10 January 2014
Aitzaz Hassan, I salute your memory.
It's at times like this I wish the silly stories in the bible were true, because we have today found the greatest, most-selfless hero in all human history - Aitzaz Hassan - someone who would be sitting on the right hand of god, even in preference to Jeebus, if such a thing existed.
In the real world, let's hope the story of this 15-year-old boy provides a check on the activities of the Taliban, because what he did is so astonishing that any person with even a single cell of compassion could not be stunned into submission by his actions.
Aitzaz was walking to school when picked that there was something fishy when someone in his own school's uniform asked the way to school, so he rugby-tackled the man when he tried to enter the school, as his friends ran away. The man then detonated the bomb he was concealing, blowing himself and Aitzaz to bits.
The most courageous part of the story is that Aitzaz, coming from where he did in Pakistan must have known exactly what he was getting into - he knew with 100% certainty that he was likely to die, but did not flinch, determined to save his classmates and friends from the evil and devastation of a suicide bomb.
I don't know whether the Nobel Peace Prize can be given posthumously, but if it can't, they need to change the rules double quick, because there will never be a more deserving recipient.
I would like to think that the stupid old bat in Buck House gets off her scrawny arse and awards Aitzaz a posthumous George Cross today.*
Whatever you're doing today, take a moment and have a think about Aitzaz Hassan.
If you live to 1000, you will never hear of a more courageous individual, or selfless act.
Aitzaz Hassan, I salute you!
Copyright © Alan Charman