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Just recently, a friend of my mom’s got robbed. A trio of men, wearing black masks and holding guns barged into her house. Actually, on second thought, barge is probably the wrong word. They, in fact, strolled right in through the gate which was left open. Seeing the entire family at home, including the father and the sons, they thought it best to get acquainted with everyone.
After having announced their presence, they proceeded to prove themselves to be extremely courteous as they respectfully notified the women that since they were about to be robbed by men, in their own home, it was best that they cover their heads and faces (if they chose to, of course). One of the sons assured them that they could relax, browse around the house and take anything which they chose. They were promised safety as they leisurely robbed this family within the pseudo sanctuary of the four walls.
The grandmother, however, was not quite as cooperative and kept going on about how wrong the situation was, while throwing in some low-key threats. One of the men nearly lost his patience at this women who kept interfering with his train of thought, held up his gun and reminded her, with words, that there were actually bullets inside.
Source: www.gunsandammo.com
At this realization, one of the sons again stepped forward and humbly apologized to the robber for his grandmother’s words, reminded him that she was of age and asked him to be magnanimous enough to forgive the old woman’s inconsiderate behavior. Fortunately enough, the robbers turned out to be complete gentlemen, they forgave the old woman, took what they wanted and left when they felt there was nothing of value left in the house.
This may have been an immensely comic story if not for the fact that it is completely real.
Hearing of this event, it dawned upon me that we have become so used to hearing such stories that we no longer bat an eye at the horror of it. It is as if we have simply accepted the fact that we will never be completely safe and the best anyone can hope for is to get away from such an event without any bullets lodged anywhere.
For a nation to start categorizing criminals into gradients of “tameezdaar” and “batameez” indicates a complete failure of law, order and justice. It is symbolic of a nation that no longer believes they have a right to feel safe and secure within the sanctuary of their own homes.
It is the trademark of a land that protects only the criminals who reside therein.
