Escaping Chaos – Part 2
While Imtiaz very well described what he went through yesterday, many other KMB authors like Khurram, Farukh, Unaiza, and myself were stuck at various places due to riots and mobs and all that chaos.
I was in office when I heard the news. It was close to 630. That’s when everyone in the office decided to leave anticipating the violence that always erupts in Karachi under such circumstances. I live near Baloch Colony Bridge and work in Nursery area. it takes 10 minutes to get home normally. But yesterday I was still at the ramp of Baloch Colony bridge at 730. When I reached on top of the bridge wanting to make a right turn towards City School PAF Chapter, I found the road blocked and all the cars were making a U-turn back to Sharae Faisal. At the same time I saw people running from that side. I was barely one minute from home but it didn’t seem possible to get there. Next thing I saw was something black thrown on the road. I don’t know if it was a piece of tire or what but it landed pretty close to my car. That’s when I hit the gas and returned on Sharae Faisal. I decided to go back to my office and park my car in the basement of my office building. When I got there I found the service lane blocked. The driver of the car ahead of me got out and removed the obstacles to enter the service lane. So I entered the lane in which my office building is located but found the entrance to its parking closed. I turned my car towards the parking of the building next to my office building and after some honking they opened the gates and I was able to park my car in the basement. Later I found out that mobs were throwing stones at cars and shops that’s why they had closed all the gates and entrances to the building. In all the mean time, I found it next to impossible to contact my family members and inform them about my status. But nevertheless after several attempts I was able to contact them. That was around 8 PM. From then till 1130 I was in that building along with several other office workers and security guards. One man left on his bike but returned after a while on foot, because his bike was snatched from him and torched.
At 1130 I decided to head home on foot, as it was still too risky to drive. I safely made it to the bridge but when I reached the road that goes from under the bridge, I spotted few boys standing there. They were laughing and talking with each other as if they don’t have a care in the world. The bikers and motorists coming from that direction all turned around as soon they saw those boys. The boys burst into laughter looking at that reaction. I don’t know if they were real gangsters or neighborhood boys having fun, but it was certainly not funny.
Anyway, I was observing them from a distance as I myself was not sure about passing them by. That’s when a security guard from KESC office saw me and offered me to come inside the gate. I took refuge in the KESC office for few minutes until the boys were gone after which I resumed my walk towards home. On my way I saw several vehicles burnt and broken.
I was home at midnight.
WOW goo d to hear your narration -I am glad you safely got home. May Allah have mercy on Pakistan
Glad you made it home safely buddy. Last night was a scary night for everyone.
can anyone give me updates on situation in karachi?
can anyone give me updates on situation in karachi?
@Saadie Army have been deployed in karachi and decision to impose curfew in various parts of sindh was taken at governor house
i have never seen so many burnt cars n so many car’s windscreen glass shattered in my life..
mobster simply went berserk
@umar: thank ALLAH that u have safely returned home. It wud have been better if u have left ur car at office initially instead of driving ur way back home.
@doctor: yeh, this time its much more than 12th may. mostly banks and petrol pumps have been targeted.
All Cars on roads belonged to PPP as of yet.
agreement with Doctor here ….!
Hoping everyone stays safe …!
My father was trapped in his office building until his coworkers began to leave.. and there was no food at the office, all the shops were closed since 6pm..
so i had to pick my father at 1230 in the night.
I live near bilawal house and had to go through boat basin to near IIChundrigar road. i chose the baths island route to clifton bridge.
It was the most risky journey i have ever made.. even during 1230 when the streets were deserted (broken glasses, burnt cars, thorns, stones on road). In the middle of boat basin road (near the junior grammar school) i found a group of gangsters. at that moment.. i made up my mind to step on the gas and speed past them.. they were on the left side of the road and running towards the fast lane.. they had sticks but i was lucky that nothing hit my car.. I encountered another such gang on my way but i went quickly before they could do any thing..
Seeing these gangs on the boat basin route .. i tried my luck to return using another route which i believed to be safer.. i took the underpass to zamzama to seaview mc donalds to my home near bilawal house..
