O Karachi

i spent my first fourteen years in karachi. even though it has been another twenty-eight years sitting in islamabad i still consider karachi as my hometown.

karachi... i miss so much!!!

#58 by tahmed32 on March 26, 2003 9:06am PT
Banjaara #53 Interesting though that Jinnah was not comfortable in urdu himself. All his public speeches were in English.

Dont forget that Jinnah was a Sindhi Khoja, educated in England.

More ``freedom`` from the land of the pure.....

But hey, its just a few kafirs, you will not hear a peep from these people who are still openly funding these killers in their country. They are too busy explaining how USA, Israel and India are ruining the world. Talk about shameless hypocrisy...

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/25/international/asia/25KASH.html
Attack on Hindus in Kashmir May Signal Increase in Violence There
By AMY WALDMAN

EW DELHI, March 24 — When an Islamic insurgency began in Indian Kashmir in 1989, the area`s Hindus became an early target. Muslim militants directed a systematic campaign of assassinations and intimidation against Kashmiri Pandits, as the area`s Hindu Brahmins were known, and most of them were forced out of Kashmir.

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Around 40 Pandit families had fled the mountain hamlet of Nadimarg, about 35 miles south of the summer capital, Srinagar. But 11 families had stayed on, counting on the assurances of their Muslim neighbors that they would be safe.

Until early this morning, they were.

JAY.... JAY.... JAY..... why wont you answer my question `` Why are you not a happy Person??????

Lets not take it too far, my post was to tick you off little bit and in the end help you with your venom against pakistanis.
Lets not be depressed about Pakistanis anymore you have better things to do in life. GET SOME HELP!!! SAVE YOURSELF JAYeh...
___________________________________________________
To get you going again, you said ``One thing is certain, you are a pakistani, displays the charecteristic, cannot take responsibility for ones own actions.``

Hey I am not doing anythin, I was talking about saving you from the Pakistanis why dont you save yourself and be a happy person. It is not good for your health to be this hatefull. GET SOME HHELP JAYeh... leave CHOWK! go to the Pawala street or congress house (I will give you some pocket money) or something man! for Bajrang Bali`s or Deepak Chopra`s sake (whatever works for you & I hope I`ve spelled Bajrang Bali correct) get HELP.

Quoting you again``
Pardaisy, now just try and remeber your school days in pakistan, the k for kafir education, the requirement to identify hindus...``

Never, what news paper do you read. Your source of information is killing your health Jay, Get help!

and now you are upset with Nehru... are you happy with anyone in this world? I hope you are not married, are you?

Let us help you with your obsession with pakistanis. If it makes you fell better I admit on behalf of everyone that Pakistanis are scum (wink! Wink! Chowk...this wink is not for you Jay you should not be reading this) now it is time for you to admit that you have a problem and you need help.

No matter where on chowk you interact, know that I will be around the corner to help you go through this just say YES, JAYeh!

Go JAYeh!

(It almost sounds like OJ, oh well)

Banjaara #53 Interesting though that Jinnah was not comfortable in urdu himself. All his public speeches were in English. So, I suspect LA Khan may have influenced him into pushing for Urdu as the national language. It does go to LA Khan`s credit that he did not personally benefit financially from his position. And I certainly hope this story about him chastising a government official for protecting hindus is apocryphal.
I think someone needs to study exactly what happened in 1947, and who could have done what but did not to prevent attacks against hindus and sikhs in what was to become Pakistan. With the passage of time, I think the truth will gradually be lost to history.

Yes its SAD.. pre 85 Karachi even in Zia`s ERA was more tolerent.
today it belong to those who sell protection

Sorry to be joining this board so late :(
(have read up to #25)

Mr. Kazi... This is a shamelessly solipistic piece! If that was the intention, well, there could be no higher praise, eh?

For the record, and for all those lamenting the passing of the idyllic Karachi of yore... Yes, Karachi is a more violent, less tolerant city than in the pre-Zia days (by most accounts, anyway). But - BUT! - the great thing about it is its resilience. I have no figures on violent crime, but I can tell you with certainty that the pall of fear and gloom that once descended over the city (about seven-to-five years ago) has lifted. There are definite signs of things working -- be the state of municipal parks and monuments, the condition of the roads (in many areas, though not all) or the buzzing of commercial areas that once saw shutters down at 7p.m. And did I mention that the changes in police system have resulted in a tremendous drop in incidence of police harrassment, an erstwhile perennial problem for ordinary Karachiites, if not for the likes of uptown Mr. Kazi.

In fact, life may really have not changed at all for folks from the `other side of the [Clifton] bridge`. I cross the bridge daily-- metaphorically as well as literally-- to teach in the new KGS campus. Many of the kids there have never seen, let alone tasted, gola gandas, most seem to have a distaste for a cinematic experience that would probably involve sitting among lowly plebians from the other side, and will probably only have seen Empress market from the inside of their air-conditoned vehicles on the way to naani`s place in Garden West. What a pity-- to never experience the exotic (smehow) scents of the spices, the scents of fresh vegetables, fried liver fillets, jute baskets, carbolic soap bars and caron monoxide-- Could there be a more life-affirming slow-death experience! (Maybe that`s my byline for Karachi in general) :)

For those without lollipop memories, Karachi is pretty much the same (at least of late) as twenty years ago.. Bustling flea markets, ever-crowded parks and dirty streets that one soon gets accustomed to. Squalid is still not a word I`d use to describe all but the very worst of them.

And then, there is always the `hotel` on every street corner where one can have his fill for forty rupeees and a doodh patti to wash down the grease for six. Inflation hasn`t hit the Panwaalah kiosk and it`s possible to exercise your right to smoke wihtout paying taxes that actaully help Montana farmers grow more tobacco-- In short, one less way to kill yourself smoking.
For the ferangi-returned, new fleets of privately operated, not-too-high fared airconditioned buses are a welcome relief, though if one longs for the nostalgic thrill of a rickety beess number ride to Cifton, or a more squeezed-in experienced in a vertiable mobile art gallery, the old buses and minibuses still abound and scream on frantic roads.

AS for Mr. Kazi statement that ``Neither the city nor the people are the same``, unless he is lamenting the changing demographics, well, he seems to be quite out of touch. Then again, it may be that I am not in touch enough with the folks of his mileu to know that they have changed. From the little I do know, i think many have developed a more socially responsible bent, having lived through practical anomie in the 80s and 90s. I cannot say if such form a majority, though.

---------------------
Aisha,
Nice reading!
---------------------
re. moulabux #19,
Your first point was a good one. The latter para was a little unduly acrid, wasn`t it? I mean, one really must feel for the author too.
---------------------
re. Sobia #25,
Would like to give you my two cents on the divide later, if someone hasn`t said it already. As a prelim, I`d just like to say that it would be wrong to see either as the `real Karachi`. Some things are best left undefined. THe experience is what it`s about.

pardaisy 54,

Onething is certain, you are a pakistani, displays the charecteristic, cannot take responsibility for ones own actions.

Pardaisi, you have become a electronic jihadist because of me. You are no different from the millions pf pakistanis who have become killer jihadists because of CIA in afghanistan. Pakistan was created not by TNT and jinnah, but by the intransigence of nehru. Honour killing is because of traditional tribal practices and has nothing to do with pakistan canstitution and the leagl system that leagalises it.

