My Beautiful Rizwan

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A very moving piece of writing indeed!

it `s very brave of you to recall good and pleasent memories in this time of grief.he is nomore,he would not come back but pleasent moments is your treasure.god bless you.

Dear Samina:
Your husband`s devotion to his job and your devotion to him makes me feel proud of the Air force. Shaheeds never die, so I will not condole you. I think I speak on behalf of all Pakistanis: we pray that you and your kids live the dignified example set by Air Commodore Rizwanullah Khan.

“It won’t happen. My Pakistan will prosper someday, you will see”
The dream will become true as long as there are still more RIZWANS left in pakistan. Inshallah.

Samina,

This is quite moving. Your husband sounds like he was a wonderful person. And, my condolences and prayers are with you and your khandan.

Samina, I can feel your grief from the article. All I can say is that you can always be proud of your husband and cherish the fond memories and the love that you shared. Now the responsibility is on you to bring up your children to be good human beings so they can match the high standards set by their father. I am sure that they will grow up and be honourable persons like their father and will uphold all that he stood for.

JudaeeyoN ke zakhm, dard-e-zindagi ne bhar diye
tujhe bhi neend aa gayee mujhe bhi sabr aa gaya

pukarti haiN fursateN kahaN gayeeN voh sohbateN
zameeN nigal gayee unheN ke aasmaan kha gaya

ye kiss khushi ki rait per ghamoN ko neeNd aa gayee
voh lehr kiss taraf gayee ye maiN kahaN sama gaya

(Nasir Kazmi)

Samina, I received the draft concept paper as well as your article “My Beautiful Rizwan” simultaneously. I guess I should have gone through the concept paper first and then anything else. However, I have been following my heart ever since I knew how to follow. It is beautifully written. There appears no vetting of the article. It is flowing: flowing directly from the heart. There are not very many people living on the globe who could have that kind of fluent expression of emotions at hand. That is not the only impressive thing in your writing.
This is a difficult situation. Your article starts when he was 23. My detail of experience with him ends when he was in his 22nd year (he graduated from Risalpur in his 22nd). We were together in PAF College Sargodha from 1973 to 1977 and then until 1978 at Risalpur when he graduated from there. He joined us at Sargodha from Cadet College, Hasan Abdal. I hope there is one of his contemporary at Hasan Abdal out there from who responds to this.
We were in the same house at Sargodha. When he joined us after his matric from Cadet College, Hasan Abdal, we were in dire need of strength in our house. Mine was a cursed entry then. In 1971, three East Pakistanis left us. In September 1973, 11 more of my entry left us for not succeeding in ISSB or CMB (Combine Military Board). We were just 3 left out of 17. We, three were waiting for someone to strengthen us. He came on time.
When he joined Alauddin House in 1973, its position was 6th amongst 6 houses. When he left the college as Under Officer Alauddin House, it was on top. He had the charisma of leadership even when he was a boy.
He was the most hardworking boy of the college. Nobody had ever seen him missing an activity. He was organized to the bone. He was never sick. The only thing he would do away from the college routine was write long letters to his father, who was a POW in India. I remember when his father was to return from India and he was proceeding on leave, he had almost same somber face that he always had.
I had already spent 3 years in the college when he joined. There is some difficulty for the fresh entrant in a public school system. I found him adjusted to the environment almost immediately. We were in different sections at the academic block. I did not have a lot to share as far as studies are concerned. I know he was amongst the brightest of his section. In a public school system, studies constitute a small segment of daily activities. The major grooming occurs in the house, at the sports ground, at the movies and at the co-curricular activities. We shared a lot of time there. However, one thing that he did not share with us was going to the city on French leave. I was the one who broke bounds whenever, possible. He was the one who achieved goals while staying within the bounds. The difference in means never came in the way of friendship. While proceeding on vacation, I would always route my way to Pakpattan through Lahore when his late father was posted there after his return in 1974. During long vacation, we would share a number of letters. I don’t remember what all we would write to each other.
Those were the days of innocence for us. His days of innocence stretched to 20th February 2003.
I had hopes in him. I knew he would make the CAS one day. I knew the PAF would have a turn around when he makes it to that rank. It made me angry when I heard of the crash. I can make out now (when it has been more than a month) that it was not pain that caused the anger, it was helplessness.
Humans follow mainly three cultural value systems. These cultural value systems depend on (1) what is the attitude toward the innate character of human nature? (2) What is the proper relation of human beings to nature? (3) What is their sense of time (4) what is their attitude toward activity? And (5) what is their attitude toward social relationships? Mine and Rizwan’s cultural value systems matched except when we came to the 2nd question. He believed in submission to nature and thus the belief that life is determined by Fate. On the contrary, I believed (and still do) that we must try and master over nature and try control & challenge nature. It is our own follies that make us fail. It was this belief of mine that made me angry over the incident. I won’t go over the details on what has been going on between me and my course mates over this.
I am sorry to have no choice but to agree with hamzan who responded to Samina’s article almost instantly. Rizwan, Mushaf, Razzaq and Salim Nawaz had kindled hopes in my hearts that our geographical frontiers would be defended when time came. I did not believe in the indispensability of humans. After this crash, I do believe that PAF would not be what it could have been unless, of course, it learns a lesson and overhauls itself.
Samina, I, along with my course mates are with you in your mission to contribute to the welfare of Pakistan that Rizwan dreamed.

Samina......
thankyou for sharing this...it was ...true....and truth is beautiful....

i hope you and your family get through this time the way your husband would have wanted you to......

please do visit chowk often.....

Having lost two of our leading tribal members (brothers), the former Mujahid Commanders of the Jihad against former Soviet Union to cowardly acts in Afghanistan subsequent to 9/11, I will rise up and salute a Pakistani Shaheed anytime, anywhere.

I am witness to Pakistanis challenging the death itself in their courage and embracing the refugees in the true spirit of Ansaar-e-Medina in hospitality.

My daughter sings a Pakistani song quite often after watching it play on TV. I am sure she does not understand a bit of it, as do her parents, but it conveys the meaning:

Shaheed kee jo Mawt hay woh qaum ha sabaat hay

(meaning: death of a shaheed is continuity/steadfastness of a nation??)

Samina Saheba: Thank you very much for sharing this. May Allah (swt) guide us to the path of His chosen ones.

that was a powerful article..you made me cry lady!

Shaheed Rizwan lives forever. Mrs. Rizwan, parting is only temporary.

When in February, that plane was downed, a lot of people, with live conscience, pointed the finger at the usual suspect. Please keep in mind that Air Marshal Mir Mus`hif Ali Khan protested when Musharaf decided to handover air bases in Paksitan to US. He even resigned and did not go to his office for a month. He was one of the severest critic of Mushraf`s decision. Air Marshal Mr. Khan, AC Rizwan and several others died for us; they died for the sovereignity of Pakistan; they died because they refused the thousand prosterations (in Iqbal`s words). I as a Pakistani demand full investigation of this heineous crime and demand that the results of this investigation be made public. I demand the government to name the names of the killers.

my condolances on your loss.god may bless you and your kids,give you strength to face this world.both of you were kucky to have such a nice time to gather

Mrs. Rizwan, I`m not sure how anything I could say would do justice to your article. Though if it`s anything, he must have been a truly extraordinary man to have his companion celebrate his memory rather than mourn it. Fi aman Allah.

my condolences... I hope your husband didn`t become an unwitting victim of some anti-shia conspiracy brewing the ranks of a bitterly divided pak Army!