It was worse there.. all the zamzama was full of broken glasses on the road… plus 2 burnt cars.. Worse of all, i encountered another bunch of gangsters on the mcdonalds roundabout who had sticks.. unluckily i had to slow down the speed as there was a speed breaker there.. imagine what would happen to your car if you cross a speed breaker at almost 80km/h.. one of the gangsters got enough time to bring forward his stick and hit my car’s windshield. the result= a deep straight line depression.. I didn’t stop as it was very risky and sped away to my home.
Luckily.. only the glass was damaged.. there was no dent on any metallic part.. tiny pieces of glass fell on the dashboard. Best of all, we were all safe home.
My advise to all karachittes.
In case of events when violence is expected, Please
– Do not leave your offices because at the time when news spreads.. there is traffic and chaos.. the gangsters make use of this chaos to do what they like.
– Try to stay back at your offices until dawn. at this time.. most gangsters start to leave for some time.. I left home at night thinking that there will be no traffic and chaos but the gangsters seemed to appear from nowhere.
– Avoid main roads.. use the streets even if these take longer. It is more unsafe to use the main road because your car can be seen from quite a good distance.. allowing the gangs to prepare themselves.
– Avoid going close to katchi abadis.. I am sorry.. but i am not targeting them but my experience have shown that (some) gangsters come from these places.
– do not stop at red signals if there is no traffic. just slow down a little bit and cross if it is safe.
– Avoid carrying expensive items. Even if you can walk home.. please avoid!! gangsters can even kidnap you.
And finally don’t panic.. you can make wrong decisions when you panic. Always pray before you leave home “Safar ki Duaa”
DOCTOR/ PINEAPPLE we all know what has happened and who is behind the rioting and where the mobs came from. But I will not mention names or communities because it was an after shock, but you guys are the real sick ones, one can sense the real sense of elation brewing inside you, from inside one can sense that you are happy. twisting the facts and floating baseless implications. Haven’t we have enough, and can we now go after the real culprits and their supporters. Can’t we mention Al-Qaeda and curse them a bit too, or are they your heroes?
@ Rajiv and when one 2 hour old new born muslim pee, people like you are conceived to come into being,
* do not stop at red signals if there is no traffic. just slow down a little bit and cross if it is safe.
Are you from Karachi? What a stupid statement. Nobody, I repeat nobody, ever stops at red light in Karachi. Never, ever….
and Reality_Check, if you believe someone is happy at someone’s departure from the scene, does not mean they look at Alqaida as their hero.
Please….
Bhutto Laid to rest…
http://www.vidpk.com/view_video.php?vid=4915
BALMA agreed, its an individuals right to feel happy, sad or just disgusted. What prompted my comment was the fact after making the rounds of the metblogs, I have seen authors and conspiracy theorists all to eager to switch the blame and deflect the issue away from the obvious culprit i.e. Al-Qaeda. Every effort is being made to focus on something else and avoid even mentioning the real threat that is hell bent upon destroying us.
If somebody is glad that she is gone, then I have no problem with that but I don’t enjoy people who like to manipulate the situation and float baseless ….whatever.
OK, I see now.
Al QaIDA’S asses should be eliminated.
@Reality if you had your ways you would even blame 12th may’s event on a ghost and non existent organization like Alqaida.. just like Americans blame it for all their ills and troubles and use its actions to justify american’s own illegal acts and crime against humanity
i am amused that you’re concerned that no one is interested in jumping onto Alqaida bashing bandwagon as you were expecting…
ARY news channel is reporting 700 cars burnt in karachi yesterday
DOCTOR There you go again comparing Al-Qaeda and May 12. That’s not even a match.
How many world wide innocent deaths do you think Al-Qaeda is responsible for 100,200, 1000, 10000, 50000, 100000 or even more.
What annoys me is the sense of denial in which we live in, that Al-Qaeda does not exist or it is something good to be cherished. That the biggest issue facing Pakistan is not terrorism, instead we are all to keen to dwell upon non-issues and trigger crisis after crises. How can we assume that who has done what, and play the blame game but at the same time not even mention the biggest / obvious suspects. How can we ignore the Evil that is infiltrating our society which promises nothing but death / destruction while we continue to hark upon trivial pursuits?