Progress for a nation can come only when individuals take responsibility for their own actions.

Pardaisy, now just try and remeber your school days in pakistan, the k for kafir education, the requirement to identify hindus, well my friend that is why you are a jihadist today, jay has nothing to do with, it is final blooming of the seeds of TNT.

May be one day you also will get the regulation 72 houris, wish the best.

To patchetic
Jay Jay shivshankar..... - Kaash is kay baap nay nikal liya hota. Oh well! its too late.

This is the first time I am interacting at chowk (Before you make any sarcaastic remarks. Yes! Jay, you are the only reason that I have decided to become an ``Electronic Jihadi`` against your acidic tongue.

It is beyond me how you can function with so much hatred for Pakitanis.
I know that you are not a happy person, get some help.
You are destined for some health trouble, get help now. Please.......

I hope you will find happiness in this world soon and learn to live peacefully.
A Well Wishers.

PS- To all Chowk Interacters

Could someone please start a petition or something to save Jay from Hate and negative feelings ?

tahmed32 # 43

Mr. Mohammad Ali Jinnah on his first ever visit to East Pakistan in March 1948,addressed a huge public meeting at the Ramna Race Course ground on 19th March and declared that Urdu and urdu alone shall be the state language of Pakistan. In his address to the special convocation of the Dhaka University held on 24 March 1948, he repeated it once again. He further said, those who were opposing Urdu as the only state language were the enemies of the state. The Language riots erupted on 21st February 1952 wherein seven Bengalis were killed by the government of Mr. Nurul Amin, the Bengali Chief Minister of East Pakistan.

As far as the stories circulating in some circles in Pakistan about Liaqat Ali Khan and his blind support for the mohajirs is concerned, they are just that....stories. Mr Khuro was charged with corruption and dismissed as Chief Minister of Sindh By Governor of Sindh Hidayatullah at the orders of Mr. Mohammed Ali Jinnah on 26th April 1948. Liaqat Ali Khan had nothing to do with the dismissal of Mr. Khuro inspite of the story penned here by the writer.

The Evacuee Property was misused and abused without any doubt,but it was more a case of incompetence and improper planning than political motivation to create a pro-Liaqat electorate amongst the mohajirs. It might interest the readers to know that neither Liaqat Ali Khan and his family nor Hashim Raza and his family were allotted any evacuee property for their use.

Faisaluno:

``also i favour setting up of an impartial body to deal with the most shameful aspect of our history, the ethnic cleansing of hindus. given the current climate however. such suggestions will probably get me arrested for treason``

From what I know, Karachi did not suffer from large scale violence against Hindus. The Hindus left more out of fear from what was happening in Punjab rather than any happenings in Karachi.

ahmadzai:

it was all in good humour, sort of like blacks telling n*gg* jokes. i think we as pakis lack the ability to laugh at ourselves. was trying to do my part to change this. plus its no fun interacting with most hindus here because they are so highly strung.

#49 by faisaluno on March 25, 2003 11:35am PT. ``yet these people constructed something akin to a suburb of virginia amidst the squalor that is south asia (i.e. islamabad). and dont forget about the billion dollar motorway that was built by a democratically elected punjabi prime minister to reduce his commuting time to his home in lahore. what was the economic rationale behind these behemoths, who signed for these projects and who ended up bearing the cost for these and other colossal follies? ``

Like they say in a democracy people get the government they deserve. Right or wrong, the governments were elected by the people of this country. If the decisions of these governments were wrong, then the people need to take them to task.

As far as the quota system is concerned, I personally think that it is a political bogey. It can be abolished tomorrow and will make no difference to anybody.

As far as the non-merit seats are concerned, similar seats do exist in the US as well. A number of students are admitted on the basis of sports and other extra curricular activities.

Talking about rural folks receiving better deals, I suggest that you go out of the comfort of living in the city and go and see how more than 80% of the population of Pakistan lives. No clean drinking water, broken down streets, no sewerage or running water. No schools or hospitals. It is the same in every province.

If we talk about qota systems in the professional colleges like NED and Dow, it actually discriminates in favour of persons with Karachi domicile (I being one of these persons). When people talk of admissions on open merit, they forget one thing that it is all Karachi open merit, or in other words merit only for students with Karachi domicile. Now if admissions were to be opened up on say all Sindh or all Pakistan merit basis, rest assured that the number of students from Karachi who get admission to professional colleges would be much lower than what it is now.

pakfin:

so immigrants got some plots in golimar. big deal considering the price they paid and all that they achieved for the people who reside in the land that is now known as pak. in comparison, what have our rulers done since independence? and yet these people constructed something akin to a suburb of virginia amidst the squalor that is south asia (i.e. islamabad). and dont forget about the billion dollar motorway that was built by a democratically elected punjabi prime minister to reduce his commuting time to his home in lahore. what was the economic rationale behind these behemoths, who signed for these projects and who ended up bearing the cost for these and other colossal follies?

lets also look at quota system. kind of strange that only thing our assemblies agree upon is the extension of quota system and the suppression of results of census. why do do you think this is the case? lets also look at stats you quote for ned. according to your own mumbers, 15% of seats in ned are non-merit based. what do you think would happen in the u.s. if for example state universities operated on these principles. actually we dont need to think because u.s. supreme has said that quotas are unconstitutional. and surely our non-urban folks have been received a better deal than blacks have received at the hands of white folks in the u.s.

are also you are not seriously suggesting that quota system ends up discriminating in favour of karachites? at iba, which is a merit based institution that has an entrance exam, there is virtually no presence of students from outside karachi and lahore. other institutions have also started to rely on entrance exams because of poor standards of most local boards.

also strange that we should be talking about quotas at institutions like ned. if you recall, it was a sindhi feudal who ruined the country by nationalizing private institutions, the only things that worked in pakistan. this had a particularly adverse effect on karachites because of their domination of the private sector. bhutto’s government also fanned the flames of ethnic nationalism by passing the sindhi language bill in 1972. given all this, it is not surprising to see that karachites did not vote for bhutto in any great numbers. and karachites deserted religious parties once mqm became a viable political source. your claim that karachi is more conservative than peshawar is actually pretty funny especially in the light of recent developments.

also i favour setting up of an impartial body to deal with the most shameful aspect of our history, the ethnic cleansing of hindus. given the current climate however. such suggestions will probably get me arrested for treason.

adnan_rafiq @ # 35:

Very beautifully written from one who has a positive frame of mind. Faisaluno (# 37), you need to note this.

Talking about stories of partition, another bone of contention is evacue property. The two provinces that saw most of the migration were Sindh where the bulk of the refugees settled and Punjab where refugees from East Punjab landed.

