The writer is a senior journalist and has held several editorial positions including most recently at The Friday Times. He is currently senior adviser, outreach, at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute
There are the scions of Baloch and Sindhi sardars and waderas who move around in SUVs with guards brandishing weapons (note that they do so because their elders are bigger scum, thank you). Then there are the children of the urban rich who, having failed to instil urban values in the sardars and waderas, have adopted the latter’s rural-medieval mindset. There are crooked politicians, their guards, political storm troopers; criminal gangs, ranging from thieves and robbers to land grabbers to extortionists and murderers to hired guns; cops on the take; a government split along ethnic lines; anyone who can rent a gun and settle a score. Finally, add to this list the Taliban terrorists and sectarian killers and you have, dear non-Karachi-ite reader, what is Karachi.
At the centre of this is the majority of Karachi-ites, resigned to their fate, living from day to day, a terrified, terrible existence.
Nothing I’ve said in the preceding paragraph will surprise Karachi-ites. Karachi was not always like this but that’s another story. For now, this is about what it has become.
Some of where (and how) Karachi became this hell is contained in a long-forgotten report by a commission Mr Nawaz Sharif had set up in the 90s under one General Shafiqur Rehman. This was the time the Marwat brothers were running amok. My friend Mazhar Abbas, a journalist of high merit, who has seen Karachi go to the dogs (or seen dogs come to Karachi, whichever way one puts it) tells me that the then chief minister of Sindh, Jam Sadiq Ali, would not provide security to the commission. They were holed up at the Sheraton and people deposed before them in the hotel. Still, the report is worth a read.
Extortion is common practice. Speak to businessmen and shopkeepers in the city and one realises the extent of the menace. People of all ethnicities and political affiliations are involved in it. A very senior journalist who constructed a house in Gulistan-e Jauhar received a call from the Baloch Aman Committee and the caller, after congratulating him on the new house, demanded that he pay up Rs100,000 to ensure safe living in his home.
The journalist went to the Sindh governor, the Sindh CM, the IG Police, the CPLC, PFUJ, KUJ, the Presidency, you name it. Result: zip, zilch and zero. He locked his home and has shifted to Islamabad. The man has a home in Karachi and he is living in a rented house. Welcome to Karachi.
I asked Sheheryar Mirza, a young, freelance journalist, what the hell is going on. He had more stories to tell. A police officer said the police could clean up the city if only “we were given a free hand”. What does ‘free hand’ mean, I asked Mirza. “In the case of Karachi, it means that police officers will be allied with whoever is in power and their master’s enemies will bear the full brunt of police’s coercive power.”
So, the answer is not just giving a free hand to the police but creating a professional force that is politically neutral and whose work cannot be hampered by politically influential individuals. “They know, for the most part, what is going on,” says Mazhar, adding: “See, how quickly they have rounded up the accused in Shahzeb Khan’s murder case with the SC’s backing.”
The young man’s murder was what got me talking to people. Karachi has seen many killings. But for the most part they are either politically motivated, are the result of extortion and land grabbing, or are owed to terrorism. These menaces have come to define the city, unfortunately. But what about the upscale localities of Clifton and Defence; why are they insecure?
That is where the ‘respectable’ scum come in, treating citizens like serfs, driving around with guards, drunk, partying, picking up girls and very often raping and dumping them. “Why are such cases under-reported,” I asked a friend. Because, he said, people are afraid. These families are influential and killing a human being for them is like swatting a fly. Even if a case is reported, the rich and influential criminals never get punished.
And the government? There is no government. Karachi has political factions, even within the ruling coalition. The home department is dysfunctional. Zulfiqar Mirza, who huffed and puffed about security and governance, patronised criminals in Lyari. According to some estimates, he issued licences for some 400,000 weapons. We are, of course, told no weapons licences will be given until the elections. Is someone frikkin’ kidding us?
Shakir Husain, entrepreneur and writer, says it’s not just the feudal families that act like this. “This is a mindset. They break traffic rules, drive people off the roads; they can get away with anything.”
Some people are buying guns and acquiring guards as deterrence. The trend will continue. Those who bend will crouch and take it lying down. Those who say enough will also get into the killing game. Because what else can one do, living with constant indignities and governmental apathy, but take the war to the lowlifes, whether they reside inside or outside the government?
The police are not only corrupt and criminalised but also lacks manpower, equipment, investigation skills and professional integrity and independence.
This is a recipe for disaster in Pakistan’s financial hub. To imagine that the Sindh government and, by extension, the federal government can mount effective counterterrorism operations in a city that the vermin of all types hold by the short and curlies is to try and find one straight bone in Rana Sanaullah.
Karachi needs to be cleansed; from upper crust pests residing in upscale localities as much as from the thugs holed up in Orangi, Lyari and elsewhere. It needs political commitment and an effective police and civil administration. This is obvious. The question is, how.
You want to know when a system has become totally dysfunctional? It is when the highest court in the land has to take suo-motu notice of a murder case because the nation is being ruled by criminals.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2013.
