OUTRAGE, disbelief and despondency are some of the emotions triggered by news of the armed robbery targeting the Edhi Foundation’s headquarters on Sunday morning.

While hold-ups and robberies in the chaotic environs of Karachi are very common, as armed thugs loot citizens on a daily basis in this unfortunate city, it is the audacity of the criminals to target the country’s most outstanding social workers that is particularly unnerving.

As per reports, a number of armed men barged into the Edhi Foundation’s premises in the old city area and fled with gold and cash worth around Rs30m. The marauders held the staff at gunpoint and also threatened Mr Edhi, who was asleep when the criminals struck.

Clearly not in a hurry, the armed robbers spent around 30 minutes in the office. There are indications that they may have had inside information as they knew the location of the cash and valuables. Speaking after the incident, Mr Edhi told a foreign media organisation that he felt “heartbroken” and “violated”.

Most people in Pakistan have a good idea of the role Abdul Sattar Edhi and his foundation play in this country.

The iconic social worker cares for those whom state and society have forgotten or choose not to remember. For decades, his organisation has been a shelter for the dispossessed, the abandoned and the weak.

His fleet of ambulances and other social services are literally life-saving endeavours filling in the vast space the state — due to its negligence and disinterest — has left vacant. That is why the shock over this crime is so great.

It seems that in Pakistan, crime and militancy have devolved to such unenviable depths that even a saviour like Mr Edhi is not safe from the depredations of marauders. The incident shows that everything is fair game in this country, that all targets are kosher. Indeed, the question swirling in many minds is that if a personality such as Abdul Sattar Edhi can be robbed, what else is left?

But then, we as a nation have been falling through a bottomless pit for some time now. Criminals and terrorists have no qualms about attacking funerals and hospitals, even killing women and children if they happen to get in the way.

In this country, flawed ideologies have led to the murder of doctors, teachers and polio vaccinators, all doing the work of messiahs. But where is society’s condemnation? Or have we become numb?

The robbery has been condemned by the high and mighty of this land, including the prime minister. However, while we are hopeful that Mr Edhi will recover and continue his mission to serve humanity, we are not so sure if the authorities will be moved by this latest outrage to act decisively and crack down on urban crime so that citizens’ lives and properties are made safe.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2014