The question that arises here is can we blame just one person for the problems the whole city contributes to generate?
KARACHI: An activist in Karachi has opted for a rather unorthodox way of drawing the attention of authorities towards civic issues that hinder the everyday lives of citizens. As part of the campaign, the Karachi citizen has spray-painted the portrait of Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah on major roads of the metropolis close to open manholes in order to draw his attention towards the issue.
The question that arises here is can we blame just one person for the problems the whole city contributes to generate? With respect to garbage, how many of us actually use dustbins? Every Sunday in my residential area, a bird bazaar is held, and every Monday, when I arrive at my bus stop, I see heaps of filth lying there. To make matters worse, the nearby shopkeepers wash their shops, with the dirty water flowing into the garbage. This happens every week. It’s not the chief minister’s job to ensure such things do not happen. Yes, our chief minister may be a non-productive person, who has done little to address the people’s woes, but he is not responsible for imparting a basic civic sense and manners, which we probably weren’t taught in our homes.
We are asking him to fix potholes and remove filth instead of being more civilised ourselves. Before blaming the chief minister for the missing covers of manholes, we should stop stealing them. And before asking the chief minister to clean the garbage scattered on the roads, we should start throwing it in dustbins. We should try to improve and educate ourselves with lessons of honesty, loyalty and sincerity towards our homeland.
Soha Jafry
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2016.
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