After partition, the government of Pakistan under Liaaqat Ali Khan set up the Evacue Property Trust headed by Syed Hashim Raza. The function of this trust was to take over all evacue property or the property left behind by Hindus and Sikhs and reallot it to refugees from India. There being one key difference in the Land Revenue Laws of Sindh and Punjab, the results of this were very different between the two provinces. Under the Punjab Land Revenue Code, no person can own agricultural land in Punjab until he/she has been a resident of that area for a prescribed period (my guess is two or three years). Under this clause, the evacuee land resumed by the government was held by the revenue department and the alloted to the locals. On the other hand the Evacue Property Trust in Sindh alloted evacuee land to the migrants, based on two witnesses who gave a written statement that the same person owned a certain area of land in India and left it behind. Therefore, several immigrants filed claims supported by two other immigrants and got land for free in Sindh. Another issue that came up was that a lot of the land resumed by the Evacue Property Trust was actually owned by small Muslim farmers, who had borrowed from the Hindu banyas and had left the title documents of their land with these money lenders. The government considered this land to be owned by the Hindus, since the original landowners were unable to pay back the loans. This became another cause of resentment between the locals and the immigrants.

#43 by tahmed32 on March 25, 2003 6:31am PT
As I mentioned in my post, this was long before I was born. I heard the story from a reliable source but cannot verify it as of course all the players have passed away and the story is based on a telephone conversation.

u`s bewafa ka shehr hay aur ham haiN dosto
ashke-rawaN ki nehr hay aur ham haiN dosto

pakfin #32 I had never heard this story before. I fault our partition day leaders for not being more proactive in protecting hindus and sikhs and assuring them that they were welcome to remain in Pakistan if they wished. In doing so, I recognize that they had their hands full, and in any case the departing British were the ones who deserve full blame for not ensuring law and order since they were the established power at the time.
HOWEVER, if LA Khan actually chastised Mr. Khuhro for protecting hindus in Karachi, then this is a serious charge against him. Are you aware of any written sources on this question? I do know that this emphasis on the Urdu language was triggered the anti-West Pakistan feelings in then East Pakistan. Even today, there are monuments in every small town in Bangladesh on the language riots of the early 1950`s, and three days of mourning in march is still done for those who died in those riots. I thought that speech was made by Jinnah in Dacca, but I could be wrong. Any light Shahzad or anyone can shed on that??

#37 by faisaluno on March 24, 2003 8:07pm PT ``punjabis take our tax rupee, baluchis take our cars, sindhis take our seats in engineeing and med schools and pathans take our lives by sending us drugs, guns and tribal islam. imagine where would pakistan be if people outside karachi pulled their load``

You seem to have gotten quite a few things wrong here. First of all Karachi is the capital of Sindh and the largest city of Pakistan. At the time of partition the locals welcomed the immigrants with open arms. However, history is witness to the fact that the post partition bureaucracy consisted primarily of Mohajirs who did all they could to help other Mohajirs at the expense of the locals. Look at all the major residential areas of Karachi. Except Defence Housing Authority almost all post partition Karachi residential land was alloted to the Mohajirs at nominal rates, not to talk of evacuee property received in claims.

Even though you talk of Karachi in your posting, it clearly has a chauvinistic ethnic ring to it.

Talking about fundamental Islam, it did not come from the Pathans, but actully primarily from the Mohajirs of Karachi and Hyderabad. If you look at the pattern of voting, in the 1970 and the 1977 elections, Mohajirs supported parties like Jamaat -i- Islami and JUI, wheras the other secular parties had their strongholds in areas consisting of other ethnic groups, eg. Wali Khans NAP in NWFP. As regards violence and crime in Karachi, we all know which groups have been responsible for it.

Now let us get to the issue of admissions in professional institutions like NED in Karachi. Out of 650 or seats that were there, 550 or so were reserved for students with Karachi domocile. Only 6 each for students from NWFP and Balauchistan, 12 for the Punjab and 35 for the rest of Sindh. The rest of the seats went to sons and daughters of engineers, army oficers and to persons excelling in extra curricular activities. The basic result of this was that persons with Karachi domicile could get in with much lower grades than persons from outside Karachi. The students coming from the rest of Pakistan were usually the top position holders from their districts.

This is just to set the record straight.

Paigham, 40,

In india no one talks about the dream of gandhi, nehru or any one for that matter. The dream is that of the living people.

Pakistan is unique in the sense that there are those who talk about jinnah, they want to realise his vision. The others want to realise the vision of the book.

That is the primary reason why no pakistani can see the reality of today. They are lost in the past, 50 year old, or 1400 years old, what a choice.

There is harm in pakistanis accepting a jihadic republic of pakistan. At last MMA is making a determined effect, the ilks of tahmed who talked about 3 percent terrorists have gone quite, now the numbers are nearly 30 percent. I have great hopes for pakistan, at last the jihadists of the military have managed to put the political jihadists in power through the great device of graduate elected reps.

At last there is unity in pak society, jiahdists every where. This is the TNT vision, the vision of jinnah, leave out one speach.

#32 Pakfin...... Your story is right. My father told to make sure that L.A.Khan has ``solid`` backing Mohajirs were encouraged at loss to sindhis. Same thing happened in Punjab but it did not change as sindh as People from east Pakistan moved West punjab nicely fitted in same culture. Incidendtly Khan Bahadur Mr. Ayub K. was fired by L.K.Khan and he died broken hearted sensing the loss of Sindhis. There was no Sindhi Muslim Population to move to fill vaccuum so different cultured people moved and long term displaced Sindhi. In sense Sindhi ethnic was greatest looser group as today Karachi, Hyderbad and sukkar (not completrly) are typical north indian Muslim cities and Sindhi for sure. When big changes takes place there are looser and Sindhis are worst loosers and compounded by sindhi opportunist leaders ZAB, Junj.,Benzir and presnt CM od sindh.

#38 Faisal ....... You have pointed correctly )0.5 million city is expanded to 15 million ( some say its 18 to 20 mILLION ALREADY). Its impossible to be expanded 25 to 30 times and increasing still and have good transport, electricity and adequate water. The infrastructure(transport) ,electricity and Water are in shortage permanantly. My fear is as population jumps from 140 to 350 Million as predicted by my most expets in next 30 years the population will go to 30 to 35 million. ( Presently its 10% of population of whole of Pakistan). Which will be almost doubling will be creating great many problems.
I as a Karachian feel as China does is only Salvation. That is strict one child families. (We alaways praise china but do not follow in this matter. I think people will revolt as most men consider its private matter)

Other remidy like china to have Karachi Passport. China does not allow peasants move to Benjing and they are caught and deported back. There is ``city Passport`` in all big Chineses city. If done then Population of Karachi can be stabilized around 24 million. With such constant population progree done can show result.

I will request readers to suggest constructve measure so Karachi does not become nightmare. I personally feel Circular Raiway is not good idea as it does not take take place fast from one end to another

I think Karachi be given atleast 50% tax back by federal tank as Karachi is dieing slowly and revive. Please do not kill gold egg giving ``hen`` karachi by neglect.

I find very sad attitude od envy , jalousy and greed. The writer is born in good family and is is not fault. It is not his fault that his fore fathers were well to do. Some people write as if being rich is sin. It is not to be poor and lazy, and being stagnant is sad. This class envey is created by politicians but this not lead to any solutions.

I hope expak write constructive ideas for improvement of karachi

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old karachi is dead. long live the new karachi. reflections of caucasian- indian-american muslim (talk about being confused) on karachi. for expat karachites, really worth your while to read this.

Karachi: through the looking glass
Friday Times

Ann Hussaini
The most surprising aspect of Karachi to a girl from small-town America, is that it feels strangely like home...


