I am thinking of the Marriott blast and a montage of images stream through the mind, and vast canvases of stunning questions surface: What next? It is ostensibly not just a matter of living with terror now, as an integral part of our lives, but also coping with a lingering sense of sadness.
One could never have imagined in the sixties, the years when some of us went through school, college and university, that we would be confronted with a Pakistan, which itself is challenged by forces that seek to destabilise the very foundations of the State. What next?
There is, let me admit, so much to be said about the terrorist attack that killed over 50 people, and wounded in varying degrees almost three hundred others, and destroyed the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on 20th September. I suppose the many faceted impact of this on the country, will be felt for the foreseeable future, and will shape lifestyles possibly for life. What next?
The United States has called Saturday's attack as the 9/11 of Pakistan and that having been accepted evidently, it wasn't surprising to see that a private TV channel had its Islamabad bureau chief interviewing a couple of people from what was called as "ground zero". What next?
An anxious thought goes out to the implications, long term, and short term, of describing the Marriott blast as the country's 9/11, and the site as ground zero. It is to ensure that the war against terror that the United States began in 2001 and carries on in Pakistan too, as this country has now had its traumatic, 9/11. And in Ramazan.
I wrote last week in this column that this was the toughest Ramazan that Pakistanis were going through. That was mid-Ramazan. Now after having experienced the devastating suicide attack outside the Marriott, and seen for hours images of that beautiful building on fire for never-ending hours, it is natural to wonder: what next? More? How much more? Fears in this direction.
But the disturbing point about what appears to be the toughest Ramazan is this. In this holy month, in the past too, we have had terrorism that have reflected our inner woes. But this time, in this month, we have had what is being considered as the worst-ever terrorist attack.
That there is sustained unrest (insurgency) in the tribal areas of the country, and which is spilling over into Peshawar and Islamabad - and possibly infiltrating elsewhere in the country, is something that needs to be kept in mind. The NWFP governor, Owais Ghani, warned on Monday that suicide bombers are coming from Punjab and "militants in the tribal areas have established firm networking (with Jihadi groups) in Southern Punjab, and that most fresh recruits for suicide attacks are coming from there." What next?
One central question, which has again been raised, is whether this is Pakistan's war being fought with the support of the United States, or whether this is the US war that Pakistan is a front state for. Are the people of Pakistan in agreement with the present policies of the country, or whether they are at war with the policies that President Pervez Musharraf in his dictatorial style initiated and carried on, without taking the nation into confidence? Now that he is out, what next?
But from Islamabad and Peshawar wherefrom have come "bad news" let me shift to Karachi where in Ramazan that has been a sharp rise in "crime graph" across the Sindh capital, with an "unprecedented jump in the kidnap for ransom cases.
And in these kidnapping cases, in the last few weeks, as disclosed some senior police officials, (in a news report) that the worrying trend is that there is "snap kidnapping". In this armed men strike at random and take a man or woman at gunpoint around the city" making the victim arrange ransom money by calling his or her immediate family or friends.
In these "snap kidnappings" a kidnapped person is released within 24 hours of "successful deals". The CPLC chief, Sharafuddin Memon, has been quoted as saying that in this particular crime there are a number of cases that go unreported. It is said that at times the kidnappers take the victim to an ATM in the bank and "demanding cash withdrawal at gunpoint".
That is the reason why many people having credit cards avoid carrying them at most times. I don't know how relevant it is to mention here that the varied uses of credit cards are being heavily advertised by commercial banks. Some of the uses are far-fetched and evoke only amusement.
But returning to the Marriott blast there are disturbing interpretations, analyses, and forecasts that are being made, and they are mostly on the pessimistic side. But what is amazing is this story in Dawn (reported on Monday) when it said, "Shoppers unfazed by Islamabad blasts".
It detailed that not only was Eid shopping normal on Sunday, but that on Saturday night when the blast took place, Karachi's shopping crowds returned to the market around midnight, and the markets were bustling with activity until 4.30 am (Sunday).
In brief, let me mention a drive past the Zainab Market, yesterday onwards through the Saddar area, and the electronics market revealed the dense crowd shopping around 4 pm The forecast that Eid shopping will pick up in the last days of Ramazan, odd, as it may seem, is likely to be correct.
That talk of rising prices? What does it mean? Asks one housewife worried about the costs of milk, sugar, vermicilli and dry fruits that are required for "sheer Qorma" on Eid. Her traditional enthusiasm was at a low ebb this Ramazan.
What happened to the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on Saturday has impacted all the big and small hotels in the country, and occupancy has sharply dropped. Tourism of course, doesn't matter anymore at this stage of Pakistan's history.But hotels have suffered yet another setback, and the full impact of the September 20 blast will unfold in the days ahead. I spent a full hour talking about the Marriott blast and its repercussions on hotel, travel and tourism with the seasoned Javed Mushtaq, who edits and publishes two periodicals, called Wings and Asia Travel News from his office in the good old Mohammedi House. That Karachi landmark is still there, And that is news enough.
Our conversation was comprehensive, but definitely cheerless. Tough days ahead for the country, as indeed for the hotel industry - and the image of the country. What next? I conclude with this question. I don't expect answers.(nusratnasarullah0@hotmail.com)