لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله
كلام يدمي القلب.
- "Saiyed Ehsanullah . (drehsan)" <
[email protected] (drehsan%40cyber.net.pk)> wrote:
Alhamdolillah we are safe. But thausands of cars, buses and trucks
and trailers have been burnt down. Railway engines and trains burnt.
Police stations, govt buildings, fire stations and 175 banks have
been looted and burnt. Many shops even those which were closed have
been looted. All law enforcement agencies are sleeping. it seems to
be a conspiracy. By whom?
May Allah save pakistan.
Ehsan
-- < > wrote:
Fwd: Trapped on December 27
Yesterday had been a day which I can never forget even if I would
want to forget it. I don't know if I should count myself as a
fortunate or unfortunate one. If I remember those gloomy moments of
uncertainty then I feel that I was the most unfortunate one at that
time given the tension in Karachi in the aftermath of Benazir
Bhutto's assassination. But now when I am safe and sound, I consider
myself lucky enough to have survived and reached back home safely,
though I was a mere arm's length from tragedy.
Let me share those moments with you. I left my office near PIDC at my
usual time of six in the evening. At that time I knew that there had
been some killings earlier in the day, because of an attack on Nawaz
Sharif's convoy, but had no idea about Benazir's assassination. My
mother picked me up from office and as per our plan made earlier in
the day we went to Capital Market (near Regal Chowk in Saddar) for
some work. I was inside the Capital Market shopping plaza when all of
a sudden I heard shouting and screaming and people running around and
shutting down all the shutters and gates of the shopping centre. I
had no clue as to why it all was happening. Suddenly some guys came
and asked me to shut down all shops immediately.
I was in Zareen House (a large shop which could easily accommodate
many people) at that time. We were trapped inside there with many
other people who were out there for shopping. Most of them were women
and children and all of us were scared as we had not the slightest
clue as to why all this was happening. Then one of the people in the
shop received a phone call informing him that Benazir has been
killed. We were in a state of shock – we were trapped inside a
shopping plaza and we could hear firing around in its near vicinity.
It was impossible to get out at that time. The toughest moment was to
make a decision: should we leave the shopping plaza knowing that
outside it was dangerous with a mob setting tyres on fire or should
we stay put and leave after a couple of hours when things may have
calmed down a bit? I came to the decision that the best thing would
be to head for home instead of staying inside trapped where we were.
I just can't explain the fear I had in my heart at that minute. We
were two women – me and my mother – and we had to drive all the way
from Saddar to Bahadurabad in the midst of all the firing and
rioting. Before leaving the plaza I recited all the prayers that I
know and it might sound crazy or funny but I sought forgiveness for
all my sins.
We ventured out of the shopping plaza at around seven and for the
next two hours we were stuck at the very same place. It was something
more than a traffic jam because for two hours not one car even moved
a foot. By this time the streetlights went out and there were no
lights at all – except of course the headlights of the cars trapped
there. This was the time when I felt scared the most. I was getting
calls from my family that people were being killed and that vehicles
were being set on fire especially in places where there were traffic
jams. Fortunately, my mother was able to reverse the car and we went
through an alternate way – but there was heavy traffic everywhere. On
our way we were so panic-stricken and scared that we asked a police
man driving a police van for help. His reply was: 'Bibi hum tau khud
apni jaan bacha kar ghar bhaag rahay hain. Aap bhi yehi karein aur
ghar bhagein. Hamein bhi ghar jana hai'. I mean this was the height –
the police is supposed to provide protection to its citizens but two
women asking for a little guidance were being left to fend for
themselves.
Somehow we managed to escape from the traffic and took an alternate
way from St. Joseph 's college towards the FTC but when we reached
the FTC the road was full of burning tyres and people with sticks in
their hands were roaming around. We then decided to take an
alternative route which took us through the Lines Area. Much to my
surprise, things seemed pretty much normal in that area. The stores,
and even some tandoors, were open and people were out on street.
Compared to this, the rest of the city which we travelled through was
pitch dark with no signs of street lights or the police or rangers.
We managed to reach our home by ten at night and my first reaction
was of utter disbelief – that we managed to make it back to our home
safe and sound. This was the first time that I felt I had experienced
death at close range because much of the time while going home I kept
thinking that I could die any minute – and believe me this feeling is
not good.
Looking back, I am perplexed and have so many unanswered questions in
my mind. What is our future in this country? I did computer
engineering and won several medals but what is this all worth when
living in such a country brings so much uncertainty and
unpredictability? When will our Dark Ages end? Is this the dream of
the Quaid-e-Azam?
A citizen
Karachi