Mashal’s sister gets degree from Toronto varsity
Muqaddam Khan Published June 28, 2026 Updated about 20 hours ago
SWABI: Iqbal Khan, father of Storee Saba Iqbal, who completed her graduation in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada, on June 19, has said that nearly a decade ago his son, Mashal Khan, was dragged out of his hostel room and lynched to death in a false blasphemy case in the campus of Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, but now “my daughter turned the grief into strength and I feel proud over her tremendous accomplishment.”
“However, I never forget the moment when the mutilated body of my son reached home,” he told Dawn, adding that he was so severely beaten to death by a rowdy mob that in the first attempt, her mother said: This is not the body of my beloved son.
As he was recalling the tragic day, tears of grief were pouring down his cheeks.
“Saba’s success is a landmark achievement and it may work as inspiration for various other crisis-ridden girls of all Pashtun regions in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he said while buying sweets in the Zaida city market because they were expecting their relatives and well-wishers to visit their home to congratulate Saba Iqbal’s extraordinary success.
Mashal was terribly beaten before being murdered by an unruly crowd of his fellow students, and his body was also mutilated in April 2017.
As the news of Saba Iqbal’s success was shared here, social media exploded with her outstanding feat of completing graduation in journalism from a leading Canadian university.
“Congratulations to Saba Iqbal and her family, and all of us,” said Jalil Ahmad Khan, a human rights activist. “The house, which was immersed in darkness, now, Saba of the same abode, illuminated it as she upheld the principle of extraordinary hard work. This is a great success in a time when the Taliban have kept depriving girls of contemporary education.”
“Mashal Khan was also a student of the journalism department. His dreams were shattered, and his voice was silenced, and he was not allowed to reach the climax of his life,” Iqbal Khan said, adding that, his sister has completed the journey that Mashal was forced to leave unfinished, making it clear that ideas remain safe in people’s minds and they cannot be destroyed.
“I was a ninth-grade student when the heartbreaking incident involving my brother occurred. I pledged to myself on that terrifying day that I would make my brother’s dream come true. Today I am the proud sister of my brother as I completed my graduation on June 19. When I return home, I will drive first to the Mashal’s mausoleum to pay homage to my brother,” she told Dawn from Toronto.
The young girl said: “My father believes in the power of knowledge, imparting modern education to his all children, especially the daughters.”
She remarked: “After my brother’s painful death, we faced so unimaginable grave threat that we were forced to give up our education.”
Answering a question, she said: “My family believes in community service and I chose journalism to tell the truth because we want that another innocent does not become victim like my brother.”
Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2026
https://www.dawn.com/news/2011320/masha ... to-varsity
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Venezuelan rescue brings hope to nation in mourning
Paula RAMON
Thu, July 2, 2026 at 11:58 AM
Hernan Gil survived nearly eight days trapped beneath the ruins of a partially collapsed building in Venezuela before being extricated Thursday in a dramatic operation involving rescuers from seven countries.
The 43-year-old security guard has become a symbol of hope for a nation in mourning after one of the worst earthquakes in Latin American history.
Now only remote chances exist for finding more survivors from the two earthquakes that killed nearly 2,300, destroyed entire residential buildings and left tens of thousands missing.
After a dramatic operation launched on Monday, Gil emerged in Catia La Mar, in the state of La Guaira, the area hardest hit by the June 24 earthquakes.
"I am completely surprised. It's the first time I've seen so many countries come together like this for a single cause, to save one person," his wife Gusbimar Gonzalez said. "This is truly a miracle."
Gonzalez nervously watched the rescue operation throughout.
"He wasn't hurt, he has no trauma, he managed to hide under a table and a chair," she said shortly before he emerged to the applause and cheers of his rescuers.
Gil was taken out on a stretcher and transferred to an ambulance that transported him to Caracas, 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.
Gil was brought out through a tunnel about three meters (10 feet) long. In the final phase of the operation, about 30 people worked in the building's parking lot removing debris, while two rescuers dug the tunnel.
Rescuers from seven countries -- Venezuela, Chile, the United States, Portugal, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Mexico -- were involved in the painstaking operation.
Gil was trapped in the security booth of the seven-story building where he worked as a guard in Catia La Mar.
"The movement caused the booth to shift; it became trapped between the walls," his wife, with whom he has a 10-year-old son, told AFP.
Rescuers learned on Sunday there was a man alive in the rubble of the partially destroyed building.
Gil is among the few people who have been miraculously rescued days after the earthquakes.
