A police mobile unit is parked at the main gate and two constables are checking everybody who wants to enter. “People will always come visit these places, it does not matter how much they are attacked. It is the home of Allah and terrorists cannot stop people from meeting their God,” said the wizened Ayub Baba.
After the three bomb blasts at Data Darbar that killed more than 40 people in Lahore on Thursday, Karachi’s police have decided to beef up security at mosques and shrines. Snipers were even positioned on the rooftops during Friday prayers at mosques. Mumtaz Khan, a caretaker at the shrine, said that the number of visitors was “as usual on Friday”. He felt that there were no special security measures at the shrine following the attack in Lahore.
“Of course they need to beef up security here,” he said. However, despite the need for security, Khan also felt that bomb blasts could not stop people from visiting the shrine of a legend who spent his life fighting for peace.
“Everyone who tried to attack the homes of these saints has failed in the past and those who will try to do so in the future will also fail,” he said.
Another visitor at the shrine, Hikmat Ali, who was there with his family, said that the fear of death does not stop people from going about their lives as usual. “And after all, it will be an honour to die in a sacred place,” he added.
Ali did appear to be dissatisfied with the security measures. “Just the presence of police on roads leading to the shrine and in front of the shrine is not enough,” he said, adding that the police rarely carry out thorough checks of people flocking to these places.
Meanwhile, chief of police Waseem Ahmed said on Friday that stringent security measures were put in place at all important sites. Home minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza also issued specific instructions, urging the already thinly stretched law-enforcement agencies to cooperate and work on joint strategies.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2010.
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