Before 9/11, Conservatives and Democrats were at loggerheads, Bush was the object of ridicule and the partisan ship was at its peak. After 9/11 rightly or wrongly everybody rallied upon one point agenda, everybody realized what was the biggest threat to them, to their country and all other issues were set aside. We are t war too, and this is the one time in our history that we have to rally our troops otherwise nothing will suffice.
lol…can’t help laughing at reality_check…taking examples from america…sure take the good…i dont say no to that but ummm :P
*Bhutto Laid to rest
***** thank you for this confirmation. Who is the new leader. Will it be one of her children? How old are these idiots?
I propose Sherry Rehman. She is OK looking, seems intelligent, probably educated, is a woman – so PPPs aaqaas will be content, and so far has not been implicated in any corruption stories or murder, unlike her ex leader. Do the last two reasons disqualify her?
What about that lawyer Aetezaz? Will he have to change his name to Aetezaz Bhutto to gain popularity among PPP vote bank?
Who who who?
@Balma you might be shocked, they’re talking about Asif Zardari taking charge.. ;)
@Abdullah don’t laugh at him, he is sitting cosy 6000 miles away from pakistan,unable to comprehend the ground realities.. powerful american propaganda machine is really taking its toll on him … i don’t blame him..
Doctor, or whatever, you are back to your mentally retarded jokes. You need medication.
Before coming up with this sick joke, did you realize that Zardari does not have Bhutto in his name. Also, do you know that he is barely a high school graduate. Do you, a nut case, realize that he is implicated in two murders…his behnoi and a judge. This, I guess, is a continuation of your bullshit from yesterday where you claimed that Pakistani police is hiding in their offices, and Pakistanis are burning wheat storages despite shortage of flour.
Please, come up with more credible lines and stop your attempts to give me a heart attack.
@balma: i pity on ur kids. If u r like that, how cud they bear u all the time ?
Keep barking
@Balma well you’re forgetting bb’s children are Bilawal Zardari,Bakhtawar Zardari, Asifa Zardari so technically they’re all knocked out(BB managed to keep her dad’s name as Ms Bhutoo her childrens can’t do that) .. if PPP is really a Bhutoo Dynasty then i think only option they would have is to accommodate Fatima Bhutoo and Zulfiqar Bhutoo Jr
some ppl here are again looking towards alqaida for this.
See make a puppet of usama and hit it many times per day. it will give u a releif :D
Youa are dead wrong, neem doctor. News media is reporting, and has always reported, their names as falana bhutto and Dhamaka bhutto. So, please, instead of wasting our time on KMB, go brush up on your current affairs.
Oh, this is one of those rare occasions, I do agree with you. There might be a khanajangi among the two Bhutto lines…. Fauzia vs. Bilawal. Not that Bilawal being underage bothers me, since most Pakistani politicians are mental retards anyway, but I do think Fauzee (ab mae pyaar say ussay yehee pukaroo’n gaa) is prettier than Bilawal.
Since Paksitan’s fate is tied to the name Bhutto, I elect to choose a pretty face. You can always root for Bilawal or zardari (may be you find his moonch a bit titalating)….you are sick anyway, all these zardari, police, wheat jokes are case in point.
Fatima vs. Bilawal
Yeh kyaa naamaaqool harkat hae. kis qadr unromantic naam likhha hae! Did I make a mistake? I guess keeping track of my multiple personalities on KMB is taking its toll on me. Well, mae nay ussay aik baar Fauzee kahaa, ab mae ussay hamaishah Fauzee hee kahoo’n gaa.
Fauzia was Murtaza’s wife whom he divorced.. Fatima Bhutto’s mom
Figures…I knew there was something about this name….also, shows my baali umaryaa.
Wait a minute baby!
You mean Fatima is not ghinwa’s daughter?
haai’n!
kyaa bakwaas lagaa rakhee hae!
Ghinwa is Fatima Bhutto’s step mom
So is the destruction worse than 12th May? If it is (or even if it isn’t), why no one is blaming PPP supporters. Life or death, there is no excuse to kill, torture, or beat another human being. It is true that BB’s death was tragic, but is it ok to tolerate this reaction?
