Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Abdul Wasey Mirza has survived two bomb blasts, but what he wants to rid himself of are the scars of being branded a terror suspect

It was around 7 pm on 21 February 2013. Abdul Wasey Mirza had just got himself a steaming glass of chai and was walking towards the pavement shop in Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad, where he sold T-shirts as a daily wage salesman when he heard a deafening sound and was flung into the distance. His first reaction—once he could think again—was, “Hai Allah, kya ho gaya?” He did not know then that it was the impact of a bomb blast that had thrown him a good ten feet away. He found himself lying on the road, the sound of the blast still ringing in his ears. His trousers, shirt and hands were soaked in blood. He didn’t know if it was his own blood or someone else’s. Everything seemed to unfold in slow motion around him. There were bodies, body parts and various articles strewn around. He felt nauseous, confused and dazed. This was déjà vu. For he had been injured in another explosion in the city in 2007.

On 18 May that year, Mirza was praying at the historic Mecca Masjid near Charminar when a similar scenario played itself out. “We were in the middle of prayers when at 1.15 pm, there was a huge noise right next to me. It happened so suddenly. I was thrown a couple of feet away. My ears were hurting for many hours after the blast. My clothes were bloodied and I had a stinging feeling in my abdomen and left leg. I lost my wallet and watch. All victims, including me, were first taken to Osmania Hospital nearby and later to Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences,” recounts Mirza. His left leg was fractured, and splinters from the blast, mostly sharp-edged stones of different sizes, got lodged in his abdomen, leg and heel. “I was later told the explosive device was placed very close to me. It had ripped apart a marble step, and I was very lucky to survive,’’ he says.

Mirza stayed in hospital for about three weeks that time, and was on bedrest at home for the next six months. The fracture healed in the normal course of time, but Mirza underwent surgeries—all paid for by the government—to remove the splinters four times over many months: one each of his abdomen and colon and twice of his leg. The foreign bodies in his heel remained. “Look at the X-ray. The hundreds of little specks that you see in the heel, jaise taare aasman mein (like stars in the sky), are foreign bodies,’’ points out his father Mirza Mughal. The doctors left them there as they are too minute and too scattered, but Mirza says it is painful to walk with them even now.

Now, after the blast a few weeks ago, there are hundreds more foreign bodies in his back, thigh and heel that he will have to carry for the rest of his life— not to mention the psychological scars of being a victim of two terror attacks. Mirza has already been wheeled into operation theatres six times till date, and there will be more such visits as and when the shrapnel lodged in his flesh breaks loose.

In both the blasts, Mirza was just a few feet away from the explosives when they were triggered. At Dilsukhnagar, as he lay bleeding on the ground, a hand and face first came into his line of vision; soon, there were many more encouraging him to get up. “I just couldn’t. I felt totally numb and helpless. The next thing I remember, I was being bodily lifted into an autorickshaw and taken to hospital. An attendant with a pair of scissors started ripping open my clothing. It was wet, sticking to my body. I was lying on a stretcher unable to move. The doctors came and started inspecting me for injuries. One of them turned me on to my stomach to get a better view of my back. A large chunk of flesh seemed to be hanging out. The hours went by in a daze. When I came to, I found myself in the ICU with Abba jaan by my side. I had no clue where all I was injured,’’ says Mirza.

But the nightmare really began when one of the doctors asked his father about the surgical marks on Mirza’s abdomen and leg. He explained to the doctor that his son had been a victim of the Mecca Masjid blast as well. “This news was leaked to the media. Though I didn’t watch TV news or read newspapers, my relatives started telling me that the media was highlighting the fact that Mirza was a victim for the second time and saying that this was highly unlikely unless he was involved in some way,” says an outraged Mughal.

“They made him a suspect and asked why the police was not interrogating him. Some went to the extent of putting out bizarre theories, asking what he was doing so far away from his house on that fateful day. They found convenient answers to questions they themselves raised without checking any of the facts,” adds the father.

Mughal points out that the media conveniently ignored the fact that his son had been working in the same spot for over two years. “Tell me, is Dilsukhnagar in Pakistan? Do you need a visa to go there? It is in my own city and my son is eking out a living by going [to work] every day by bus,” says an emotional Mughal, adding that the media wanted to play both judge and inquisitor. “Is it fair? I would not mind if they report facts, as we do not have anything to hide. But they insinuated so many things and made him a terror suspect. His whole life is spoilt. As it is, he is battling so many complications after the two blasts,’’ he says.