We`ve gone to the beach, and on the way back to Karachi from Balochistan I`m recording moments thro-ugh the car window again. The video camera has been my crutch throughout this trip - a way to apprehend and distance myself simultaneously from a culture to which I`m supposedly connected. I am an American with a Muslim Indian father. Or I am an Indian with an American mother, depending upon who you ask. Either way, this is my first trip to Pakistan.

It`s the nature of America to export its culture and devour everything in its path - my immediate family is an accidental by-product. Inspired by our Indian and Pakistani family, my father and I have come to Pakistan for a month-long tour of the places he grew up.

We`ve passed mud huts in the desert and shanties of woven palm fronds or corrugated iron and concrete where men sit by Pepsi signs written in Urdu. Now, as we head back to civilisation, painted buses appear, bejewelled with reflectors. A man in a kurta climbs aboard. I move my head between the black and white image in my viewfinder and the glittering painted birds and flowers looping across its side. Since I`m busy worrying about how to frame everything, I often remember nothing of what I`ve shot.

``You`ll have to make sure you catch a paan spit on tape,`` my cousin says.

``Or maybe you should film me asking someone to spit paan so that I can tape it.``

I have a certain amount of guilt for taking things away as electronic images so that I can edit and distort them as I like later - but doesn`t everyone do it? Isn`t it part of the American way to borrow the bits you`re interested in and discard the rest? Don`t others do the same to us, for that matter? Maybe it`s a sort of cultural entropy - we will all gradually spread into each other until we`ve gelled into one homogenous ``ueberculture``, held together by MTV.

On the car stereo Amir puts on Mojo Nixon. Suddenly I`m split between memories of hanging out in basement apartments with thrift-store clad college friends, and the things moving in electronic grayscale through my viewfinder. Chkchkchkchk,rockabilly guitar pick and a misty delicate tree I`ve never seen before; the riff moves on, dadum da dum da drr, through seas of low flat dunes, an empty road punctuated by dump trucks and camel carts, he`s in EEEVVVEERYthing, Mojo`s voice comes in as PAF jets roar overhead and Amir tells me put the camera down in a military zone. But we`re listening to rock n` roll and we`ve just come from the beach. Elvis is everywhere, yeah! Elvis is everywhere!

I never thought I`d take an American road trip in Pakistan, but here I am.

After two and a half weeks in bewildering, beautiful India and eighteen months living in New York, what surprised me about Karachi the most is how I`ve felt - strangely at home. I didn`t expect it. I expected to be happy to see my family, bored and trapped inside the house, and made nervous by men who might all, I assumed, prefer to see me in burqa. But Karachi feels right to me and I`ve been spending idle moments trying to unravel why. Maybe driving around with my cousins is providing me with an illusory sense of safety; maybe it`s the pleasure of seeing where someone you love grew up. Or it might be that Karachi is immediately comprehensible to an American small-town girl.

First off, it`s just the right size - within a few days I have a sense of where I`m going. The driving isn`t terrifying. The pace of life is easy. People might stare at my white skin -no one I`ve met has suspected I have a drop of Eastern blood - but they don`t harass me. And the city has so much . . . charm. I feel like I`m in an Eastern European city (but with Miami`s climate) in the early seventies. I love the blocky concrete austerity of the buildings, the swooping public monuments in the center of every roundabout, the aged neon signs and the awkward simplicity of the handpainted billboards.

Beaches might lack bathing suits, but they have far superior camels. The fifteen-year olds in my aunt`s apartment complex are messing around with the brand-new basketball goal, but the little boys are still playing cricket. Everyone`s still excited about the first couple of McDonalds. And the width and quietude of the streets, the hominess of the daily shopping and living activity I watch in the residential areas I`m visiting pluck at my heart. There`s a peace and routine here conspicuously absent from my life in New York. All of this is almost enough to make me put the camera down and just - participate.

Karachi`s beginnings of overlap with Western culture seem innocent; it`s a mid-sized town growing up and acquiring the things that the big cities have. Years of cultural programming make it impossible for me to ignore advertising, but the slack, clumsy way it`s done here is a complete relief compared to the glut of glossy rubbish I`m used to having thrown in my face in the US every day.

Who could dislike chilli chicken heroes for Rs. 50, or resist a mattress (complete with Supermodel) called Molty-Foam? Quaint things still feel present in their own way in Karachi; the things that we buried under our own momentum in the US. The city intrinsically possesses a retro-chic that hipster Americans from the Lower East Side collect by buying retro Chanel from 1969 at $300 a dress. And I wonder if my newfound love for Pakistan is really rooted in an older love for the places in the US where I grew up, in the days before the one new, exciting shopping mall or the one new, tastier chain restaurant in my neighborhood became fifty and everything, everywhere in America became the same. But when I stop rolling tape for too long, I`m hit with another reality. No matter how many analogies I draw between the US and Pakistan, I am in the East, under a militarised government. . Around the eyepiece I sneak as many glances as I can at what that is.

In US news, all Islamic cultures come across as one conglomerate block of absolutist tyranny. We grew up with images of the Islamic world as missile-bearing terrorists, threats to the American way of life. I find the constant presence of truckloads of soldiers here unnerving, but my fear gradually diminishes as I watch people living their daily lives with seeming nonchalance - and then I make another discovery. The tradition, repression, and authoritarianism of this culture, exotic but also mine by blood, is strangely seductive. Karachi has the tension of the hidden, and that tension by its very existence hooks into every open space I have and draws me to it. I like to unveil mysteries, to break into anything that keeps me out. Danger is enticing and austerity is sexy. Walls are sexy. Barriers are sexy.

In my cousin`s neighbourhood, every luxurious house has uniformed guards and walls, some garlanded with barbed wire and studded with broken glass. The only things that make it over these barriers uninvited are the cries of the cart vendors. I want to sneak in, to stand on the roofs of adjacent buildings and spy over walls upon these hidden lives. Would I see silent, still houses attended by servants who move aimlessly until their masters return, like extras on an empty set? Would men and women sit in silent dignity on weekends, watching their children run about on their impossibly lush lawn? Or could it be my most intense hope - a debacle of women lolling on lounge chairs reading Virginia Woolf while their husbands make land deals? I don`t know but I suspect that this fantasy isn`t happening very often. Perhaps Karachi is on the way to its own Prague spring. But the potential energy here has a subtle, luminous draw.

In the morning, when I`m waking up and off guard, the prayers emanating from the mosque are incredibly beautiful to me. I walk to the window and listen every time. The comfort I feel when I walk on the streets also seems beyond any rational analysis - as a white girl, I shouldn`t feel this, but I do. Perhaps I am genetically programmed to respond to a culture I inherited but never understood. My US independence shifts like sand, and I know - I know that I could live here and find myself transformed in ways I can`t imagine. If it gets too scary or too real, I start taping again so I can admire Pakistan later in the safety of my living room. Like Karachi, I have my own walls to control what I let in and keep out, what I will allow to transform me. I am an American; I want to take what I want and let the rest go.

