Another day in the bus in Pakistan. Hilarious, yet incredibly sad !!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4812262.stm
Robbed at gunpoint in Karachi
By Wusatullah Khan
BBC News, Karachi
A bus hijacking in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi is an ordeal for the passengers, but more of a routine for the conductor.
A man in black clothes pushed the bus driver off his seat and took the steering wheel. His accomplice, wearing white, locked the front door of the bus and turned to the women crammed in the front of the vehicle. “Keep your heads down and be quiet,” he said in a loud clear voice. “I am sure you have all seen this,” he added, pulling out a revolver from his clothes. Some of the women could be seen biting their fists to suppress their screams. Their third accomplice, a bearded man stationed at the rear of the bus, made his presence felt by emitting a torrent of abuse. “Sit down. Quick, on the floor. Now, you dogs!” he screamed, punching the back of a passenger’s neck.
Everyone obeyed, a few getting kicked by the hijacker in the process.
By that time, we knew that the bus had been hijacked although we were not sure for what purpose.
‘Money and cell phones’
We soon found out why. “Come on, empty your pockets,” the man shouted once again. “Money and cell phones, out with it.” They were quite skilled at this sort of a thing. A few people had kept their money in different pockets but were cleaned out in no time at all. Anyone who tried to be clever was soon slapped, punched and kicked into submission. “Who is the bus conductor?” the man shouted once more. A young boy who barely looked 15 got up from among the people squatting on the floor. “Come on, child. Tell me how much you have earned today?” the hijacker purred. The boy handed him every penny that he had.
Surreal
I was poorer by a few thousand rupees but the bearded man hadn’t fancied my wrist watch. I had also managed to slip my cell phone under the seat.
But my material wellbeing was the furthest thing from my mind. I couldn’t help feeling how surreal the scene was as I looked out of the window. Our bus was speeding through one of the busiest districts of Karachi. But life outside seemed so routine. No one, including a police jeep that sped past us, had a clue what we had been going through for over half an hour now.
The hijackers had gained in confidence, having terrorised everyone into submission. The man in white called out to his bearded colleague at the back: “If anyone wants his SIM card back, let him have it,” he ordered.
The bus turned off the main road towards the industrial area. The driver was being careful, observing traffic rules diligently and displaying none of the rashness normally expected from bus drivers in Karachi. The hijacker-driver stopped the bus eventually and called out to the real driver.
“This is where we part ways, my friend,” he said. “But make sure you keep the lights inside the bus off and do not stop till you reach the next intersection.”
‘Fauji gang’
He then turned to the passengers.
**“If anyone wants to report this matter to the police, there is a police post behind us and a proper police station a little way ahead,” he beamed. **
**“Please feel free to tell them that you all were robbed by the Fauji gang. My name is Fauji,” he smiled, waving the revolver expansively. **
The three jumped off the bus and ran away into a dark alley. The real driver now took over and we started moving again. “I am ashamed to be a man, Auntie,” he said to the woman sitting closest to him. “All this time, I wanted to rip him apart but what could I do?” The frustration of the robbed passengers rang loud right through the bus. Everyone had something to say in the post-trauma camaraderie that suddenly seemed to have taken over the bus.
We reached an intersection where a police van was parked.
**‘Third time this month’ **
The conductor ran to the van and shouted: “We have all been robbed.”
“Oh! Who did it?” one of the policemen inside the van asked. “Three men. There were three men,” shouted one of the passengers. “They just got off a few streets from here.” “Were they in a car or on foot?” asked another policeman. “They were on a spaceship,” screamed another passenger. “Now will you do something?” “It doesn’t look from your attitude as if any of you has been robbed,” said the first policeman and the police van drove away.
There was a sudden, strange calm in the bus as the police van disappeared from sight. It was almost as if everyone had reconciled themselves to the fact that whatever they had lost was gone for good. The driver brought the bus back to the main road and we soon reached a bus stop. “Come on, come on, hurry up,” the conductor called to the people waiting to board the bus. “We have lost enough time already.” Surprised at how effortlessly the young conductor had slipped back into his routine, I told him that he was quite a cool customer. “What can we do?” the boy shrugged. “This was the third time this month.”
