I Am Karachi: Call to ‘own’ city reverberates at first anniversary

Event highlights outgoing year's achievements, and unveils new year plans

KARACHI: Residents, including members of civil society, businessmen and prominent entrepreneurs gathered at Marriott hotel on Wednesday to commemorate the first anniversary of the 'I Am Karachi' campaign.

The campaign includes social, political, cultural and economic upbringing to make the path for a better Karachi. An overview of the campaign's achievements was shared by Rumana Husain, the founding member of 'I Am Karachi'. She began by thanking every member of the campaign for their immense support throughout the year. She said their most appreciated initiative was reimaging the walls of Karachi, wherein they removed hate graffiti from over 2,000 walls. "This made our name in society as people who were always ready to help in this regard but lacked a platform to do so finally had their wish fulfilled," she said.



In the span of a year, we achieved more than we could have ever planned, she added, and explained next years 'core' initiatives include sports, theatre, music, film and other cultural festivals, along with debates and talks. Amin Hashwani, a businessman and vice-president of 'I Am Karachi', said the reason behind the initiative was to revive a sense of ownership of the city. "It is about reclaiming Karachi, a city that welcomes people from every corner of the country," he said, explaining further that it is a movement to inspire people to do good. Jameel Yousuf, the campaign's founding president, was thankful to the media for highlighting their efforts. "If Karachi changes, the whole country will change," claimed the businessman and founding chairman of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee.

He urged people to market Karachi. "It's the need of the hour that we start to market our city and help individuals become recognised," he said, adding that they are also introducing awards for young people who are turning out to be great individuals.

"The big thing would be the 'I am Karachi' talks which will highlight amazing stories of bravery, achievement and the bright side of the city through the voice of our own people," he said.



Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, who joined the event a little late, said "We are doing our best to spread love, maintain peace among the communities, and encourage people to join hands with us," he said. "The campaign has proved to be a ray of hope for the people of Karachi." Acknowledging the campaign's efforts, he said, "Members of 'I Am Karachi' understand the pain of this city…I will also offer my service to them for their future projects."

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2015.