Torching along the way!!!! But ALAS, this ain’t no OLYMPICS

By Riz Mustafa

The funerals used to be about honoring the dead with silence and prayers leading the coffin to an eternal place of silence. As far as I checked last time, this was surely the case. I am unable to comprehend till this very moment that how the denotation of funerals in Pakistan has changed so significantly over the past few years. Passing away of loved ones brings tears and a sense of vulnerability, especially when mercilessness was at very essence of that particular death. Does that unjust killing of an innocent person gives right to certain individuals to take matters in their hands and blow everyone coming their way? I feel any sane individual will have difficulty getting adjusted to this idea. The recent torch down of Pizza Hut outlet in Karachi was just one of the many incidents over the past few years, where individuals driven by insanity decided things in their own devastating approach. This incident was followed by the death of an eminent Shia Cleric in a suicide bombing attack and actually happened during the funeral procession. Earlier this year, a KFC outlet was torched down in a similar manner whereby burning half a dozen employees who were caught in blazing fire, trapped helplessly inside a cold storage room.

Coming to think about it, does all this sound like a work of a common man? Is it that easy to burn down a complete building by lighting a matchstick? This makes me think that is it all part of an organized crime, which is against humanity and serves purpose that is beside the imagination of common man. Aren’t the civil and government authorities used to the potential threats that grip the city of Karachi during a procession of such magnitude? Karachi has been host to armed and para-military forces a number of times over the past years and their gracious presence this time wouldn’t have been of any inconvenience to the inhabitants of this metropolis! Their presence may have saved the utter catastrophe, which now claims hundreds of rupees, lost employment and an ingrained distress for the people of Karachi.