Wall-chalking reemerges on Shaheed-e-Millat Expressway

PPP disowns pro-party graffiti day before 'historic' rally

KARACHI: Walls that the authorities whitewashed around a month ago on the Shaheed-e-Millat Expressway from Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Interchange to Baloch Colony Flyover have now been defaced with wall-chalking in favour of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).



Before the whitewash, the side and median walls of the expressway were daubed with political graffiti along with writings featuring several fake 'amil babas' advertisements.  A month after the cleanup by the District Municipal Corporation (DMC) East on the directives of the local government (LG) minister, political writings applauding PPP's Asif Marwat have reemerged with the statement: "We have complete hope in the leadership of PS-114's Asif Marwat."

Apart from pro-Marwat statements, the messages read Jiye Bhutto, Jiye Faryal Talpur and Pakistan Army Zindabad.



An official of the DMC East, on the condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that on the directives of the LG minister, they carried out the cleaning project of the expressway. The idea of the whitewash, according to him, was to give a neat look to the thoroughfare. He said that around Rs0.2 million were spent on the cleanup of the 1,600-foot-long median wall starting from the KPT Flyover to the Baloch Colony Flyover. "We were now planning to invite various NGOs to paint cultural graffiti on the walls," he said, adding however that the political messages appeared before they could beautify anything.  The officer assured that the political writings will be washed once again after the carpeting work of the Shaheed-e-Millat Expressway is completed.

PPP disowns 'artwork'

The messages emerged days before the PPP's 'historic' rally to be held on Sunday (today) to commemorate the lives lost in the Karsaz attack on the party's caravan on October 18, 2007.



However, PPP's Karachi president Najmi Alam distanced the party from the wall-chalking. "We have already spent a large amount of money on banners, so why would we go for wall-chalking," claimed Alam, assuring that he will personally look into the matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2016.