Shahnaz, originally from Southern Punjab, is a maid working in Defence, Karachi.

My dear Pakistan,

It saddens me to say that our own people have destroyed you. What are people killing each other for? And yet there are many of us who are willing to give our life for you! I am a poor woman, and I live with the constant ache of poverty, but what saddens me more is to see your destruction. Just the other day while I was asleep in my quarter a man entered the premises with a weapon – luckily, it wasn’t a gun but something more like an axe. I don’t know how we managed to force him out of the courtyard and lock the door behind us! I cannot sleep at night for fear of being killed and seeing my children murdered. Why am I so helpless? Why can’t I be safe? I have to say it again, why are we intent on killing each other?

What grieves me most is this mass murder in broad daylight (ye jo qatl e aam sare aam ho raha hai). Pakistan, I just want you to be happy, just like the days when I was happy in my parent’s house in the village. Now, in this teeming metropolis of Karachi, where I migrated after my marriage, my life’s only concern is worrying about the safety of my three children, supporting my layabout, drug-addict of a husband, and managing to eat one square meal a day. I wish for better times for you and me.

(Continued on next page)