After a slight unrest in the morning the city had finally started to get back to its usual pace, i was on the road in a cab when a phone call from my home announced the news of two blasts, one after another at the Shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi (R.A) and I automatically switched into a panic mode, My first reaction was to inform all friends and family to reach home or stay safe. Within an hour of the news the whole city had started to shut off, shops being closed , fuel stations being barricaded, cars rushing in total panic.
An hour later i was home, i was anxious to get the latest news, the fear that the death toll may have been very high was getting on my nerves, but as soon as i was about to reach the TV remote my mom warned “Jamal don’t ! ” her eyes were red from crying ” The footage is unbearable “. That is exactly what happens each time there is a bomb blast in the country. The news channels blast out television screens with explicit, graphic insensitive imagery. Parts of human body drenched in blood, a head in a policeman’s hand as if its a trophy that you just got to find the culprit and yes any heads found must immediately belong to the suicide bomber and must be shown on all news channels. Yes I knew the news on TV would be all wrapped in imagery that would give any sane person nightmares for ages but i needed the news so the demon’s idiot box had to be turned on.
Ten people dead over 80 injured, mostly women and children and a missing child too and yes the two trophies were also found, the head of the suicide bomber which i am very sure will soon turn out to have belonged to an innocent victim because that is what usually happen to most of the found heads at a bomb site. But the ordeal of the day doesn’t end here, a news channel announces that educational institutes will remain closed for the following day, after which the educational ministry announces that schools will remain open. The two conflicting statements caused more confusion and calls from close family members started coming to me to confirm if the schools and their universities will remain closed or open sadly i was as clueless as they were because some privet schools had called parents telling them that their institution will actually remain closed. The only advice i gave them was to keep their kids home, and let them skip a day just to be on the safe side.
Most news channels are now showing our politicians either blaming it all on the inability of the other or pretending to be an expert in everything and knowing all in the world or just lamely being them selves.
The city on the other hand is again in a grip of some unrest and violence dotting tomorrows date with uncertainties, no one knows what the three day mourning announced would bring to the people of city the coming day and since it is Friday tomorrow most protests and the expected unrest would likely be after the Friday prayers in the afternoon.
but who knows what tomorrow morning brings for us while we grief the innocent lives that were lost, we cant even imagine the pain and trauma their family are going through right now and also of those 80 people who are injured and being treated at the moment. will the three day mourning, burning tires, violent protests, pelting stones at moving cars and setting them ablaze help ? I really doubt it would !
