KARACHI, Aug 18: The end of the Musharraf era was marked outside Bilawal House – the Karachi residence of Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari – with incessant gunfire as jubilant party supporters took to firing into the air as the best way to celebrate what they termed was the end of dictatorship.

As the coalition heads mugged for the cameras – beaming from ear to ear – and the retired general vacated the President’s House in Islamabad, the air in Karachi’s upscale Clifton neighbourhood that plays host to Bilawal House was thick with the smell of gun-smoke.

Cops were seen diverting traffic at the Bilawal Chowrangi as PPP supporters, media-persons and curious onlookers started converging on Bilawal House for the expected address by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah. However, outside the PPP bastion there was little sign of order as the crackle of gunfire greeted all comers.

Gunmen were seen brazenly brandishing everything from pistols to sophisticated automatic weapons, some carelessly playing around with the big guns as if they were toys. All this was going on as families drove by and police personnel watched on, as if they were spectators at a sporting event. When this reporter asked a policeman posted at the Bilawal House security barrier why they were doing nothing about this ‘celebration,’ he simply smiled and threw his arms up in the air.

The crowd seemed to love every minute of it, applauding whenever a gunman would unleash a thunderous burst of ammunition skywards. It was a miracle no one was killed or injured as anything could have happened, considering the large size of the gathered crowd. The gunmen seemed to be competing with each other, as bigger guns were flaunted, while the seemingly endless supply of ammunition insured that the guns kept a-blazin’.

According to a journalist who reached the location before this reporter, announcements were made from inside Bilawal House, pleading with the gunmen to stop in the name of Benazir Bhutto. However, the pleas fell on deaf ears as the ‘celebration’ continued.

Several journalists were also threatened and roughed up by unknown armed persons. DawnNews reporter Khurram Anis and cameraman Abid Ali as well as Express News cameraman Imran Jatoi were accosted by several armed individuals while they were capturing footage of gunmen firing into the air.

Mr Anis told Dawn that the armed men approached him and told him to stop filming and instead take footage of women activists who were dancing in jubilation. When he explained that they were doing their duty, the gunmen pushed Mr Anis, Mr Ali and Mr Jatoi, after which the media-men stopped filming.

While the gunplay continued under the gaze of other television cameras and a police mobile parked in front of Bilawal House’s main gate, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah arrived to address the crowd. Interestingly, the public address system mysteriously went dead as soon as the chief minister started his speech, as the gunfire continued.

As he was speaking – barely audible as he was – a group of men started chanting slogans against dictatorship and the Sindh Governor’s House, as well as in favour of the Sindh People’s Youth, smack in front of the chief minister, totally drowning him out. Nobody seemed willing or able to control the bedlam.

After barely speaking for 10 minutes, Qaim Ali Shah was whisked away in his black Mercedes, leaving behind the sloganeering and gunfire.