Then Amir turns into his apartment complex, nodding at the chaukidar; we shake sand out of our shoes and dump the fish Nasir`s bought on the beach into his car. We climb the five flights of steps to the top, ready to go eat. The camcorder goes off for a couple of hours and Karachi rushes in on me again. We`re home.

for a city that has grown from a size of about 0.5 m people to a size of about 15 m people in the last 55 years, karachi has not done too badly. and contrary to the propaganda, the crime rate in karachi is about average for a city of its size. and this despite the fact that karachi does not have a police force in the modern sense of the word. and this despite the fact that about 40% of federal tax revenue is collected from karachi. in addition, karachi continues to find space for the tired and huddled masses from all over pakistan and afghanistan. and (as if this was not enough), karachites has given to the country, people like edhi and shaukat aziz and karachihites have created institutions like cplc.

and what do we get in return. precious little i say. punjabis take our tax rupee, baluchis take our cars, sindhis take our seats in engineeing and med schools and pathans take our lives by sending us drugs, guns and tribal islam. imagine where would pakistan be if people outside karachi pulled their load. how bright would be our future if baluchis got educated (instead of blowing gas pipelines), pathans got over their infatuation with tribal islam and punjabis got over their dislike of people who live across the eastern side of our border..

we can only dream.

for a city that has grown from a size of about 0.5 m people to a size of about 15 m people in the last 55 years, karachi has not done too badly. and contrary to the propaganda, the crime rate in karachi is about average for a city of its size. and this despite the fact that karachi does not have a police force in the modern sense of the word. and this despite the fact that about 40% of federal tax revenue is collected from karachi. in addition, karachi continues to find space for the tired and huddled masses from all over pakistan and afghanistan. and (as if this was not enough), karachites have given to the country, people like edhi and shaukat aziz and karachites have created institutions like cplc.

and what do we get in return. precious little i say. punjabis take our tax rupee, baluchis take our cars, sindhis take our seats in engineeing and med schools and pathans take our lives by sending us drugs, guns and tribal islam. imagine where would pakistan be if people outside karachi pulled their load. how bright would be our future if baluchis got educated (instead of blowing gas pipelines), pathans got over their infatuation with tribal islam and punjabis got over their dislike of people who live across the eastern side of our border..

we can only dream.

Karachi has also been referred in the past as ``Shehr-e-GharibaaN`` (City of the Poor). While Lahore can claim historical greatness and Islamabad can tout its serenity, both lack the opportunities and diversity of Karachi. Whether you are Punjabi, Sindhi, Baloch, Urdu-speaking or Pathan, this city welcomes you with open arms and provide livelihood to you and your family. It would also enable you to send money to your relatives still living in your hometown.

What people see as garbage, over-population and political unrest is not a liability to be ashamed of. It is a mark of this city`s greatness. It provides refuge and shelter to the millions of Pakistanis who are unable to find employment in their places of birth. Karachi is truly the ``melting pot`` of Pakistan. It may not be beautiful and scenic but it has a heart of gold.

temporal #33: Koshish is San Jose based. A close friend of mine was a member. It is run by a group of really good guys from NED, in San Jose. Not a bad organization to be a part of.

hey ya kow they are planning to renovate karachi club annexe these days

so if you wana look at it for the last time they way it was
go ahead and take you peek ..

Shahzad:

I really enjoyed your reminisces…am from the same karachi and have somewhat similar memories…in fact I did a series on Karachi some years back…on what used to a precursor of the present ‘unplugged’ section…

some digressions:

---show me a city unchanged in the last 25 years and I will show you moen-jo-daro

---this writer (shahzad) has every right to reminisce about his past as he choses…if he was born with a silver spoon and if he choses to mention that I see nothing wrong…

---http://www.koshish.org/ looks good…just had a cursory look…will check out later in detail…somebody who intends to retire back in Karachi asked me about volunteering time there…after I have checked it out might recommend this to him…

---all cities have ‘other’ sides of the track or river…the poor bustees and the enclaves for the rich…in third world countries such divides are more pronounced…

---the real Karachi---keamari (an island really)…khara and meetha dars, (mahim maher did couple of excellent articles on them)…garikhata and pakistan chowk areas and the upscale old garden and jamshed road colonies (aamil colony, sindhi colony)…

---things that can be added if this is expanded and revised:

…pidc pan wallah
…hanifiya
…grand hotel in malir
…dhabeji falls
…the still functioning mandirs (opp. Kmc, two in solider bazaar area, one near islamia college, at the foot of native jetty, Clifton)
…the synagogue at lawrence road, ranchor lines
...the zoroatrian temple, and across from it adam sumar`s bakery ( and the ford model T)
…the talpur fort at manora island (a rather well kept secret: mainly because pak navy controls the island)
...the old aero club on country club road (now engulfed by various gulshans)


rgds,

t

#11 by ahmedmadani on March 22, 2003 7:39pm PT. L.A. Khan (Mohajir Supremo) was culprit he started campaign aginst ousting over 40% Hindus who were cream of society they were mwecilessly driven in madness to make sure that Indians are filled and LA Khan has secure base politically.

Here is a little tid bit of history that might interest some of the readers.
At the time of partiiton, Khan Bahadur Ayub Khuhro became the first Chief Minister of Sindh. Soon after partition riots started near the Empress Market in Karachi and a crowd gathered to burn the shops and homes of Hindus in the area. On hearing this, Ayub Khuhro took a contingent of police and went to the Empress Market. When he got there, he got out of his car with a revolver in his hand and told the crowd that he would shoot the first man who raised a hand against any Hindu or his property. The crowd took heed and dispersed.

On returning home, he was informed that the Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan wanted to speak to him. Mr. Khuhro called up the Prime Minister and when Liaqat Ali Khan came on line, he asked Mr. Khuhro about the riots in Karachi. Ayub Khuhro told him that he did not have to worry about anything as the riots have been quelled. At this Liaqat Ali Khan said to Mr. Khuhro that that was exactly the issue. He said that you should not have stopped the riots. If we do not force these Hindus to leave, how will we create space for our brothers who are coming from India.

I was not there, but have heard this story from someone who was told this first hand by Ayub Khuhro.

Would somebody like to post photographs of Karachi somewhere here?

Also, I have it on authority that kababs in Delhi are far better than kabas in Karachi.

paagalinsan,

I am saddened by your post that CIA created jihadists, coming from an other wise very sane person. Pakistan as a society, having denounced everything india, having created the gaznavis as heror, was in a vacuum , looking for an identity. The last speach of jinnaha really confounded the people, the land created for islam cannot be a secular country, simple as that, especially with the doctrine of TNT and the ethnic cleansing. The CIA came as a solution to the pak problem, today it is Jihadic Republic of Pakistan. It has an identity, do not blame the cia, they acted only as a catalyst.

Look at the latest al quida arrets, they are from all over the country, from the well to do are the supportes of jihad, see tahmed as the shining example. NWFP has sharia laws, chopping and stoning are about to start, long live

Jihadic Republic of Pakistan. That is till the cookie cutters atart falling. Pak history and hope can only be a an afghan kind of liberation.

Kazi,

Take a holiday from the florida home, go to Karachi, learn some urdu so that you can read the backward reading language. All of its verbs are from hindi, a language of inaction.

In the street corners you can see large posters, they are calling for kashmir jihad. Go to a mosque, even in the poshest area, they will be making collections for jihad. Read about dawood ibrahim, ask a man in the street why pakistan treats dawood as a hero, find the similarity with gaznavi.

