah bless your soul Aitizaz Hassan, we are proud of you
What a stupid article. Shame on the editor who allowed it to be published.
Lets not jump to condemning the writer unnecessarily. I would request all to kindly read the article again. The language used by Ejaz Haider might be a little too crude, but I believe the issue he wants to raise is quite clear when he asks “Why did one young man choose to wear a suicide jacket while another tried to stop him?” We need to answer this question if we are to resolve the issue of young men being brain washed by extremists and terrorists to blow themselves up and murder countless others. He goes on to write
“It is important to mention Hasan’s sacrifice and celebrate his extraordinariness. But if we don’t want other Hasans to die, we also have to focus on the bomber” it is quite clear the writer is making a case for saving the young men of Pakistan whether they are the ones making sacrifices or the ones committing suicide, dying needlessly because of some deranged people.
In the end Ejaz Haider writes “As we both mourn and celebrate Hasan’s sacrifice, an act that almost none of us can, to the last man and woman, emulate, let’s not forget that he died so we can lead ordinary lives, go to our hairstylists, worry about weight gain and several of the other banalities of life that constitute modern existence.” Aren’t we lucky who are living in relative calmness and peace of the cities and enjoying all the modernities of urban life rather than in the highly volatile and turbulent regions on our Western border?
And last but not the least where he writes “We do not need ‘a million more’ Hasans because, as I said, there are two characters in this drama: Hasan and the bomber. Neither is complete without the other” I believe he actually talks about a person who cannot be a hero without the presence of a villian. Ejaz Haider is right. Pakistan cannot afford anymore to have heroes.
Extraordinarily written for ordinary people..went through the comments and found the paradoxistan all over…I find this piece of writing emtional n moving. Thanks Ejaz Haider
I’m sorry but this article is the most ridiculous one ive seen in a long time. Have some shame when you say stuff like this. You’re giving credit to the bomber for Aitzaz heroic move to help save the kids and the school? Doesn’t matter if he was late or not. What he did was brave and has nothing to do with the bomber. I honestly fail to believe how this article has been published. I would also like to add, that there are a lot of IF’s present, like you said ‘if he hadnt been late’ etc. So what if that day was a holiday or what if the bomb didnt explode, what if the men decided not to do it. (Although these are quite random, as you said, it is possible). So please instead of writing such rubbish, you should pray for this hero. May he rest in peace and may his family be able to bear the tragic loss of this hero 🙂
Newsweek has no standards anymore. If such articles can be published, we should better not rely any of their publications,
EJAZ HAIDER would s— his pants if he had seen a suicide bomber,sounds like hypocrite ejaz is mad cause this brave kid challenged a criminal,a terrorist and saved the lives of his schoolmates by sacrificing his life with honor. please remove this stupid article from your website cause this is a black spot on your reputation.
This is weird….while tht shabby whatever I called him saved lives….u,all dressed up and clean(I suppose) have come up with this!
What a disgusting shameful article. Hard to believe something like this could be published. You should be ashamed of yourself for writing something like this. You’ve used words like ‘scoring with girls’? That’s disgusting. Who thinks like that when writing an article about a heroic boy who saved the lives of so many people by sacrificing his own? Doesn’t matter whether he was late, he did what he did and for that he is Shaheed Aitzaz Hasan. So maybe you should actually think before you write rubbish like this? I’m shocked.
Seems like Youre giving credit to the bomber? This is absurd. This should be deleted immediately. May Shaheed Aitzaz rest in peace and may his family get sabbar to bear this tragic loss.
What a baseless article?
Shame on you Ejaz, you are giving credit to bomber rather than Aitizaz,
Secondly was it necessary to mention his sect and made his heroism controversial?
Whoever wrote this, you are an inconsiderate bastard. Judging the kid on his weight and looks. You’re absolutely pathetic, he saved many lives and died while doing so and you have the audacity to condemn his behavior. You should be ashamed.
