A TRUE STORY THAT HIGHLIGHTS LIVING IN TERROR

A few hours after the terror attacks that targeted two buses along the busy Thika Superhighway on Sunday evening, a Muslim lady dressed in her full Islamic attire including a ‘niqab’ (the piece of cloth that covers the face fully, only exposing the eyes) boarded a matatu headed to town from Kasarani.

From the minute she stepped in, she was greeted by questioning looks from every passenger aboard and one of them had the audacity to shout; “White Widow, tumeisha!”/ The white widow is here, we are finished”, and on that cue everyone in the bus started shouting, “White widow”.

Annoyed at the insults, the lady asked the passengers why they were calling her that name and without uttering more words, passengers started streaming out of the bus, with some demanding the matatu crew to force her out of the bus.

Seeing that the bus that had taken half an hour to fill was getting empty, the conductor was left with no choice but to give in to his customers’ demands. The poor Muslim lady was forced to disembark the matatu amid outbursts from the rest of the passengers; “rudini kwenu tupate amani”/go back to your country and leave us in peace”.

“I FELT VERY SORRY FOR HER BUT…”

“It was quite hilarious at first when people started saying white widow, but after the issue turned serious, I really felt sorry for the lady but I also agree that when they are fully covered like that, it’s hard to tell if someone is really genuine especially during this period of terror attacks. A terrorist can easily disguise themselves so let them dress that way when in the mosque but not in public,” said one Benson who narrated the drama to this Kenya Forum correspondent.

DIVIDING THE COUNTRY

It’s a sad reality that risks dividing the country on religious grounds which might be catastrophic as the social media has today been filled with updates and tweets on personal accounts or witness accounts describing how accessing public transport for Muslims has become a nightmare.

In today’s Daily Nation, cartoonist Igah captures this scenario in his usual witty way whereas the Kenyan police are seen frisking a Somali man dressed in a kanzu (white gown donned by male Muslims) for weapons on allegations that he looks like a terrorist, only for the real terrorist to walk by unnoticed, smartly dressed in a suit with explosives stuck safely in his jacket.