Go to the lakers meeting, see for yourself the money poering in from the mums and dads to keep the jihad alive. Kazi, pakistan is a society that legalises killings, laskers can thrive by stating that they are killing kafirs, well my friend, if the jihad is about killing to reach heaven after death, please have mercy on the so called criminals who wants good time right here. These poor criminals need your sypathy, a society that poromises heaven for killers has at least an obligation to have at least some happinss on earth for killings. Karach is living up to the principle of pak creation.

Sobia,

You`re right in that there is a significant difference ``between the defence/clifton crowd and the nazimabad/korangi crowd``; it`s almost two different worlds. But I`d be hard-pressed to believe you don`t have the same in most large cities. I`m not sure you`ll agree with me, but I find the divide sharper in Lahore, maybe because people are trying to cover it up all the time.
The ``real`` Karachi; I`m not sure there is such a thing. Perhaps it`s better to say that Karachi operates on several levels of tolerance, a sliding scale where one end is harmony and the other breakdown or civic terrorism.

afrasiyab #23 Hmmmmmmmmmmmm....well....OK. If you say so.
:-)

#25 by Sobia on March 23, 2003 10:56pm PT
Correct me if I`m wrong, but isn`t there a strange sort of invisible divide between the defence/clifton crowd and the nazimabad/korangi crowd?

I guess the way it works is that the dividing lines are two rivers, namely the Lyari river and the Malir river. Historically Karachi stretched from the port of Keamari to a little bit beyond the Saddar area and the Garden area. There was nothing North of the Lyari river and only small fishing villages to the South of the Malir river. Post partition, the bulk of the immigrants settled in tent villages North of the Lyari river. Subsequently residential areas like Nazimabad, Azizabad and Federal B Area were created. The divide was hence created between the original Karachiites ad the new immigrants. After the creation of the Landhi and Korangi industrial areas to the South of the Malir river, labour colonies started to develop in these areas. So we can see some sort of ehnic as well as economic divide.

The old upscale areas were Garden, Clifton and Bath Island. Defence Housing Society is a relatively new phenomenon, ans was created in the sixties for army officers. Therefore, this area initially became Punjabi dominated. Most of the army officers subsequently sold the plots alloted to them and people aspiring to move up in life started to move in and made the area more cospmopolitan.

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view this users filtered interacts

Correct me if I`m wrong, but isn`t there a strange sort of invisible divide between the defence/clifton crowd and the nazimabad/korangi crowd? I can`t claim to know much about karachi but i have noticed this...it`s like two different set of cultures with separate ideals, ways of talking and dressing etc. living in one city, each looking down upon the other. Kamila Shamsi has also dealt with this in her book `Salt and Saffron`. Why is this almost tangible divide so pronounced in Karachi? I know it exists in Lahore too but not to the extent one sees it in Karachi. It`s not because Karachi is a cosmopolitan hodge podge of different identities etc. It`s more like there`s the `paindu` crowd (forgive me for using the word but it is just something this article and ensuing discussion has invariably brought forth) and then there`s the `posh` crowd of KGS etc...and between the two of them, it`s difficult to pinpoint where the REAL karachi is...what gives?

In response to #5,
How dare you, sir. How dare you question anybody`s right to do what they please with their time, present or past. If it is the wasting of your time that you are so very concerned about, germs of which are rarely seen in Pakistanis, then allow me to point to the Back button on your browser that will take you back to the point where you came from and I am not referring to the rock that was moved.

At the expense of being susceptible to a true Pakistani drug of choice, the dispensation of which, all of us Pakistanis like to deliver more than anything else, unsolicited ``non-constructive`` advice, allow me to point to the above made rudiment from the manual of common sense, emphatically, and add that you should invest in a good punching bag and leave the keyboard for the production of meaningfull critique of whatever material you come across. If you do not have that to offer please do not go out on a limb resting on conjectures about somebody`s memories/fantasies in whatever shape or form.

On your point of any other Karachiites or ex-Karachiites actively involved with the affairs of the metrapolis and as far as doing something about the situation in Karachi, I would like to take this opportunity, and invite you and others on this forum to go to the site,

http://www.koshish.org/

A site that represents an organization doing a great deal for Karachi and areas other than that great city. I live in the bay area where this organization is based and I am involved in it. I know I am doing my bit and I am sure the person who wrote this article is probably doing what s/he can too. On top of that if s/he is able to put a little bit together about something s/he cherishes and shares it with us, then perhaps we should learn to respect that.

More ``freedom`` in J&K. The only good thing to come out this sadness is that local people will understand better who they need ``azadi`` from...


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Kashmir-Guerrilla-Killed.html

Ex-Guerrilla Leader Assassinated in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP) -- Abdul Majid Dar, who once headed Kashmir`s biggest guerrilla group Hezb-ul Mujahedeen, was shot and killed Sunday by masked gunmen, police said.

Dar was killed in the town of Sopore, a separatist stronghold 30 miles north of Srinagar, the summer capital of India`s Jammu-Kashmir state.

Dar`s mother and sister were also injured in the shooting, a police official said on condition of anonymity.

Dar was supervising construction work at the site of his new house in Sopore when the gunmen arrived in a car and fired at him, the official said.

Police released no further details. The officer declined to comment on whether police suspect any group for the attack.

Dar was Hezb`s top commander in Indian-controlled Kashmir until two years ago, when the group`s Pakistan-based leader sacked him for offering to hold talks with the Indian government.

This article would have been as appealing without the following.

1. your grandfather`s white De-soto
2. the white uniformed chauffer
3. your father`s buick roadmaster
4. The Sind Club
5. Karachi Gymkhana
however, if the idea was to impress the reader with your social status in Karachi of the bygone days,congratulations...you have succeeded.

