Say no to arms: Citizens march for a safer future

People take part in walk organised to promote peace and harmony

KARACHI: Enjoying the early morning sea breeze on Sunday, residents of Karachi took part in a walkathon organised to promote a weapon free and peaceful society.

The walk, organised by Citizens Against Weapons, was attended by a large number of people who gathered at Sea View. The participants walked from Sea View McDonalds to Chunky Monkey. The event was held to raise voice for a society free of weapons and to spread the message of peace and harmony for the people.



Talking to The Express Tribune, Citizens Against Weapons member Naeem Sadiq said that as citizens of Pakistan, they want to see the country free of weapons and in order to promote peace, the state should push for a completely weapon-free society.

Sadiq added that the citizens and the government should withdraw all illegal weapons and all licensed weapons should be verified again. He was of the opinion that providing security is the government's job and if it provides adequate security, the residents will definitely withdraw their weapons.



According to Sadiq, there are around 12 million unlicensed weapons in our society and the government has not shown any interest in getting rid of those weapons. Referring to the role of legislation, Sadiq said that existing laws are enough but laws have yet to be implemented.

A large number of families, students and members of civil societies took part in the walk. The participants held placards inscribed with messages such as 'Peaceful Karachi', 'Beautiful Karachi', 'Educated and Literate Karachi' and 'No to Weapons'. Weapons are the root cause of all the menaces in society, said an A Level student, Shuja Hussain, who was also participating in the walk. "It's a dream to see a society free of weapons."



Another participant, Muniza Munshi, said they will continue their efforts for a society free from weapons. "We know that it requires a lot of time to eliminate guns from the society, all we need to do is mobilise and spread awareness among the general public," she added.

Haroon Siddiqui, who took part in the walk, said that the people are teaching the children about the thrills of holding a gun from their childhood by buying them toy guns and weapons. "That is when everything goes wrong and we have to ensure that we do not buy toy guns for the children and instead buy good books for them," he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2016.