KARACHI: How does one console a grieving newly-widowed mother of four? Her husband’s body lying inside the Edhi morgue at Sohrab Goth on Wednsday, her children, fast losing faith in life, huddling close to her on the cold concrete bench with a million questions in their eyes, answers to which the mother didn’t have. And all you do is watch helplessly because there are no words that you can say that can make anything all right for them.

Surrounded by her three young daughters and a son, who was still in his blue check school uniform, Sunehra Khan, widow of one of the seven slain policemen, Mohammad Rustam Khan, said she had no other close relatives in Karachi. Speaking in Punjabi, she said she and her husband were from Jabbi Shareef, Khushab. “I don’t know what to do. Other than my children, I am alone here. My brother who works with the Pakistan Rangers is stationed in Badin. I have sent for him,” she said.

Looking in her son’s direction, she said: “He was appearing for his final matric exams and his father really wanted him to do well. Rustam had even taken leave to be able to pick and drop Faisal from his examination centre. He wanted him to concentrate on his exams and worry about nothing else.

“My husband was retiring in 10 months. We were building our first little house here in Bilal Colony. We recently moved there although it is still incomplete and without paint or doors inside. My husband used to sit with us every evening and plan for the future. He had told Faisal that he would get him enrolled in an electrician’s course as soon as he is done with matric. For our eldest daughter he had thought of a career in teaching. He wanted her to do an English language course,” the mother said looking at her children with sad eyes.

“Abbu was recalled from leave this morning as he was needed to guard the polio vaccine team. Even from work he called Faisal to inquire how he was doing and to tell him to not be nervous. But after his paper when Faisal tried calling Abbu to let him know how it went and that he was back home, he found his cellphone off. I had also reached home and was taking a bath when Ammi called out to me to tell me that Abbu’s phone was off. It was very strange. His phone is never off,” said the eldest of the children, Sumaira.

“That’s when I rang up Munshi sahab, Abbu’s supervisor at the police headquarters. I was informed then that my father had embraced shahadat. My mother is diabetic, my brother is only 15. I am studying in first year, intermediate. What are we going to do?” the girl said as her two younger sisters wouldn’t leave their mother’s arm and the brother turned his face away to hide his tears.

“This family recently lost another relative. The children’s maternal uncle, also a police officer, who just collapsed at work from heart failure,” said ASI Shukat Hayat. “He, too, has young children and he died on duty but no one has done anything for his family other than offer them promises. Soon everyone will forget about poor Rustam, too,” the officer added.

Meanwhile, police constables Mohammad Aquil and Ali Akbar waited to take their colleague’s bodies to Shahdadpur near Ghotki. “They left the headquarters only five minutes after us. It could have very well been us instead of them here,” PS Aquil told Dawn, while speaking about Wazir Ali, Daim-ud-Din and Ghulam Rasool, who were under training in Shahdadpur and also lost their lives in the terror attack on the police team on Wednesday.

“We are among some 200 policemen called in from Sindh’s interior on April 17 for protecting the polio team. Today was out last day on duty here and we were heading back home tomorrow,” said PS Ali Akbar, who said that all their slain colleagues were married with little children. “I think the eldest is four,” he added.

“Orangi is not an easy area to cover,” said PS Ikram Raza, a police mobile driver. “We are always on our guard and ready for anything when on duty in Orangi. But I guess since several of these men were not from Karachi they didn’t realise the kind of threat they were up against here,” he added.

“We had heard that after several operations in Karachi, the city was peaceful,” said PS Ali Akbar.

Besides Mohammad Rustam Khan, Wazir Ali, Daim-ud-Din and Ghulam Rasool, the other three policemen who lost their lives while on security duty for polio workers are Mohammad Ismail, Gul Khan and Ghazi Khan.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2016