KARACHI: They are such a disciplined, diligent and peaceful people that none of the gentlemen in white kurta and pajama and the typical Bohri caps spoke more than they were required to.

Standing outside the emergency section of the Civil Hospital Karachi soon after the bomb blast outside the Saleh Mosque near Pakistan Chowk after Friday prayers, they only shook their heads before turning their gaze downwards when probed for any kind of information about who they were there for or what they saw.

An ambulance brought in the body of a victim taken first to the Burhani Hospital, situated adjacent to the mosque, and a couple of ashen-faced Bohra men got down for some paperwork before getting back into the ambulance to transfer the body to the morgue. “Please, leave us alone. We have nothing to say. Just leave us in peace,” requested one of them to the media cameramen approaching them.

Also read: Bohra community mosque attacked in Karachi, 2 dead

Civil Hospital officials had earlier said they had received four injured and one body. The deceased was then brought in from the Burhani Hospital, as the death toll rose to two.

At the blast site, one police line prevented people from entering the Burhani Hospital road while another kept the crowds of onlookers away from the Saleh Mosque lane. Bohra men and a few women in colourful rida (traditional Bohri burqa) stood in small clusters quietly speaking among themselves.

“I heard the blast at Ghari Khata near Light House and Cycle Market, where I live. At first I thought it must be a tyre burst but then I saw on TV what had happened and rushed here to see if I could be of any help,” said Hussain Ali.

Nadeem Ahmed, a resident of Shaikh Mansion across the road from the blast site, said he was watching the Pakistan-Australia World Cup match on TV when he heard the blast that shook their entire building. “I ran upstairs on our roof to see what had happened but only saw smoke coming from the direction of the mosque,” he shared.

“The motorcycle was parked outside the mosque and the bomb went off when the people were leaving. It happened just 15 seconds after I left the mosque,” Asghar Ali told Dawn. “Usually the men come out quickly but the women take their time. That’s why most of the victims happened to be men,” he explained.

Asked if such blasts made him afraid to go to a mosque for prayers, the gentleman smiled. “During the late 1980s, some 250 Bohras died in an attack on Bohri Bazaar. Did that close the bazaar? People cannot stop going to mosques for prayers,” he added.

“But yes, we need more security for all places of worship. We only had one policeman to guard the Saleh Mosque here. After coming for duty for a few months he, too, vanished somewhere.

“Hit men look for clues to figure out people’s faith. Here they recognise us from our typical attire and our caps. Recently, two Bohra men were killed while a few others wounded in a gun attack. In the targeted attack, they only fired at the men wearing Bohri caps. Others in the group also were Bohra but not wearing their caps at the time so they were not fired at,” the gentleman explained.

Most of the shops around the mosque sell paper and cardboard. Closing for Friday prayers, they didn’t reopen after the blast. One of them was Mustapha’s shop. “He was in a hurry to go back to his shop and left the mosque before the others while not stopping for the wazaif that follow our prayers when it all happened and he got a shard of glass in his throat,” said Mohammad Ali, another bystander, “That’s also what happened to Shabbir Hussain and Hussnain Murtaza who lost their lives in the incident. They were both among the first ones leaving,” he added.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2015

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