Re:#15 ...my dear fellow karachiite , yes i pretty much relate to everything u said
````The wind in my hair in a rickshaw (Paindu but fun as hell) ````
why is travelling in a rickshaw considered paindu? maybe you have a definition of paindu...on one hand u said u wish u could change ````Women who can spend lifetimes in status symbols ````
and on the other u cannot say u relished travelling in a rickshaw without clarifying u considered it paindu.
Some of my fondest memories include rickshaws and buses...does that qualify me as a paindu?
Im sorry im not attacking u - just want to know the psyche behind this statement..

Shahzad:

Very good article on a Pakistani city. You really grew up in a very good place.

Karachi that I knew as an outsider:

Getting shocked at realization of our `Paindooness` on our first trip to the city from the NWFP.

Getting even more shocked to see so many girl students at NED and Karachi University. Readily accepting that female students at the latter university outnumbered males by 2:1

Sindhi villagers racing their donkey carts every Friday between Malir Cantt and Nipa Roundabout using small drum to encourage the donkeys.

Private zoo of the Rukkunuddins located off the beaten path off super highway (Shahzad: I suggest that you go for `opt an animal program` here).

Driving off the beaten path to reach Hub Dam wildlife sanctuary and while on the way noticing some familiar NWFP related wall slogans like ``Benazir ka khana kharab `` in Frontier Colony.

Heading off from Manora Island for deep sea fishing, catching fish and then not being able to eat later for we had so much of sympathy for them.

Participating in 2nd Kidney Center walk.

Biking off to Paradise Point, French Beach and Cape Munro (?) with friends

I still enjoy visiting Karachi (last visit in 2001). I have enjoyed Karachi`s past, have enjoyed its presence and InshaÁllah will enjoy its future too.

Its good to cherish the past memories, but there is no point in living in them.

#2 by temporal on March 22, 2003 2:57pm PT
a quick query for now...are you talat`s brother?...more later....t

No I am not Talat`s brother.

Mr. Kazi,

The Karachi that you talk of is dripping with wealth. Only a selected few will be able to relate to it. Your have missed out on a large part of Karachi. You`re reminiscing your childhood.

Continue living your picture perfect existence ensconed in a glass panelled office on the highest floor of a leviathan of a building, and we Karachites will consider ourselves blessed everytime you spare a thought for our city.

Cheers.
Cheers.

Aisha,

The hole in the wall bookstore you mention has been renovated into a proper store. I remember I first came across it the day before my interview at Aga Khan and, in an effort to sound brainy and well-read the next day, picked up an aged copy of Popular Science. Didn`t work one bit; Dr Shoro grilled me anyways.

Thanks for writing about Karachi. I miss it more than anything else I`ve ever missed. It is almost like my measure of the best in life. Like the coffee beans you have to smell to neutralize your sense at the perfume store. I constantly recheck everything and ever place with Karachi. I`ve savored its ever character trait.

Some of Karachi`s best

Driving the old blue civic on Karsaz.
The hole in the wall bookstore near Times Medico
The Chicken tikka place near Snoopy
One potato two in Clifton
Golla Ganda with extra condensed milk
Watching rain clouds form
Gulshan`s view from the rooftop when it rains
The thele-wala with the best bhutta
The pottery near the Stadium
Agha Khan Hospital`s lawns
Razia`s stories from Nazimabad (She was the neighbour`s helper)
Clifton`s Boat Basin
Beach luxury’s jetty-like walk way
The people who made embroidery on wedding clothes in Sadar`s markets
The lights on August 14th
The cricket played on the streets
Always being connected to people around
Never hesitating to stop and ask, Aye Bahi..?
The villagers who dictated letters to the postman
The cheap fruit and its abundance
Chilghozey (some hard earned nut in the cooler days)
Holiday Inn`s (Back in the day) halls and elevator music
The life on Burns Road at 3 am (Khata Khat sounds)
The wind in my hair in a rickshaw (Paindu but fun as hell)
Chiku
Aaam
FALSEY!!
The samunder
The view from the balcony above Jade Garden
Hinjrey who make great novel material
Large billboards
Junoon`s concerts
Friends who live for the day
Playing antakshiri when it rains at school
The security that Pakistan will still be there when we awake (never have it here)

Things I wish I could remove:

Lafangey who sit on walls and whistle
Dry spells
Different Azans at different styles/times in bad voices
Women who can spend lifetimes in status symbols
And of course the population surge, poverty and crime...


Karachi is the best...


Aisha F Sarwari

I like this. We can have fond memories of a lot of pleasant things and if they include silver service and a golden childhood, heck, tau sone pe suhaaga. The writer is conveying a slice of that aspect; he is not sitting to do a hisaab-kitaab of violence and poverty in Karachi...

Btw, we get Duke`s Raspberry here, and only Parsis and some Khojas relish it...the true paagals :)

I also think that Bombay, Mumbai, is the best city in the world. In fact, in our part of the subcontinent, it is the only place that qualifies as a `city`.

A couple of cliched sentences could have been avoided in this piece and a bit more meat would not have harmed...and I am not talking biryani, paya, nihari...

Shahzad

You depicted the life very well. Smooth & easy to read. You had a lolli-pop childhood. I guess the people in that bracket still have more or less the same life.

What I most miss in Karachi is that open liberal environment. Nightly Shows (liddo`s), world`s best bands used to come and open bars. I may not be crazy about all these things but I want to exercise my choice.

Another good feature was the neat and clean cinema halls running the latest movies (palace). And where the families regulaly went as a Sunday outing. That entire culture is now missing.

Finally, the opening of the first Chinese - South China Cafe where each dish cost only about 3 rupees.

#10:perhaps you should convey these statistics to the shias who have lost loved ones ... im sure they would appreciate it.

We should accept what has become of the karachi we all dearly love..
although Mr.Kazi`s musings seem to be of a ``prosperous`` nature , that used to be the very karachi which was not in the sorry state it is now. Although things never were perfect, no era beats the anarchy we see now. Among others, we have ZiaUlHaq and the mullahs to thank to a large extent for what karachi and infact Pakistan has become...
Nonetheless great piece ... takes one back to the good old days.

Dear Mr. Shahzad Kazi........... Mr. Kazisahib you just made me sad and cry of gone days. I am 55 and remember great Karachi before all crime swept like a flood all over and destroyed karachi the the city of light. I felt while reading as if we are revisiting very old gone area. But its not old just 45 years ago. It is sad to its only 50 years the city is destroyed and is reduced to kingdom of all Mafias. Now just walk away from main roads and you see heap of garbage heaps, broken roads, nonworking sewers and coming bad smell, shits lying all around and junli starving dogs and that heat and humidity and decomposing of garbage and strange stench emitting of,its feeling of death pervading all around and poor are punished for hellon earth not afraid of judgement day as hell can not be worst and making all crimes. I do not know if you remember the area area aroung laxmi building , i and my dears sisters and brothers walk and watch going traffic. How things changed, take walk around Q.A.M.A. Jinnah road it has become drug alleys. Along walls of road see emancipated drug addicts injecting ``afghan drugs`` in open or see men and women smoking by useing glass pipes. Its so common to see people heating ``power`` in spoon and smoking. I do not blame what they can do. Bad things do not go but multiply it hurts, its best not to think.
from 4 to 5 millions the city is over 20 millions they say who knows? It may be 18 or 22 million now it does not matter its swelling. I am Punjabi and do not blame mohajirs as L.A. Khan (Mohajir Supremo) was culprit he started campaign aginst ousting over 40% Hindus who were cream of society they were mwecilessly driven in madness to make sure that Indians are filled and LA Khan has secure base politically. It was rape of mild sindhi natured sindhi people and destruction of city. The people who came did not give damn to city as Karachi and we had all dirtyness Lucknow, UP and Bihar and merciless people ariving in droves. Then once you drive 40% of people who were Sindhis(though hindu) and had love for sindhh, sindhi and karachi there was noting to be done to improve. The city was raped by shear numbers and this is going to going where it ends god knows. For that matter Sindhis blame ,abuse every body as this bloody thing happened under their watch and it was too saddening for them. Then when sindhis say Jiye sindh its just like they feel who jews felt about loss of Jeruslem for 2000 years. Today its not sindhi city its indian - north city. 85% of speakers are urdu ans sindhi has no value. I do not know but Sindghi`s say LA Khan use to say `` sindhi culture, what is Sindhi culture driving camel and donkeys`` it may be fabricated also but this is standard story from sindhis.
