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Aitzaz Hasan

JANUARY 10, 2014

I was stopped in my tracks.  That's what it was like to read the paper this morning and hear about Pakistan's Aitzaz Hasan's heroic act.
Aitzaz was a good student according to his family.  He was rushing to school and encountered a stranger.  The person, wearing a similar school uniform as theirs, asked for directions.  Aitzaz became suspicious, having never seen him at the school before.  The stranger began to run and Aitzaz followed in pursuit, tackled the stranger wearing a suicide vest.  This person detonated the vest, killing himself and the heroic boy.
Aitzaz was 17, according the many reports.  He had told friends that one day he would capture some suicide bomber and his classmates would laugh.
Aitzaz Hasan is gone, but saved about 1000 of his fellow students because he felt a sense of obligation and justice. 
Aitzaz Hasan is a hero and now joins young activist Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan and international heroes and beacons of hope in a troubled world.
Shine on, Aitzaz.



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http://epaper.dawn.com/?page=26_01_2014_423
 
The Pakistani newspaper 'Dawn' did an article about Aitzaz with my illustration accompanying the text.
© 2024 Tim O'Brien