LAHORE
Monday night’s cylinder blast at Barkat Market and the panic it created among the residents of the area and visitors reflects how deep fear of terrorism has entrenched itself in the lives of citizens.
“I was scared out of my wits,” said a local resident. “I heard the bang and I thought to myself, ‘oh no…not here now!”. This resident was not the only one.There were several others who felt this was probably another incident of a gruesome scenario in Lahore.
“I was already shaken because some of my relatives from Pakpattan called to tell me about the attack there,” said shop owner Saeed, 51. “And when I heard the blast here, I at once connected this to the other incident…I almost collapsed in fear,” he added. But the horror for those who live there or who routinely visit it as part of their businesses did not just end at once.
The initial sound of the explosion was bad enough, but the terror arose because of a risk of yet another ‘attack’ taking place. “I have usually seen that when these suicide attacks take place, there is not just one blast. It is usually followed by another bigger one,” said restaurant owner Muhammad Irfan.
“My horror was doubled, because of the sound of the blast, and then also because my survival instinct told me another would take place. Once we learnt it was just a cylinder, I was so relieved,” he said.The disruption of the law and order situation in Lahore, regarding terrorist attacks, especially bomb blasts have instilled paranoia to such an extent within the mind of the ordinary citizen, that the smallest incident creates panic and alarm.
The fact that it was a gas explosion even caused some anger amongst some shop keepers. “I have often complained to these people who burn garbage,” said Rasheeda, 45. “My house starts to smell of smoke, and it’s really bad for your health to burn garbage in residential areas. But I don’t know who to complain to anymore,” she added.
And some left health aside, and question safety directly. “Why does garbage has to be burnt while the shops are open and the place is busy?” questioned video shop owner Akhtar Hussain. “Even if it was a gas explosion, it doesn’t mean that it was harmless. Someone could have been hurt very badly,” he said.
