Riding in buses with flags on a day of strike

Petrol pumps and shops have cordoned off their entrances, anticipating trouble in Karachi today. We've all arrived at work after frantic session of phone calls confirming whether everybody really intended to come out. Slowly, traffic flowed into the city with public and private transport out on the road, if not in full force.

Its very quite. And then, a cordon of buses rushed past our office...it was a huge convoy. All men, hanging onto buses and trucks loaded like chicken. They were fairly organized carrying green flags printed specially for the occaision perhaps.

Who are these people? Why are they out on a working day? Are the rational questions.

Don't be rational. These are simple minded folks brainwashed into a one point agenda, 'go out and conquer'. Who takes responsibility for their life? Who takes responsibility for the life of those they may harm?

Awais Saleem attempts to answer this question in Who are the miscreants?". 'Groping in the dark....unseen hand...not expecting such a turnout....clamp down would be with an iron ahnd'...all vague phrases. The political parties visible among the 'miscreants' claim no responsibility for the incidents of ransacking and demolition in Lahore. Every party is claiming they were out for a peaceful protest. And most of us are tired of hearing the word 'vested interests' behind each accident that occurs on the Pakistani soil. Fittingly, Saleem ends his thoughtful article, "However, the million dollar question for the quarters concerned (with no possible answer in sight) before taking any remedial measure is, ‘Who were they’?"