Are you a journalist? shame on you, “From his photograph, released with reports of his self-sacrifice, he seems like a big boy—and fat. Not fat-fat, as in obese, but one whose genetic makeup would be a matter of existential concern for him if he lived in the upscale neighborhoods of Islamabad, Lahore or Karachi. He doesn’t look like a boy who could have scored with the girls, and he certainly needed to go to a stylist instead of getting a shabby 30-rupee haircut from a barber.” so looks are important?
“We can reconstruct that morning for this unkempt, not-too-disciplined, fat boy: a very ordinary boy on a very ordinary morning who did something extraordinary because someone tried to kill the boys at school. We can also see that if Hasan was a studious student”, So, were you there? how do you know this happened?
you are not a journalist; you a writer, wringing fiction, a really bad one…
This is one of the most ridiculous and over stretching article ever made. I have this feeling that this article was made for click and anger baiting. I can’t believe Newsweek hired this guy. He write this article like a high schooler who trying too hard to impress his teacher by quoting an old play and dismiss everything as “typical gear of fate doing its work.”
Shame on you Newsweek. I can expect click baiting articles from tabloid level websites, not a well known website with a good reputation like you.
Insulting Article.
I honestly can’t discern what the hell you’re arguing for. I have read your post about 4 times and can’t figure out what side you are on. You sound like a middle schooler, faced with an essay but unsure about what you should write on. Do the world a favor and stop. Stop cluttering up the Internet with your mindless, incoherent ramblings. Find another profession.
This is absolutely disgusting. I wonder how the author would feel about the situation if his child was in the school assembly that this kid gave his life to protect? Rest easy, Aitzaz.
EJAZ HAIDER, lets assume that a boy from your family would have done it, would you still be explaining his hair, dressing and discipline? I’m a journalist and i’m surprised how Newsweek Pakistan published this article. Weird. You are just trying to be different and pathetic at the same time. Non sense.
I think this piece can be summed in the following sentence: “Poor lazy ordinary Aitzaz Hasan/Hussain, he would be nothing without the extraordinary suicide bomber.” Just who exactly is this article celebrating? Maybe i should go read the author’s next piece, “Reading Text For Dummies”.
Ejaz Haider is an irresponsible wannabe journalist for writing this. Is this what newsweek calls responsible journalism. Congratulations on your fifteen minutes of fame.
How did this piece even get published in newsweekpakistan.com? Are you guys trying to lose your readers?
Man. I just lost brain cells reading this piece of garbage. I am still trying to understand how this was published… People at newsweek must not know how to read.
what a sick , messed up this person is, I dont even know him and dont want to know this coward who thinks he has writtena great artilce…shame on you and the paper who hires him and the editor who allows such rubbish to be published…shame shame..the writer was stoned or messed up in his head, needs a psychiatrist…Aitzaz was a brave boy, a hero and the writer of the article a coward looser…hope he reads my comments
Pointless piece of garbage. You are clearly trying to “emulate” some philosophy but you picked a poor stance and If you were merely trying to practice your writing skills you picked a poor topic.
Did you guys change your motto to “Sensible, reliable, shit” ?
Totally garbage stuff.. Is there a “Report abuse” tab here ??
Ejaz Haider congratulations your article has gone viral. You’ve garnered enough cheap publicity. Kudos. I would liken you to Veena Malik of journalism. Before commenting on somebody who sacrificed his life to save others have a look in the mirror yourself. Enough said.
He is dead and you are talking about his weight and looks. You must be a very special kind of crazy. And what if he was late cause he woke up late, just on that day. Half of your article is speculative. You have no idea about the school or that town.
This article is a total waste of time.. you need a break Mr. Haider. Come up with something more ethical.
I’m sure after his ‘extra-ordinary’ gesture, ‘ordinary matters like his weight, his discipline, seriousness towards studies and haircut don’t matter at all.
After his act of extreme valor I don’t think his teachers would hate him to be late for school nor that girls won’t praise him just because he’s fat.
