Rip Van Winkle
The Sindh government’s feigned blindness and deafness too seem to be like a fairy tale
It is the story of the emperor’s new clothes. All courtiers see the emperor has no clothes on his body, but they pretend not to see and say the emperor is wearing shining new clothes. Only a child speaks the truth. The Sindh government’s feigned blindness and deafness too seem to be like a fairy tale. The Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, lamented on June 14 that “Karachi has become the worst city of Pakistan.” Some time ago the Supreme Court had observed that “Karachi is on the verge of a civic collapse.” All pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
Justice Ahmed made the comment while hearing a suo-motu case pertaining to the death of a 10-year-old girl named Amal Umer. The girl died in crossfire between robbers and the police in Karachi in 2018. It has been established that she died by a bullet fired by the police. Wherever the seriously injured girl’s parents took their child for treatment, they mostly confronted insensitive people. There seems to be no end to the tale of worse, worser, worst! Examples are set from above. Those below only follow them.
The chief justice took a Sindh government’s prosecutor to task when he said he wanted to present his point of view on the “important matter” being discussed about the provision of heavy weaponry to the patrolling police. Justice Ahmed responded, “The Sindh government does not have a solution to any problem, so you don’t speak.” He further said, “There is no government in the city of Karachi. In Karachi, fugitives are roaming freely,” adding these fugitives were involved in serious crimes and the police were unable to catch them.
Karachi’s roads are full of craters where gutter water flows. People are having a mud bath. The city does not have even drinking water. It has prolonged power cuts. Street crime is rampant. The only consolation is that everything is not bad.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2019.
Justice Ahmed made the comment while hearing a suo-motu case pertaining to the death of a 10-year-old girl named Amal Umer. The girl died in crossfire between robbers and the police in Karachi in 2018. It has been established that she died by a bullet fired by the police. Wherever the seriously injured girl’s parents took their child for treatment, they mostly confronted insensitive people. There seems to be no end to the tale of worse, worser, worst! Examples are set from above. Those below only follow them.
The chief justice took a Sindh government’s prosecutor to task when he said he wanted to present his point of view on the “important matter” being discussed about the provision of heavy weaponry to the patrolling police. Justice Ahmed responded, “The Sindh government does not have a solution to any problem, so you don’t speak.” He further said, “There is no government in the city of Karachi. In Karachi, fugitives are roaming freely,” adding these fugitives were involved in serious crimes and the police were unable to catch them.
Karachi’s roads are full of craters where gutter water flows. People are having a mud bath. The city does not have even drinking water. It has prolonged power cuts. Street crime is rampant. The only consolation is that everything is not bad.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2019.