But chances of finding anyone alive beneath deep rubble dwindles rapidly after a critical 72-hour window for rescuing trapped people.
The rescue crews had set up bases at the site to work day and night to pull out Gil.
They shored up the building's foundations with wood and steel to prevent the partially destroyed structure from collapsing further.
Venezuela has been hit by a string of aftershocks since the initial earthquakes.
An initial plan to build a 60-by-60-centimeter (24-by-24-inch) tunnel was discarded on Tuesday when the building shifted slightly.
"This is a rather complicated structure to access," Chilean rescuer Cristian Vera told AFP.
"With very large pillars...It wasn't easy to reach the exact spot."
On Wednesday, rescuers advanced along two routes simultaneously to reach Gil.
Their efforts were rewarded Thursday when Gil emerged from the rubble, as rescuers cheered, hugged and crowded around the man they worked so hard to save.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/wo ... 57378.html
Paula RAMON
Thu, July 2, 2026 at 11:58 AM
Hernan Gil survived nearly eight days trapped beneath the ruins of a partially collapsed building in Venezuela before being extricated Thursday in a dramatic operation involving rescuers from seven countries.
The 43-year-old security guard has become a symbol of hope for a nation in mourning after one of the worst earthquakes in Latin American history.
Now only remote chances exist for finding more survivors from the two earthquakes that killed nearly 2,300, destroyed entire residential buildings and left tens of thousands missing.
After a dramatic operation launched on Monday, Gil emerged in Catia La Mar, in the state of La Guaira, the area hardest hit by the June 24 earthquakes.
"I am completely surprised. It's the first time I've seen so many countries come together like this for a single cause, to save one person," his wife Gusbimar Gonzalez said. "This is truly a miracle."
Gonzalez nervously watched the rescue operation throughout.
"He wasn't hurt, he has no trauma, he managed to hide under a table and a chair," she said shortly before he emerged to the applause and cheers of his rescuers.
Gil was taken out on a stretcher and transferred to an ambulance that transported him to Caracas, 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.
Gil was brought out through a tunnel about three meters (10 feet) long. In the final phase of the operation, about 30 people worked in the building's parking lot removing debris, while two rescuers dug the tunnel.
Rescuers from seven countries -- Venezuela, Chile, the United States, Portugal, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Mexico -- were involved in the painstaking operation.
Gil was trapped in the security booth of the seven-story building where he worked as a guard in Catia La Mar.
"The movement caused the booth to shift; it became trapped between the walls," his wife, with whom he has a 10-year-old son, told AFP.
Rescuers learned on Sunday there was a man alive in the rubble of the partially destroyed building.
Gil is among the few people who have been miraculously rescued days after the earthquakes.
But chances of finding anyone alive beneath deep rubble dwindles rapidly after a critical 72-hour window for rescuing trapped people.
The rescue crews had set up bases at the site to work day and night to pull out Gil.
They shored up the building's foundations with wood and steel to prevent the partially destroyed structure from collapsing further.
Venezuela has been hit by a string of aftershocks since the initial earthquakes.
An initial plan to build a 60-by-60-centimeter (24-by-24-inch) tunnel was discarded on Tuesday when the building shifted slightly.
"This is a rather complicated structure to access," Chilean rescuer Cristian Vera told AFP.
"With very large pillars...It wasn't easy to reach the exact spot."
On Wednesday, rescuers advanced along two routes simultaneously to reach Gil.
Their efforts were rewarded Thursday when Gil emerged from the rubble, as rescuers cheered, hugged and crowded around the man they worked so hard to save.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/wo ... 57378.html
Re: AMAZING STORIES
https://www.quora.com/?qv_src=email
“A poor elderly couple who had lived on rent for 40 years suddenly passed away on the same day… When their room was cleared, an old tin box kept under their cot brought the entire neighborhood to tears.”
“Sir… if one of us passes away before the other, please don’t evict the one who remains…” Every month, while paying the rent, Ramlal Kaka would say this.
I would laugh and reply, “Kaka, both of you will live to be a hundred.” Sitting beside him, Shanta Kaki would just smile.
They had been married for fifty-five years. No son… No daughter… No relatives who would even check on them during festivals.
They had only each other.
Every morning, Kaka sold flowers outside the temple. Kaki stitched old clothes at home.
In the evening, they ate together from the same steel plate.
The whole neighborhood called them “the poor old couple.” But no one had ever seen them argue.
One cold morning, their door didn’t open.
Neighbors called out. There was no response.
