Least expected funeral prayer for martyr’s pal

Manama

 It has been a week since Special Security Force Command of Bahrain (SSFC) soldier Hamid Rasool lost his life in Sitra blast, but his schoolmate Moon Dhothar is still struggling to get over the grief of losing his dear friend.

 Though both of them were always in contact, meeting each other had become difficult due to work pressure on both sides.

 Dhothar recalls how they came close to meeting each other during a funeral prayer held at their hometown in Pakistan in February. Both the friends were in Pakistan attending the prayer at the location, but didn’t know about it until later.

 And at that moment, never did he expect in his wildest dreams, a similar funeral prayer would be held the same year in the name of his friend, and that, he would not even be allowed to pay a visit.

 “I missed his funeral prayer since public was not allowed. I tried my best, but it was just not written in my fate,” lamented Dhothar, who is also working in Bahrain as an IT expert.

 The last time they contacted was during Eid, when both of them exchanged greetings. But again, they could not talk much due to their busy schedules.

 “Sometimes, he remained busy and other days I was busy. Of late, our communication remained to phone calls and Facebook chat only. This was all due to our work pressures,” said Moon, who studied with Hamid until matriculation.

 “Earlier, we used to visit each other’s home regularly. Even now, whenever we talk, he invites me to his house. But I always missed the chances of meeting him,” he said.

 After the completion of matriculation in Pakistan, Hamid joined commerce stream, while Moon selected technical education. But both of them finally landed in Bahrain. “I reached here in 2009. Within almost one year, Hamid also got a job as SSFC soldier in the Kingdom,” he said.

 Moon said Hamid had a sweet personality, just like the name of his village back in his home town – Chak Mitha (Mitha means sweet in Urdu) in Punjab province.

  “The criminals who killed my best friend will definitely get the right punishment,” he added.