In Loving Memory of Adnan Khawar

Posted by Amna on Oct 14, 2010 in Social, The Thought | 17 comments

This valued contribution has been made by Mariam Saeed Khan, in beloved memory of her dear friend Adnan Khawar. We sincerely pray that his soul may rest in peace. Ameen.

A person can only feel the pain of another person, if he goes through the same process in exactly the same way. If not for my dear family friend Adnan Khawar (late), I would not have googled World Health Organization for this article. According to the World Health Organization’s statistics, road traffic injuries cause an estimated 1,000 young people to die everyday. In the U.S. 7448 deaths until now have been recorded in the drunk driving accidents in 2010. Traffic crashes are second only to childhood infections and AIDS as a killer of people between the ages of 5 and 30. Each year, 1.2 million drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrains are killed in traffic crashes. It is reported by WHO, that by 2020, traffic deaths are expected to increase by 80 percent as hundreds of million of cars are added to the roads. On a lighter note, people who are ready to implement change in their lives, should just go ahead and sell their vehicles and make the habit of walking. Too early to wish for that perhaps, but maybe one day we would all be walking on roads when our fear of risking our lives would be on such an extreme that we will do anything to stop the accidents, specially the drunk-driving or hit-and-run accidents.

In Pakistan the situation is no different, as tells the story of the death of my friend Adnan Khawar. Adnan, along with three of his friends, was returning from a wedding when a drunken driver collided into another car smashing a pole. That pole fell on Adnan’s car which unfortunately he was driving and pierced his head, killing him instantly. Fortunately the three friends that were with him survived and are well. This article is dedicated to honoring Adnan’s memory and raising awareness about the larger issue of drunk driving and hit-and-run.

On 2nd December 2009 , Daily News published an article to report this accident’s aftermath. It said “around 200 students of Beaconhouse Defence Campus protested in front of the Masjid Chowk for three hours to raise their voice against Adnan’s death. These students alleged that the police were protecting the accused- the brother of a Member National Assembly (MNA)- who was drunk when his car crashed into Adnan’s car.” This has not been proven yet and in our country once the case is closed, its not looked at beyond that. An innocent soul gets killed, his family mourns, a few people protest but not for long. Life goes on, the tragedy forgotten. Protesting is not the solution to a serious matter here. Serious action should be taken to stop innocent people dying every other day. Who knows , tomorrow it will be me or one of you who is the victim here? Is THAT when our friends and family will perceive the gravity of this appalling situation?

However, according to the Daily News article, “The police had arrested the accused but the family of the deceased had refused to file charges against them or to have an autopsy conducted. It said the police had to release the accused, adding that action could still be taken if the family demanded.” So when things get beyond our control and if politicians are involved, then the families have to surrender peacefully, because the government might just come back for the family who raised their voiced. So in order to avoid the violence, one must not be emotionally charged here and should let it go just like that, if you want peaceful justice. Who wants things to get nasty, anyway…

What I knew about Adnan a.k.a V for Vendetta (AD), since the time i got to know him as we were family friends: he was always a sweet, loving and a boy with a witty sense of humour. He always had a smile on his face even few hours before his abrupt and unexpected death. The first time i saw him it was more than a decade ago, he was wearing his shorts and had this toy gun. He came to pick his sister from our place, a shy, skinny boy running here and there playing with that gun. On the other occasions, whenever we used to play with the basketball, it was fun. When we played kiddy games, he made sure I did not lose the game or have that sad smile after losing. Although the time I shared with him was short when we were growing up , but those were some of my the best memories. And fast forward some years, Facebook happened! Those gap years did not matter anymore. Everything was as it were just like before. He was always there to help. Even though he is gone now, I believe that he is watching us. And those who knew little about him, always remembered him as a Pro Video Gamer and the boy with the smile! Our loss his huge and we miss Adnan a lot =(

His sister Amna Khawar said : “It was a joy to see him grow up from a chubby little baby to a young 17 year old boy full of life. Even though he is not with us anymore I am consoled by the fact that throughout his life he was always loved dearly by everyone around him and lived a full and happy life during his short stay in this world.”

Through this article I want to create awareness and give you people an idea about the seriousness of this global problem- drunk driving road accidents. It would not take much to save millions of lives that are lost every year, given that we follow the simple rules while taking precautionary steps. So the next time you think of driving after drinking, don’t because you can be the next Adnan or the victim’s family. However we are the part of this society and would not do much about the situation unless and until we experience it first hand. I won’t stop but i would just say you are just being ungrateful for this life you have.

The above profile picture from the Facebook group “ In the loving memory of Adnan Khawar” is the last picture of Adnan from the wedding he attended hours before the accident. Below is the poem i wrote for him.

“Soul of the Departed World ”
In the dark corner, I sit and weep.
Tears rolling down my cheeks,
Unable to accept this, I cried more and became numb!
Until I could not feel anything inside.
Until the truth really hit me hard.
It was too late.
His shadow disappeared in the whirlwind,
That was too fast and rapid.
Making his world shatter into pieces,
Leaving behind memories.
The ticking of clock and the childhood time,
all came back in a flash.
Playing with the basketball and the toy guns.
The innocence and memories of past were still there.
And the new memories of the past months,were fresh.
But the time was moving on with this selfish and cruel world!
From where you are ,you will be truly missed here.
Until we all meet you again!
Adnan- The soul of the departed world. :’-(

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