Sabzi Mandi attack: Death escaped her

'Thank God my mother is alive,' says relieved Lal, 8, to his sibling after blast in Islamabad’s Sabzi Mandi on Apr...

ISLAMABAD:

“Thank God my mother is alive,” said a relieved Ali Lal, 8, to his sibling at school after the devastating bomb blast in Islamabad’s main Sabzi Mandi (fruit and vegetable market) on Wednesday last. The blast claimed 25 precious lives and injured over 100, most of them labourers and vendors. His mother, however, escaped death by luck. Otherwise her five children would have been motherless today.

“My son Ali Lal was in school with his siblings Mustafa, Rustam and Sana. When my children learnt about the blast, they sent Lal to Sabzi Mandi to verify whether their mother is safe after such a tragic incident,” said Razia Bibi, 45, who is a vendor in the fruit and vegetable market for the last 14 years. Her stall of vegetables is very near the site of the blast. She relies on daily earnings from her stall to support her family. It is the only source of livelihood for feeding her children.

“I cannot afford to close my stall because me and my five children depend on this small business,” she told The Express Tribune.

On Friday, like other traders in the Sabzi Mandi, Razia had to also close her stall to observe complete strike in the market to show solidarity with the victims. But that left Razia worried and wondering how she would manage the expenses of that day. Each day’s earning matters, less as it may be.

She is the lone bread earner of her family as her husband is mentally unstable.

While Razia is alive to contemplate how to meet her family’s needs, one wonders about the families of the dead and injured.

A resident of a small rented house in Fauji Colony near Sabzi Mandi, she gave a break up of her monthly expenses. She spends Rs10,000 on house rent and almost the same amount is required to meet household expenses. She did not mention school expenses of her children, but said if she takes off even for one day it means she loses Rs400 to Rs500.

Business has been affected as expected after the blast, and especially in days following the incident, customers remained away from the market. Thus Razia failed to sell vegetables as usual. It has left her concerned about how to make ends meet in the coming weeks.

As per her rough calculations, Razia lost Rs10,000 after the blast. Her daily work has been affected due to the terror that struck Sabzi Mandi. However this courageous woman seems committed and said she has never depended on others throughout her life. Razia is optimistic that she will overcome this challenging situation.

The Prime Minister may have announced a package for the victim families. The family of each dead will get Rs500,000, while Rs75,000 will be given to each injured person. But there is no package for the poor vendors like Razia.

Razia Bibi and her poor colleagues at Sabzi Mandi remain concerned. Death may have spared them, but bigger questions stare at them in wake of an attack that not just killed and injured victims, but has left scars on the lives of many.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2014.