H P Lovecraft once said that the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. The people of this country, Karachi in particular, are familiar with living in a constant state of fear. But this fear, contrary to the fear of the unknown, has morphed into fear of known things – target killing, snatching, kidnap for ransom and other such crimes. These can happen to anyone, anytime and anywhere in this city.
The occasional drop in the number of these crimes reflects the minor efforts made by law-enforcement agencies, but the constant fear of these incidents to happen anytime grips every mind. As someone rightly said ‘fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation’. This is what is happening with Karachiites who plan and re-plan their programmes, review and further review their actions, yet they remain unclear whether things will go as per their plans. Fear cannot be eliminated by building boundary walls, posting guards or fixing iron doors. It is a psychological bug which has occupied our minds and we have to fight it out by appearing fearless and daring. Faith is the driving force for overcoming our fear.
Mariyum Akhtar
Karachi