Mirza himself is still in disbelief about being a rare victim of two terror attacks. “Call it unfortunate or whatever, I seem to have been in the wrong place for the second time. I am told nobody else has been a victim of terror twice,’’ he says.

After his recovery from major injuries sustained in the Mecca Masjid blast, he started taking a city bus every day to Dilsukhnagar, six to seven kilometres from home, to earn about Rs 150-200 per day working as a salesman at a shoe shop. His routine was to leave home in the morning and come back late at night, even on Sundays. He says he was working to gain experience as he wanted to start his own business one day. After working at the shoe shop for a little over two years, he walked out two months ago because he did not get a pay hike. He then started working on the opposite side of the street with a friend hawking T-shirts on the pavement. Incidentally, he says, a few days before the blast, the police had cleared the footpaths of all hawkers, and only those who were not blocking the pavement were allowed to stay. The day the blast took place, there were fewer vendors on the footpath than usual.

“The media had it wrong when they asked why I visited that particular shop in Dilsukhnagar on that fateful day when my house was in another part of town. They started a campaign asking why the police had not made me a suspect in the Mecca blast too. Though I’ve been a permanent fixture at Dilsukhnagar for over two years now, they made it look like I was the one who planted the bomb or helped plant it and was injured even before I could run away. Saheb, I have experienced so much pain after the Mecca blast, would anyone in his right mind do such a thing? My life has already been ruined once. I am still carrying the scars and hundreds of foreign bodies and went through four painful operations [after the first blast],’’ he says.

The police have finally ruled out Mirza as a suspect, but this happened after intense interrogation. They even showed him hundreds of photographs and asked him to identify the people in them. “I had never seen any of them,” insists Mirza. “I was 18 then (at the time of the Mecca Masjid blast) and 24 now. I too want to live my life, become a successful businessman, get married and raise a family. I want to leave the past behind, but it’s haunting me.’’

Mirza studied till class 7 and later completed a vocational training course in automative electricals. In fact, he took the examination while recovering from the first blast. “But as I could not lift weights—even lifting a small automobile part was painful and took a lot of effort—I had to give up thoughts of working in that sector. That’s when I told Abba that I would like to join the family business,” says Mirza. Their small shoe shop is located in a commercial building close to the historic Mecca Masjid and most of the footwear for sale is strung along the building façade. Mughal, however, told his son that he was too young to get into business and did not have much experience either. That’s why Mirza ended up working as a Dilsukhnagar hawker. “It’s all Uparwaale ki marzi. Everything is in God’s hand. Yeh kismet ki baat hai ki I was injured for the second time in a bomb blast. I have no idea why He made me go through this a second time,” says Mirza.

Mughal, in the meantime, displays a one-inch long slim metal piece that was lodged in his son’s back. “This was removed, but there are still more inside. If it starts bothering me, I will have to get them removed by going in for another surgery,” says Mirza. In the last two weeks alone, he has undergone two surgeries of his back and thigh to remove foreign bodies. There are more lodged in the flesh between the skin and bones that cannot be removed easily. While the government has been regularly paying Mirza’s medical bills, he is unsure how long this will continue. His father is keen that Mirza be given a government job as compensation. “But, with my qualifications, I will only get a class-four job. I feel it is better to get into some business,’’ says Mirza.

Mughal says Mirza is already complaining of having become an exhibit. Strangers walk into their second floor barsaati in Kalapathar area of the old city and demand that he show them his injuries, medical papers and X-rays. “Everyone has an opinion. They do not realise what my son is going through. There are as many psychological scars apart from bodily ones.’’ Mughal is strong and articulate—and fiercely protective of his son.

But life must go on as usual, and Mirza is aware of that. Despite the many operations, Mirza realises that he must gather the strength to get back on his feet. “I am 24 now and I have a business and marriage to look forward to. I have lost a lot of weight, at least 15 kg after the Dilsukhnagar blasts. I want to recover fast and get back on my own own feet as I do not want to be a burden on my family,’’ he says.

He also adds that he is not a very religious person. “I go to the mosque to perform namaaz only when there is time. The police also asked me such questions. They showed me lots of photographs of suspects. They asked me if I had seen or noticed anything unusual that day. I want to tell everyone, especially the media, not to judge me. As a suspect, I have already been identified and stigmatised. I have faced lots of uncomfortable questions. But I have nothing to hide. The doubts have also been cleared by the police. Don’t brand me a terror suspect.’’

About The Author

Anil Budur Lulla