I personally feel as sindis reduced to 15% from majority and new aggressive Indian Mughals came every tning chaneged radically. We saw then Mughal manifestation of MQM in drilling of knees, murder as way of politics, fanaticism.
I really lament . I fear present is bad but future may be hell, when you think our population will be hittinh 350 million by 2035. All extra peoples at least ( conservatively) 10% settle in karachi it will be nearing 40 million.
Well I will not think about future as it turns up stomach. IGNORANCE is BLISS in karachi`s future.

Nice article.

Ref Jay #4 -

To set the record straight, an average of over 1500 people were killed in violence of one type of the other, every year for over 15 years ... a record 2400 died in one year during the late nineties. It is for this very reason this article is even relevant. People in Karachi lived through curfews that lasted several months on occasion ... religion contributed its share; so did the drug trade, the proxy war in Afghanistan, and a healthy dose of plain and simple lunacy. Did I forget the bomb blast in Bohri Bazaar that killed over 250 in one wicked explosion or the carnage in Orangi Town that killed over 500 in 2 days - and ...

As an FYI, NY sees 1200 violent crimes every year! There is usually a casualty in each one of these crimes.

Anyway.

Shahzad,

Here are some other memories ...

Street cricket
Student ki Biryani
NED ka campus
Spinzer
Bundu Khan kay Kabab
Mullah ki Nihari
Mr Burger
...

sorry to say this but the karachi you describe never existed for the vast majority.
as for those who had this karachi , i think the city is in this mess, in part & a large part it is, due to them.
As for the karachi now , go out at 2 in the morning , you can hear the city breath , & if you listen closely you can hear it whisper , it has sad voice .
but if you can really see , the city lifts its veil & guess what, it is is still beautiful.
as a t-shirt says, my karachi, munja karachi, manni karachi...... mera KARACHI

it`s good to remember happy moments,at the time of miseres.

So you write articles for chowk in your office, and then no doubt go home and complain about the tough day you had at work. :-)

And please no more self-pitying by you or any other ex-Karachiite UNLESS you are willing to put your money where your mouth is. You can do that by contributing regularly to one of the many community organizations involved in improvement of that city. Otherwise, all you are doing is indulging in self-pity while enjoying the good life in Florida.

Dear Jay,


  The terrorist groups who call themselves the Jihadis do not kill for religion. The name of religion has only been used over the years to attract the middle class youth to take the frontline for them. The actual struggle has always been for what you called `gains`.

  The whole Jihad phenomenon as it is practiced today, started during the war for liberation of Afghanistan. It was the CIA who think-tanked the whole idea of using the name of religion and the term `Jihad`, in order to attract the youth of middle and lower middle class to join their fight against communism in Afghanistan. The first few of the private Islamic armies were then created and trained by the CIA who also planned the popularization of this concept of Jihad and Muslim brotherhood through the media, the clergy, and the academic curriculum.

  Upon achieving the objectives in Afghanistan, the CIA left the toilet without flushing their shitt off. The technology, the infrastructure, the weapons, the money and the proprietership of the opium business was left solely with the ISI and the religious groups.

  Every disagreement among the leaders of those religious groups gave rise to a new private army. Some planned to take over the world under the flag of Islam, others wanted to get rid of the local opposing sects first. Some took over the opium business, others found donors abroad, yet others had to resort to robbing and looting in Pakistan to generate finances. Some saw the central asian Islamic states as the next target after Afghanistan, others went to help their Kashmiri brothers pledging the fall of Delhi, yet others thought cleaning Pakistan of Shias was their foremost responsibility.

  The local armies that didn`t get a share from the opium business are now practically going for rent. The young men they hire to take the front-line are first prepared with feelings of hatred towards a certain opposing sect. Then they`re made to commit an act of terror against a target belonging to that sect for free. Once they`re into it, they are paid and/or blackmailed to kill just anyone from any sect or religion. These armies grew stronger and stronger right under the nose of the liberal governments of Banezir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. After Gen. Musharraf tried to put a check on the activities of these groups, these groups went underground for some time.

  Osama ben Laden was one of the most competent of the CIA trained Jihad personnel. After the Afghan war he joined another army, then had a disagreement with them and created his own army and called it AlQaeda. AlQaeda is the most well-financed of all the armies. It was them who had to pay the most, for Musharraf`s decision to change the policy towards these groups, after the ISI actually started picking out the AlQaeda officials and handing them over to the USA.

  They did not go underground. They had the resources to seek revenge from Pakistan. Hence the series of attacks on churches. The personnel used in these attacks, interestingly, were the Pakistani private armies that had been quietly waiting for such an opportunity. It is interesting to know that the attack on the French engineers outside a hotel, was first planned by the local terrorists, and then the blue-print was shown to AlQaeda and an Indian agency seperately, both of whom approved to sponsor it. After the recent attack on the policemen outside the American Councilate in Karachi, one of the terrorists running away from the scene was arrested. He revealed complete details of how AlQaeda financed this operation.

  Religion is only a part of this game because the CIA had thought that`d suit them in the Afghan war. Otherwise this is a game of terror between agencies for which civilians have to die, in India, in Pakistan, and in the US on 9/11. Killing is always for objective gains, Religion, Nationalism, and War against Terror, all mean the same!

I also have many fond memories of Karachi.

Thanks for rekindling some of them here.

The question now is:

CAN THAT KARACHI EVER MAKE A COMEBACK?


Ras

``Alas the Karachi I knew is no more. Things have changed for the worse. Along with a population explosion has come crime and pollution. Neither the city nor the people are the same but I guess that is the way of the world and things have to change though unfortunately not always for the better.``

Another pathetic pakistani, refusing to accept reality. There has been population explosion every where, and all have not gone the way of karachi, most have prospered, karachi is an exception. You know what is wrong with karachi, it is part of pakistan, it is part of a society built on hatred, and that is why the crime is on the increase.

More than a hundred shia doctors have been killed, not a single person arrested, last month there was an attack on shia mosque, no one arrested, say it loud, accept it Mr Kazi, no one is arrested because as any pakistani would say, those killed were, non-innocent. This is called sectarian violence in pakistan, a sofisitcated word for jihadic killing and no one gets arrested.

Here is a statistic for you, in the last three years, 280 people have been killed in sectarian killing only 5 prosecuted. Please remeber, Mr kazi, the killers of iranian diplomats were prosecuted after 10 years with so much of pressure from iran.

Mr. Kazi, a society that accpts killing in the name of religion, it is only a small step away from killing for gains. Karachi has taken that step, cra jacking killings, kidnap killings all are on the rise, simply because pak society accepts jihadic killings.
Mr kazi, take a trip to pakistan, leave florida for a while, go to the meeting of laskers at madreke, learn about pak society, join the millions.

I can understand ure feelings :) ... Change is the only constant ..

a quick query for now...are you talat`s brother?...more later....t

Its true that the Karachi you remmember has changed a tremendous lot, but you see we are talking time here and i beleive that anything and everything in this world changes with time. You cannot claim that the city and the people have gone down a 100 % transformation. The places you have described above still stand and the life style is still the same for many people. But ofcourse there will be a slight change, do you want them to be called backwards?, they are moving according to the demands of this century and if you look back at America some 15 yrs ago, or any other country, you will surely notice a change in people and their attitudes and as far as the buildings or structures are concerned, nothing is forever and nothing is ever new, which can go for you, for me and for everyone else.