Karachi violence: Gunshots on bus U-10

The gunman triggered the pistol, with a sharp pull and shot at the tyres of my bus.

Saadia Qamar March 28, 2012
It is frightening to even think what one human can do to another.

Getting late for work in the morning, on March 27, I was unaware that my city was already bleeding when I jumped onto a bus called the U-10. We were motioning slowly and gradually until we reached a spot near Tipu Sultan road.

From nowhere, a man appeared in front of the bus with a gun in his hand and yelled out to all the passengers, to get off the bus.

In a gust of panic, people started rushing out and the driver giving in to fake assumption motioned as if he, too, was getting off the bus.

But interestingly, he did not.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I still did not get a chance to get off the bus.

The bus driver then challenged the lone gunman and geared ahead, without fearing the possibility of losing his life or that of the fellow passengers, he was bent upon saving his vehicle!

So much for the material things in life! But then again, his bus earned him his bread and butter.

The gunman triggered the pistol, with a sharp pull and shot at the tyres of the bus; that did nothing to stop the enraged driver. Some people felt extremely scared and out of panic the women passengers started crying.  Getting ready for a deadly encounter, what I did next was all I could do at the time… I recited the Kalma, thinking probably, that those were the last moments of my life on Earth.

It is sadly a very great disrespect for the human race, when one tries to kill the other. Though, might is right, we have always plundered or looted people, let alone their lives.

Today as my city burns, my people bleed.

Two wrongs have never made a right. Killing innocent people because a political worker was ruthlessly murdered shows our level of irrationality towards the situation.

Killing begets killing in the end. Agreed!

But more animosity engulfs hatred too, in the end. Is that what Karachi has come to? A breeding ground for animosity?

Making the city burn and my people bleed is no simple answer to creating a gulf that cannot be abridged through peace, because at the end of the day, peace is all we need. How we can acquire it, is a question we must all ponder upon.

Read more by Saadia here 
WRITTEN BY:
Saadia Qamar
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (17)

Sane | 11 years ago | Reply @Silent Observer 100% agree. We are living in self-made world. If this attitude remains unchanged we will be having such incidents and comments thereupon in many coming years. We vote looters, cheaters, plunderers and killers. Why?
Silent Observer | 11 years ago | Reply I dont understand why ppl are complaining here about government .. You Elected this government. hold an election tomorrow and you will still vote for them or not vote at all !! How many of you actually voted last year .. and how many of you voted for the same ? So stop complaining !!
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