Hajja Salesjana - Oct-Dec 2021

H AJJA S ALESJANA 12 Akash Bashir's life is surprisingly ordinary. Born into a humble family of deep and sincere faith, Akash was a Catholic lad and a Salesian past pupil. He had studied at one of our Salesian schools in Pakistan in Youhanabad, the Christian quarter of the city of Lahore. Akash led a life just like that of any other young person of our world. It was spent with his family and friends, at school and work, playing sports, and in prayer. Of course, in a country like Pakistan, which is of a conservative Muslim faith, being a young Catholic is no little matter for faith is not just a title or a family tradition, it is an identity. What made him different was a simple but significant common thread throughout his life: that of service. Every moment of Akash's life was an act of service; in fact, he died serving his neighbourhood community. He served and gave of himself to the point of giving his very life. On March 15, 2015, while Mass was being celebrated in St. John's Parish in Youhanabad, the group of security guards made up of young volunteers, to which Akash Bashir belonged, faithfully guarded the entrance. Something unusual happened that day, Akash realized that a person with explosives under his clothes sought to blow himself up inside the church. He held him back, spoke to him, and prevented him from entering, but realizing that he could not stop him, he told him, "I will not let you pass even if I have to give up my life." At that moment, Akash hugged him tightly, using his body as a shield to contain the explosion. Thus, it was — the suicide bomber set off the charge. Our young alumnus died, offering his own life to save the lives of the hundreds of people, boys, girls, mothers, adolescents, and men who were praying at that time inside the church. Akash was only 20 years old. This event deeply impressed us as Salesians and the Salesian Family. Naturally, we are unable to and do not want to forget young Akash. His simple, normal life, we would say, is undoubtedly a very meaningful, important, and momentous example for young Christians living in Lahore, and throughout both Pakistan and our Salesian world. His mother said, “Akash was a piece of my heart. But our happiness is greater than our pain because he did not die because he was an addict or in an accident. He was a simple youth who died on the Lord’s road, saving the priest and the parishioners. Akash is already our saint.” Today, Akash’s younger brother, Arsalan, is part of the security team in their church. “We did not stop him because we did not want to impede our children from serving the Church,” his mother stated. by Don Angel Fernandez Artime, Rector Major The extraordinary story of Akash Bashir