Shattered windowpanes and broken hearts

By Dr. Muhammad Hafizullah

There is no house in our neighbourhood with intact doors and windowpanes. The bomb blast shook the area worse than a 7 Richter scale earthquake. The jolts could be felt as far as twenty kilometres and people claim to have heard the noise in the double of this perimeter. The lights went out almost immediately. This followed the runs of exchange fire lasting for less than half a minute. The terrible jerk woke us up -the house was shaking and I looked at the walls incredulously and looked up at the roof to make sure that it was not coming down. This was followed by a loud thunderous noise which shook us up further. Any doubt that it was only an earth quake quickly dissipated and everyone was sure that it was yet another bomb blast - somewhere very close by. People who heard the thud in Hayatabad had the similar feeling as if it happened in their back lawn. Inhabitants of Gulbahar had a similar feeling as if it happened somewhere very near.

I cross this intersection many times a day. This being the lifeline of the metropolis, traffic runs unabated in three lanes day in and day out. Most people use this road while going from university town or Hayatabad to Saddar or city and beyond and vice versa.

Khyber Road is plied by all and sundry as this joins the newer localities of Peshawar like university town and Hayatabad with the rest of the city and the country.  As most of the lanes joining Khyber road and Mall road have been blocked under one pretext or another, Artillery road takes the main load of traffic commuting between the two integral parts of the city. At this intersection of this important road and lane lies the unfortunate building which became the target of brutal terrorism.

Immediately after the blast panic stuck people came out of their houses. Confusion reigned and none had any information on the actual locus of the blast. As smoke arose from the site, it confirmed the worst fears, that a nearby spot had been the target. The sirens of ambulances and police vehicles could be easily heard, again confirming the proximity of the blast. Everyone was glued to the cellular phone trying to reach the near and dear ones to enquire about their safety. People were staring at the black screen of their TV sets, which refused to give any information, as there was no electricity. The gentlemen gathered outside started putting forward newer theories and the solutions. People went back to their houses and came back with reassessment of the situation and their personal property losses in terms of broken doors and windows. The initial euphoria of surviving the blast quickly evaporated and led to deep depression and sense of insecurity. We looked at our houses with regret and realised that they may not remain 'ours' in the future. Well to do people started discussing the possibilities of shifting to safer heavens. People lamented the facts that those holding the reigns of power in the province and country have not been able to find any solution. Someone asked, "do they know what is happening and why?" and most painful query was, "do those at the top care for what people are undergoing?"

The noise of glasses started contributing to the overall clatter, as people started collecting broken glass. There is no single house in the locality of Shami Road which can boast of intact windowpanes. Thick imported glass, tainted large panes, carved special sheets adorning drawing rooms and painted large panel - all gave way to the powerful shock waves. The locality presented a 'ghost town' look with broken panes. Most windows were then covered by plastic sheets and newspapers in the afternoon to preserve privacy, security and protection from cold. Glass became the biggest casualty as houses and large building in adjoining areas had the same fate. The houses of elite and mighty ones in the vicinity rattled and here the chandeliers and large windowpanes met the same destiny.

Falcon colony became the worst victim of the blast. The houses over there had the doors flown in air and aluminium frames uprooted by the blast. Many people got serious injuries due to flying glass. The sound was deafening and the shock heart wrenching. Parked cars got dents and locked gates flung open. Children who woke from deep slumber could neither understand the gravity of situation nor the causality of the event. Everyone was stunned - incapable of thinking straight and actually doing something. Children clung to their mothers and crying mothers had no answer to their queries. Men came out of the houses and had no clue what to do, so went back to their houses. Phones started ringing, once people came to know about the location of the blast.

If this had to occur only thirty minutes later, the blast would have claimed hundreds of more lives and that too of young school going children. This being perhaps the most important transaction of the town, joining different localities, has the maximum rush in the morning. It starts building up by quarter past seven and reaches it peak between seven thirty and eight. There are many school buses carrying hundreds of children to schools located on Warsak Road or heading to town from city or vice versa. At any give time in the morning fifty to hundred vehicles may be waiting for their turn and a blast at that time could have taken a very heavy toll.

Many of these broken windowpanes pierced their way through human hearts.  Pale complexion and blank looks had many questions written on their sealed lips. The tragic human loss cannot be calculated in statistics. One human being lost is just not a single human -he is brother of many sisters and brothers, son of loving parents, father of young children and husband of a wife besides being employed in a job and being an equal citizen with full rights and privileges. A whole family is devastated!  Many people lose a friend! The whole locality is a lot poorer without him. Each blast leaves behind a sea of human tragedy! Much of it cannot be quantified in absolute terms. There are no tools which can measure the deprivation the orphans suffer, a widow bears and parents undergo with one human death.