COMMENTS (144)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Karachi would remain a Hell until and unless it reverts to Kolanchi from Kiranchi with the assimilation of those, who sought asylum in the capital of Sindh; yet are not ready to own the Shah Lateef's language and culture in literal letter and spirit...!
The editorial writers sometimes lose their right to belong and write for only one faction in the same country where he blame one faction and supporting his kinsmen rather linguistic affinities, in such cases a writer put two Linguistic groups against each other that may cause serious problems . This way his popularity and righteousness is not seen in a positive way. Everywhere he should keep his words balanced and should not bias himself and annoy any other section, in particular case Balochs of Sind and Balochistan has been criticized, this writer bluntly writes against the entire Baloch Race who lives in four countries. He does not have enough evidences and does not possess the right to write against the Baloch People. The freedom of speech does not mean that you say anything comes in your mind anytime; you put your raw thinking in to black and white. I suggest such people to go little back and see in the annals of History and search in his beloved City Karachi Libraries for the city of Debl the Baloch populated coastal city. Before writing anything about any topic we must go through at least some authentic author’s works regarding that specific topic or group of people. No doubt, i belong to Baloch and Balochi is my mother Language even then i would never ever think of passing any such low moral comments and negative remarks about any group of people that may be Urdu speaking or any other faction in anywhere in the world. Every person having little knowledge is well aware that Baloch people who are well known in the entire world for their moderate, less adherence to wards religion. Somehow one should learn a lot before putting his unfinished and complicated ideas in a forum before the public to satisfy a specific political party. For some, not more than fifty miscreants call a whole race as he did in his article....... “A Good Writer Writes For All and Is Loved and Respected By All”
The situation in Karachi can only be improved by implementing Supreme Court orders: http://tribune.com.pk/story/267671/law-and-order-supreme-courts-verdict-in-suo-motu-karachi-violence-case-today/ How serious is the government in addressing these matters??
@Mrs ahmed Your argument regarding the migration is totally illogical.People didn't require riches to be able to move Pakistan in 1947.Either they came by trains which were run free of cost for the migrants, or they came on foot.No migration in the history supports your argument.I disagree with you on most of the things, but I am in full agreement with you when you say that the two nation theory was a disaster
@Maria: You r right Maria that Sindh's evolutionary period is ancient than India excluding Rajistan which had been part of Sindh since its evolution...All the traditional,cultural and ethnicall development firstly began in Sindh, then it was spread in rest of India..Hinduism and Buddhism was began from Sindh(Moen jo daro),and it spread all over the subcontinent..But all those who think that Sindh was part of India since its inception,must know that no any Hindu Raja of India ever ruled Sindh,excepting some Muslim dakoos and chicken hearted hungry terrorists..i.e..Gaznavis,Gauris,Mughalis etc who had occupied whole India..Present Baluchistan including Makran,Khyber Pucktoon upto Afganistan,70 percent of Present Pak Punjab,present Sindh and Rajistan of Indian was the map of ancient Sindh and it was ruled by local Hindu Sindhi rulers...So plz any one be4 passing biased comments on the history of Sindh must look into History...Baqi ye author nafsiat imareez lagta hai is par comment karna fazool hai....
@Raja Islam: You proved that the rural people actually possess inferior understanding. Hyderabadi/Lucknowi etc. are identities but Khanewal is a city. A person from khanewal who cares and owns Karachi is more than welcomed by me. He just needs to complement his concern with his actions.
Here's what happens in rural Sindh. http://tribune.com.pk/story/498137/with-nearly-500-deaths-in-two-months-measles-continue-to-spread-havoc/ http://tribune.com.pk/story/497848/sukkurs-spiderman-brings-answers-straight-to-struggling-students/
Shame no Sindhi cares for Sindhis but finds the better fighting on blogs.
@Ali Baloch: well dear baloach boy , i just visited page , how can u accuse me of hatered, i wont do the same , may be u would like to change ur view the point was that the status sindhi muslim in terms of educational , cultural , and social at the time of partition. which was certainly abysmal I just wish to make it known that the people who arrived as immigrant whom u wish to refer as refugee , which i beg to disagree , because there was no bulk arrival of people from part of subcontinent which is now india before 1947 (and the disaster of two nation theory and election of 1946, we gain the right of abode in pakistan by vote , therefore being referred as refugee is not right ,) the reason they had more opportunities of work education and rest of cultural developement in their own part of india u accused that most people who came said that they were well off , well most of them must be true , looking at logically , when ever there is exodus of people from any part of the world , only well healed can make a move poor remain at the mercy of destiny . At the moment there is 30 crore muslim population in india where as if we make a very liberal estimation we may be near 2 crore. If u look at history it will prove my point after election of 1936 , the chief minister of bihar was a muslim although muslim population was not even 10%, the selection was based on qualification and merit , a minority person was ruling over majority hindus. My plea is that allow merit and qualification to be the only criteria in administration of karachi , across all ethnicities .thats it. Sindhis and baloach should be thankful to children of people who struggled for creation of pakistan , and allowed majority of sindhis and baloachis out of shanties of liyari.It is our hearts which is bleading at the state karachi is in today it is our elders who gave blood and sweat for it thats why karachi was named in same breath , london newyork karachi . Pls use ur brain u would agree with most of my argument.
