Meher Muhammad Khaleel was the biggest Hero for the entire Sri Lanka during 2009 terror attack on Sri Lanka team, as he single handedly escaped team bus away from the horrific incident. the man who was driving the bus to Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on March 3, 2009 – Day 3 of the second Test Match – when the Sri Lankan team came under a terror attack suspected to have been carried out by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Six members of the Lankan team were injured, six Pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed.
“It’s so easy for people to say play here but only those who went through that experience can understand that: Khauf and dehshat jo beeti hai unpey, (fear and terror that they went through) is not easy to forget,” said Khaleel, speaking to The Indian Express in a telephone interview. “I can understand that. But my request to them is that the situation is better: army is with you, our people are with you, and you will be safe.”
Recalling the day, Khaleel said that when the attackers opened fire, he thought it was celebratory fireworks. But soon he saw, in the mirror, that the Sri Lankan players had dived to either side of the aisle.
He said he then saw a man on the street shoot at the bus. “Kalashinikov tha — one went through the glass, one flew by, and I heard the players say, ‘Go, go, go’. It jolted me and I decided to drive ahead. To rush ahead an eight-cylinder bus on second gear wasn’t easy but I knew I had to escape the scene. They were 10-15 of them, I think, and grouped in twos.”
Later, after a few hours, he heard that the Sri Lankans, who were taken to the airbase, said they wouldn’t leave the country without thanking him. Khaleel was at the police station then, and the Pakistan Cricket Board took him to the players. “Muralitharan, Sangakkara, Mendis, Samaraweera, Mahela were there, and they gave me so much love and respect — they also stuffed whatever money they had in an envelope and gave it to me.”
Khaleel would later go as guest of honour to Sri Lanka and spend 10 days there meeting with families of all cricketers. “When I went to a public function or even to shopping in a mall, I remember people shouting, ‘Hero! Hero! Hero!’ It felt really good. I was also invited for dinner with their president.”
Curtsey : Indian Express
