Husband shares memories of the brave woman who met a tragic end

APS Principal Tahira Qazi

brave woman who met a tragic end

PESHAWAR: For Colonel (Retd) Qazi Zafarullah, the martyrdom of his wife, Tahira Qazi, late principal of Army Public School, is a source of satisfaction even though he is still trying to come to terms with the loss.

“She stood by me through thick and thin till her untimely death. I can call our 34 years of marital life as exemplary because she was my best friend besides being my wife and first cousin,” he remarked while remembering Tahira Qazi a year after the tragedy.

Tahira Qazi laid down her life while protecting her students and colleagues from the terrorists in the auditorium of the school on December 16, 2014. The government awarded her Sitara-i-Shujaat in recognition of her bravery.

She was among the 147 persons, including 122 schoolchildren, who were killed in the terrorist attack claimed by the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“We lived an ideal life. We never quarrelled and had no difference of opinion. The only thing on which we differed was television as she loved to watch dramas while I was fond of cricket,” recalled Qazi Zafarullah, who hails from Landi Arbab village in the provincial capital.

Talking to The News, he said he lost his world on that ill-fated day. He said he tried his best to forget the incident and restart normal life, but her fond memories keep flashing through his mind. Qazi Zafarullah said he will commemorate the first death anniversary of his wife on December 19 instead of December 16 as it will be a working day. “We will arrange Khatmul Quran, serve food and offer special prayers for her departed soul and for the martyred students and staffers,” he added.

Being an educationist and one of the founders of the Education Testing and Evaluation Authority (ETEA), Qazi Zafarullah said he knew the value of education. “My wife was a great educationist. Education was her hobby and she always thought and worked for the improvement of education,” he recalled.

Tahira Qazi had studied at the best institutions. She got her early education from Risalpur and did her graduation from Government Postgraduate College for Women, Mardan. She started teaching at Convent School and also did her B.Ed. In 1980, she did her master’s in English from the University of Peshawar and got married the same year. “She accompanied me during my postings at different places in the army and taught at schools,” Qazi Zafarullah said.

“When I was posted in Peshawar in 1994, she joined the newly established Army Public School as head of English department on the insistence of Corps Commander Lt Gen Ayaz. She was made vice-principal of the school and college in 2006 and later elevated as principal,” he added.

He remembered that she was given an extension in service after completing two tenures as principal. “I asked her not to take another extension at the end of her term in May as I thought she had grown old,” he pointed out.

Qazi Zafarullah recalled that his wife was in a hurry on that fateful day as she couldn’t prepare tea for him as was her routine. “I was talking with my elder sister who was visiting us when my younger son made a phone call to inform me about the school attack. I tried calling her, but she disconnected it. It made me realize that the situation was critical,” he said.

He said he went to the Combined Military Hospital as all roads to the school were blocked. “I somehow felt she is dead and kept waiting for her body. It was the last to be delivered at the hospital at 9 pm,” he recalled.

Qazi Zafarullah denied that Tahira Qazi’s body was burnt or disfigured. He said she received just one bullet in the head and only her coat on the side of left shoulder was burnt.

He explained that his wife knew how to use a gun. “When I was posted in Kashmir, she used to accompany me under fire from across the border. She was brave because she belonged to a brave family and was the wife of an army officer,” he remarked.

According to Qazi Zafarullah, the APS had faced threats since two years, but nobody expected that it will be attacked in such a manner. He said his wife used to take different routes to the school as per the directives from the Corps headquarters.

The couple had three children, a daughter and two sons, including one who was mentally challenged. “She took special care of our special child and enabled him to walk and speak,” Qazi Zafarullah pointed out.