The door was broken open.
What they saw inside made everyone cry.
Ramlal Kaka was lying on the cot… and Shanta Kaki, holding his hand, had fallen asleep forever beside him.
It felt as if they had told death itself— “If you come, come for both of us… If we go, we’ll go together.”
After the funeral, it was time to clear the room.
The cot was removed.
Underneath it was an old tin box.
Everyone assumed… it must contain their life savings.
The box was opened.
Inside were just two pairs of old clothes… a broken bangle… and hundreds of envelopes.
Each envelope had a date written on it.
The first one was opened.
It read: “Shanta, today I had enough money to buy you a sari… but I had to pay the school fees of the rickshaw driver’s daughter. Please don’t be upset. I will surely get you one next year.”
The second envelope: “Ramlal, the doctor says the medicine is necessary. I didn’t buy mine. Let your cough get better first… I will take care of myself later.”
The third… The fourth… The fifth…
Every envelope was an unfinished love letter written for each other.
They never gave these letters to one another.
Perhaps… because they didn’t want the other to cry.
At the very bottom was the last envelope.
On it was written: “The day we are no longer together…”
With trembling hands, I opened it.
Inside was just one line:
“If we never had children… so what? God is our witness… we have left our share in the children of the whole world.”
Inside that same envelope were fifty receipts.
Someone’s school fees. Someone’s medical bills. Someone’s books. Someone’s wedding help—given secretly.
At that moment, the neighborhood doctor broke down in tears.
“My first medical college fee… was paid by them. And I never even knew…”
Then a teacher stepped forward… Then a police officer… Then a nurse…
One by one, dozens of people came forward.
Tears filled everyone’s eyes.
The old couple whom the neighborhood thought was poor…
turned out to be the richest of all.
Because they had little money…
but hearts so big…
that the entire neighborhood lived inside them.
“A poor elderly couple who had lived on rent for 40 years suddenly passed away on the same day… When their room was cleared, an old tin box kept under their cot brought the entire neighborhood to tears.”
“Sir… if one of us passes away before the other, please don’t evict the one who remains…” Every month, while paying the rent, Ramlal Kaka would say this.
I would laugh and reply, “Kaka, both of you will live to be a hundred.” Sitting beside him, Shanta Kaki would just smile.
They had been married for fifty-five years. No son… No daughter… No relatives who would even check on them during festivals.
They had only each other.
Every morning, Kaka sold flowers outside the temple. Kaki stitched old clothes at home.
In the evening, they ate together from the same steel plate.
The whole neighborhood called them “the poor old couple.” But no one had ever seen them argue.
One cold morning, their door didn’t open.
Neighbors called out. There was no response.
The door was broken open.
What they saw inside made everyone cry.
Ramlal Kaka was lying on the cot… and Shanta Kaki, holding his hand, had fallen asleep forever beside him.
It felt as if they had told death itself— “If you come, come for both of us… If we go, we’ll go together.”
After the funeral, it was time to clear the room.
The cot was removed.
Underneath it was an old tin box.
Everyone assumed… it must contain their life savings.
The box was opened.
Inside were just two pairs of old clothes… a broken bangle… and hundreds of envelopes.
Each envelope had a date written on it.
The first one was opened.
It read: “Shanta, today I had enough money to buy you a sari… but I had to pay the school fees of the rickshaw driver’s daughter. Please don’t be upset. I will surely get you one next year.”
The second envelope: “Ramlal, the doctor says the medicine is necessary. I didn’t buy mine. Let your cough get better first… I will take care of myself later.”
The third… The fourth… The fifth…
Every envelope was an unfinished love letter written for each other.
They never gave these letters to one another.
Perhaps… because they didn’t want the other to cry.
At the very bottom was the last envelope.
On it was written: “The day we are no longer together…”
With trembling hands, I opened it.
Inside was just one line:
“If we never had children… so what? God is our witness… we have left our share in the children of the whole world.”
Inside that same envelope were fifty receipts.
Someone’s school fees. Someone’s medical bills. Someone’s books. Someone’s wedding help—given secretly.
At that moment, the neighborhood doctor broke down in tears.
“My first medical college fee… was paid by them. And I never even knew…”
Then a teacher stepped forward… Then a police officer… Then a nurse…
One by one, dozens of people came forward.
Tears filled everyone’s eyes.
The old couple whom the neighborhood thought was poor…
turned out to be the richest of all.
Because they had little money…
but hearts so big…
that the entire neighborhood lived inside them.