I HAVE seen on television and movies, but never have I been a part of what I personally witnessed recently; an encounter that will always stay in my mind. It happened recently in the main business hub of Karachi.

My daughter, visiting from the United Kingdom, and my little granddaughter were with me in my car. We went to I.I. Chundrigar Road to pick up my husband from his office. As we reached the traffic signal at the Shaheen Complex on our way back, suddenly out of nowhere this mob with sticks and stones charged towards the main road on which we were standing. We were horrified and frozen with fear.

I was terrified to see this happening to us, especially when my three-year-old granddaughter was with me, crying and clinging on to her mother. My husband took the wheel and my driver jumped out to stop the miscreants from putting barricades and remove the stones they had put under the car so we could not move.

Thankfully, my driver acted with great speed and made the attackers back off. Slowly but surely our car moved at a snail’s pace. I felt compunction for the ones who were behind us and were not as lucky to get out of this hostile aggression. The mob looked really charged, and I saw the lone traffic constable running away for cover from his duty.

What do we unarmed civilians do in such a time of overwhelming frenzy. A Third World country is what we will always be. I felt ashamed as my beloved country is being tattered and torn by vultures who have nothing to do with our culture due to lack of education and guidance. I wonder if we will ever get out of this rut. I shudder to think what would have happened had any one of them hurled a stone or smashed the car’s windscreen with the sticks in their hands.

The next day I heard the mob was protesting against loadshedding and inflated electricity bills. People think they can achieve their targets if they go violent. This in itself is naiveté of the highest order.

Tasneem Allibhoy Tharia
Karachi

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2022