Go back and compare recent blogs with blogs that were posted in May. There is no excuse for this behavior and I like to see bloggers condemning these acts in a similar fasion as they did back in May.
Cheapsters from MQM have finally converged on KMB..
hey Doctor
is this blog your property ?
or the sick mentality you have restricting you to stop others writing what they want to write?
by calling other cheapsters clearly showing how big cheapters you are.
if they were hue and cries over 12th may then why not for now?
PPP ANP clearly involved in looting arsoning the karachites properties and valueables.
ANP people on Banaras and Abdullah college looting and targeting urdu speaking people and this is no joke every one here knows this fact and if anyone dont believe this ask the people living in Orangi and Qasba.
This is a clear lesson to urdu speaking people as well that why these terrorists targeting them.This is the time for them to unite otherwise
Burning over 1000 vehicles of karachi people is also a lesson to those who always blame MQM for every thing in Karachi.
Karachi problem is not the people who lives here but the people who are coming from outside to ruin this city.
@Ali Gandhi:
U r one of the most retarted ppl here on kmb with balma, alma and others
99.9% of the times, your posts make no sense
well Iunknown !!!
what Ali says is the fact!
I hope it was not true !!! but alas it is !!!
Thats true – Fatima is not daughter of Ghanwa, she is her step mother – !
Barrister saheb – over the police radio at 6.45PM the CCPO office relayed message to close the station doors and call back all mobiles which are closeby and which are at distance shall seek shelter and look for safety, till further orders. this was repeated from 6.45 till 7 PM,
and – some of you ignored my comment line – it was element belonging to PPI & ANP – Karachi police, the civilian security companies etc they don’t hire Karachi wala, they hire ex-serviceman, and that class of ex-serviceman are not locals from Karachi.
– zamzama attached is one small balcoh goth & slum nelam colony is 90% punjabi saraiki & pashto speaking – clifton + bath island attached slum Retti line is sariayki & pashto speaking, DHA is surrounded by akhtar colony on one side and shereen jinnah colony otherside,
all developed planned areas of karachi are surrounded by Slums and encroachments.
with peace of mind start gathering data,
all exit & entry points of mediocre and upmarket residential areas are subject to slum & encroachments, that includes Malir Cantt.( DHA 2 )
Pathans & punjabis will suffer in Karachi, worst then palestanians are suffering in Gaza, trust me i know what am writing here.
While Zulfiqar Bhutto Jr is Ginwa’s own son
And, Zulfi JR and Fatima (my fauzie) live at 70 clifton with Ghinwa?
A quick Question. I have been out of the country for past 20 years. Clifton, DHA around Bilawal House used to to a great area. I believe property is quite expensive there too. Can someone explain where these “gangs” come from in this posh area? What do you guys mean by “gang”. Only gangs I know are like Al Capone or other mafia figures. Do you guys mean rioters?
Thanks
rafi mohd (what is this Mohd business), you seem to be on drugs. Clifton and DHA are extremely dirty and filthy areas and together with gizri, Panjab colony, Dehli Colony, Akhtar Colony and Korangi are referred to as ‘other’ side of Kala (black) pul. Very depressing areas. They ain’t no Beverly Hills.
Rafi, these rioters operate as organized gangs. Always on the lookout for such incidents.
They came as groups in pickups (mini trucks) to the Korangi industrial area of Karachi and looted many factories. They also attacked trailer trucks (semis as they are called in US), moved all the goods into their vehicles and then set the trailers on fire.
A point to note is that heavy machines (such as bulldozers and cranes) parked on the sides of super highway were not touched by these so called rioters.
Sorry Balma for offending you. I am not on drugs but you seem to be. As I mentioned I have not been to Karachi in past 20 years. When I lived in DHA on Bahria it was a decent place.
Thanks BluMax for the explanation. I wonder where the state police was when this was going on? Why do people of Karachi put up with this? Are they drenched in Ethnic bias MQM can do no wrong? I think city and state should be held responsible for this tragedy. We are a laughing stock of the world. People come to us at our places of work in America and laugh at our countrymen. It is a sad sad situation. I feel bad for all law loving citizens of Karachi who are suffering for no reason.