February 9, 2006

An old lady, living in one of the congested areas in Saddar, was standing in her balcony watching a wedding procession that had just arrived for the ceremonies. Suddenly she felt something wet on her feet. She bent down and was horrified to see blood there. She had received three bullets in her legs fired by someone in the wedding procession. Rushed to the hospital, she was able to survive the ordeal. Others are not usually so fortunate.

A friend residing in Hyderabad had a more tragic experience. On his son's wedding, his brother was hit by a bullet in the hip, when a friend of the bridegroom started firing in the celebration. Although his life was saved, the accident left him paralyzed. What was just a trickle of such incidents in the past has now become a torrent. Casualties caused by firing at wedding celebrations are reported regularly in the media.

These accidents make one wonder why people follow dangerous customs that have no place in a civilized society? In open spaces aerial firing might not inflict any damage but the congested streets of large cities are very vulnerable in this respect.

It is not just a question of a stray bullet hitting an individual. What happens if the bullet hits a chemical storage facility many of which are located under apartment blocks?

A more pertinent question would be –– where are all these firearms coming from and why are the law enforcing agencies not doing anything to stop the flow of arms into Karachi?

The alarming thing is that this practice is not confined to a certain section of society or area. Everyone seems to have developed a fancy for it and incidents are as rampant in Kharadar as they are in Korangi, Orangi and Sohrab Goth. One reason for this practice becoming so popular is the attitude of law enforcing agencies which usually ignore such violations.

A law passed some years ago, stated that anyone carrying arms would get no less than seven years in prison. And like all other laws, this, too, has been grossly disregarded seeing the open display of arms all over the city. One wonders why this law has not been enforced specially when one sees so much emphasis on the laws prohibiting food at weddings and kite flying. Surely the discouragement of carrying firearms should take precedence over other law enforcing activities.

There is a need for soul searching. How does indiscriminate firing become part of a wedding culture, and why should we risk innocent lives to demonstrate our fire- power?

The elders in the family can play an important role in restraining the younger lot in wedding processions. NGOs, too, can do their part by launching a campaign against this barbaric practice. The discussions on TV channels and the print media should focus on this problem and create awareness of the dangers of such a practice and also highlight the tragic incidents taking place.

It is high time we all made concerted efforts to stop this insane behaviour and avoid future tragedies.

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