I have been watching on television and reading in newspapers that, of late, lawyers, particularly those who are new in the profession, have become arrogant and aggressive. Little did I imagine that one of these days I would be at the receiving end.

On Friday afternoon as I was driving my car from the back gate of Karachi Club and was attempting to turn right on Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road after the traffic coming from the opposite side had halted, I realised that there were a couple of cars coming from the other side. Since they had the right of way, I stopped at the divider, when suddenly a car behind me took a turn on the right and in the process had a brush with the bumper of my car.

Out came a black coat-black tie man. He spoke to me in abusive language and asked me to pay him for the damage, a scratch on his car. I spoke to him in decent language and pointed out that he had no business to turn when there were a couple of cars coming from the opposite direction and that the fault was entirely his. In response he damaged my car’s side view mirror and, seeing a crowd collecting, drove away.

A traffic policeman, watching the show, came to me after the miscreant had departed. “Where were you when he was bullying me?” I asked the cop. “Well we have been told in no uncertain terms not to mess up with lawyers,” was his reply.

Asif Noorani

Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2018