An innocent casualty: Khadda Market in gloom after delivery boy’s death

The rider was on his way to deliver an order when Thursday's blast claimed his life.

KARACHI:

Fridays at the Khadda Market are usually synonymous with the hustle and bustle of cars lining up outside eateries and waiters frantically running around to receive orders from the customers.

Instead, a palpable sense of loss hung in the air as the waiters stood grim and unsmiling after popular waiter and delivery boy, Kaleemullah, died in the attack on SP Farooq Awan's car on Thursday night. He was one of the two passers-by who lost their lives.

Boys from a nearby madressa recited the Holy Quran along with the employees of the hunter-beef burger eatery, Hanifia, where Kaleemullah used to work. The delivery boy was passing through the area to take his first order of the night to Defence's Commercial Avenue; his Honda CD70 motorcycle stacked with three orders of burgers and drinks when he fell victim to the blast.



Called Kaleem or Kaleem Bhai by his friends, Kaleemullah is remembered for always being the first one to resolve the issues faced by others and was also the first to settle any fights and arguments. "The whole market knew him," said Imran Khan, who also works at Hanifia. "He was so popular because of his good nature."

Having worked at Hanifia for the last eight years, Kaleemullah was one of its most experienced employees despite being only 32 years old. He had started off as a waiter but had been working as a rider for the past few years.

Three of his brothers also work as waiters in different eateries at Khadda Market; Azam at Red Apple, Amjad at Hot and Spicy, and Waseem at Hanifia. Hailing from Rahim Yar Khan, the four brothers used to share an apartment in Gizri.

A close friend, Altaf, who works as a waiter at Red Apple, fought back tears as he remembered the final moments they had spent together on Thursday. "He had called up his parents back home and I had to force him to hang up so that I could get a chance to talk to him," he said.

As the evening progressed, Altaf bid his round-faced friend farewell, unknowingly for the last time. The loud blast echoed through Khadda Market and when news reached the employees that Kaleemullah was seen lying wounded in an ambulance, several of the waiters made their way to the hospital.

For two hours, they moved between Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and Civil hospital, unaware of where he was taken, before finally seeing his burnt body at JPMC. The same night, Kaleemullah's brothers took his body to Rahim Yar Khan for burial.

Waiters say that the unmarried Kaleemullah's only concern was providing a better life to his brothers and parents. "He had helped one of his brothers get a job in Saudi Arabia," said one of the waiters.

It is not only the waiters who feel Kaleemullah's loss at Khadda Market. Throngs of customers came in to offer their condolences at the loss of one of their favourite waiters. "People have been coming up and asking about him since morning," claimed a Hanifia employee. "They are in just as much disbelief as we are."

Mekayl Mashhadi, turned up and asked for details about Kaleemullah's family. "He was hardworking and really nice," said Mashhadi. "We want to set up a fund for his family."

Working seven days a week for 12 consecutive hours, and earning just Rs15,000 for their efforts, the waiters were angry about how only the poor suffer in these attacks. "It is only the poor who are killed as the powerful escape," said waiter Fayyaz Ahmed. "What was Kaleemullah's fault?"

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2014.