It has been a while since I have posted here – but only because the dozen post drafts lying on my desktop have been fighting for attention at the same time – and have created a deadlock.

A lot needs to be said, but before I resume writing, here are 17000 words (in picture format) taken today near my current residence in Abbottabad.

Yesterday’s tragic killing of seven protesters by (our own?) police and the empty streets and the closed bazaar that were so peaceful only a few days ago is something that I was totally unprepared for when I left the pollution and FUD of Lahore for the serene and safe small-town life of Abbottabad last year.

The images are (in no particular order) of the Cantt bazaar, the burnt Cantt police station (which had a beautiful antique wooden door), a burnt police vehicle, empty market, vandalized ATM with a blood-splattered cloth protecting it, and the junction of Liaquat Road, Jinnah Road and Allama Iqbal Road – oh, the irony!