His death and that of hundreds in Karachi is surely a wake-up call for change.
KARACHI: Less than 22 hours before his cold-blooded murder, I had a chance meeting with former PPP MNA Waja Karimdad from Lyari. It was just after iftar — I was driving and had to take a detour and found myself on the main roads of Kharadar. This is a very busy thoroughfare, with tankers, trailers and heavy goods trucks double-parked on the side of the road.
Here, on one side of the road, I saw a silver/white-haired distinguished-looking old man, Waja Karimdad. He was there with his granddaughter and a colleague and all three were sitting on three plastic chairs next to an open manhole. We stopped and sat beside him for the next 15 minutes. I asked him what he was doing sitting by the roadside and he smiled and said that he wanted to make sure that nobody would fall in the manhole — so he was sitting there to warn people who might not notice it and fall into it.
This was part of his daily evening routine. He would sit on this spot and work with other volunteers who helped people cross the street to the jamaat khana. We then chatted about the old town and its heydays and the people who once lived there. The next evening the same plastic chairs, at the same spot, were splattered with Waja’s blood and that of three of his colleagues.
Waja Karimdad devoted his life to the service of the public and his community. He was a rare public servant who enjoyed serving others. His death and that of hundreds in Karachi is surely a wake-up call for change.
Samir Hoodbhoy
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2011.