By the way, these ‘extra-ordinary’ bombers kill many, Aitezaz became notorious because of his own act of valor. The bomber had nothing to do with it. That 16 year old bomber is as despicable as any other bomber, but Aitezaz is better than most of us Pakistanis who won’t even leave a bus seat for elderly, let alone sacrifice our lives to protect others.
Ejaz Haider, you were superb in many articles, but I seriously think you need a rest.
baseless assumptions and baseless article. Any genius student can get late for any reason. See yourself you were perfect in article writing but such stupid piece of writing doesn’t make you stupid.
/*there are two characters in this drama: Hasan and the bomber. Neither is complete without the other.*/
Yes sir there are always two characters. One is good and other is bad. Neither is complete without the other.
very pathetic article ever read, writer seems to be a victim of prejudices and pride upon having a luxurious life may be in US or some where in elite society. what is your reality if you think deep??
Dear ejaz
You have some of the most loose screws most of us have ever come across.
Please do sanity, the pen, my country, and our God’s gift Shaheed Aitezaz a favour and never write again.
Sincerely,
A teenager with more brain and heart than some of God’s less gifted individuals, like you
Shame on the editor….i wonder how would u feel when Ur own children get round up in this mess…
I understand your post and I disagree with those who criticize this post. People have failed to understand the actual message behind your words. AND THAT is the reason why we are failing as a nation.
shame on newsweek, how did they publish this full of crap article.
Just three simple words for the writer “GET A LIFE” !!
Vague, inconsiderate, irrelevent incohesive and unconclusive. The writer should got off his high horse and write stuff that the people could actually understand your clever ironies and paradoxes are not so clever if no one can actually understand them.
Unless you just wanted an scandle out of this in that case well done !! (that’s Sarcasm)
I am at lost for words.
Mr. Haider, with only limited information, and disgusting prejudice, you have written the most pathetic piece of journalism I’ve ever had the misfortune of coming across.
The article is littered with phrases that would seem more natural in the angry tirade of a racist elitist who had too much to drink.
For shame, sir. For shame!
Disgusting piece
Oh wow, you are so full of hatred !!! Cannot praise a 15 yr old even after his death !!!! Have to find faults in everything , cannot wait for your articles where u criticize all the other national heroes !!
Mr Haider you need to learn a few things before writing a piece. Let me list them down for you.
1. Cultural Diversity
2. Journalism
3. Writing Ethics
4. Sensitivity
5. Solidarity
6. Humanism
7. Integrity
8. Responsibility
I can still go on, but these would be sufficient for you this time to focus on what you are writing as a piece of journalism.
What is this writer trying to say ? He has insulted the memory of a very very brave boy who made ultimate sacrifice. Why is this writer trying to be so coy ? This is a very insensitive and insulting article. Thus writer should be ashamed of himself. Newsweek certainly dies not need such third rate writers at all
The point that writer is raising by mentioning Aitzaz as a fat boy with a funny hair style could not better be proven by reading all these comments. All these people cursing and abusing writer and praising Aitzaz will more like be making fun of an ordinary big boy with funny hair style living in their neighborhood.
The world needs a million Aitzaz, we just dont need idiots like you. please crawl back into your tiny little hole and die already.
Shame on u aijaz haider. I have no more words for u. just shame on urself.who alows u to b a jernolist?shameful realy shameful.if U are a good looking guy it doesnt mesn that u can say bad for a national hero. he saves 2000 children thats an act of big big big courage and u dont even have courage to admire a hero.1 more thing I can say to u.just shut ur mouth and if u have some selfrespect then u should left your job as journlist
Great Article…..Hence proved Aitzaz was a fake hero created by Media….He was a late commer He died by chance and everything else is just novelty created by Shia journalism ……… One big question if this m.oron really have grabbed that bomber then why didn’t his body blew into pieces????
JUst like shia yasir abbas fake bravery this shia hero was created by Shia dominated media…….
What a moronic article and Sabiha Saeed shame on you ….. who let you out of Lal Masjid