@Analyzer: "Well done @Bharat, without u there would have been no trolls on this article :)" . Without your comment there would be no hearty laughs. Thanks
Well done @Bharat, without u there would have been no trolls on this article :)
"Karachi, today, is a violent urban jungle with an assortment of lowlifes keeping the population hostage to their bastardly instincts."
The this very first line... didn't need to read any further.
However, I will be recommending all my friends all over the world to look at the quality of Pakistani papers and its columnists that are read by a vast majority of well educated Pakistanis.
Well done Pakistan, without you, there won't be such entertainment :)
@Ali Baloch: "....Sindh produced more ICS officers than most Indian provinces,..." . I am curious to know whether some ICS/British India documentation accessible to the general public where one can see a list of ICSs with breakdown according to provinces? .
@Mrs Ahmed I would love to write another long diatribe but Express Tribune refuses to pass a good old fashioned rant. Any hoo I do believe the gentleman that commented after me have given you a sufficient and justifiable reply. And yes Sindh produced more ICS officers than most Indian provinces, your hatred of Sindh and Sindhis, and false visions of grandeur and superiority complex mixed with self pity have made you blind to grasp this fact.
@mrs ahmed: Let us get the nomenclature right when you say "true Karacheeites" you mean Mohajirs. Why don't you just call a spade a spade.
@SJL: What about people who identify themselves as Bihari, Lucknowi, Delhiwala, Hyderabadi, etc.?
@mrs ahmed: You have your facts wrong. Sindhis did not live in shanty towns, but lived in places like Garden, Frere Town, Bath Island, Clifton, Soldier Bazar, etc. The bulk of the refugees created the shanty towns in areas like Landhi, Korangi, Lalukhet, Orangi town and even along Drigh Road in the form of Tin Quarters.
By the way the two nation theory ended when the majority of the Muslims of Pakistan declared independence from the minority in 1971.
@Fahad: Fahad, if you were to migrate to the US or Canada you would be speaking English, if you were to migrate to Germany you would be speaking German and so on and so forth. So why can you not be a Sindhi speaking Sindhi? Remember you came here not as immigrants but as refugees, but refused to assimilate. In fact you treated the local population with contempt and scorn and occupied the land and behaved like conquerors. Remember most of the people who came here from India as refugees did not have much; neither education nor assets. They got everything via claims against evacuee property. While there may have been some wealthy and educated individuals, I have yet to meet a refugee from India who says that we were poor and uneducated in India.
@Ash: MQM has been in government for a long long time and have the police under its control. What has it done so far?
@Jehanzeb Mahar: i meant general refined cultural , even mr Bhutto who was educated and raised in bombay did not find culturally refined and educated sindhi native to marry , he married an irani bombayiite , so did his two sisters one married aperson from deccan and one from UP. I never meant ethnic culture i meant developed educated culture attuned to modern life , which was existing in calcutta, bombay delhi hyderabad deccan ilaahbaad , lakhnow , which is not ethnic based rather based on skill and education, culcutta was termed as second city of british empire after london people from all over india resided there and had same culture across ethnicity . Now talking about qouta system u urself proving my point that sindhi muslims were backward , otherwise where was the need to bring this system which stands on the dead body of merit and qualification .all over the world there is no other example of rural urban qouta , not even other provinces of pakistan , other countries also have backward areas but no such qouta system . This system was adopted against human rights which says all should have equal chances and opportunities , this is the cause of decline in quality , both in admissions and jobs merit and qualification was killed in the name of uplifting backward sindhis , (this is my argument sindhi muslims were educationally and developement wise and on skill basis were extremely backward , living in abject poverty) u urself admitted my point best houses in karachi were owned by sindhi hindus , thats what i was trying to say all wealth education and modern life was among them and they used to live in karachi not sindhis muslims who were in shakles of hindo waderas and few muslims stooges who tagged with them . The number of sindhis who have migrated to karachi from interior sindh after partition , could not even dream of a visit let alone reside in karachi ask ur elders , only if u get truthful reply. There was no local sindhi in karachi at the time of 1947 , all hindu sindhi left and muslim sindhis were living in the interior sindhi in poverty, local population of karachi was parsees christians , memon people from surat and gujraat), i love to integrate when they started coming in trickle after 1947 and in hoards in 70s , when all the developement y was achieved by sweating blood , yes they came and started settlling in great numbers when the job of creating a bustling city was done which u urself admitted karachi was from kemarii to grumnader.Happy arrival, all great cities are developed by immigrants and karachi is no different , Newyork , bombay , london jakarta etc u name it, only they do not belittle efforts of earlier arrivals .Sindhis are here to reap the harvest of hardwork our fathers and grand fathers did after 1947 , it is like when food is prepared all laid out , and ousiders come and push and start gobling. What ever , has happened to karachi no one will be more sad than true karachiite whose elders has built it, it their fathers and grand fathers and ofcourse women folk who toiled. Aitazaz hussain said in mid sixtees karachi was counted in the same breath like newyork , london and karachi , all the hard work of immigrants, ok enjoy others hard labour and still abuse true blood karachiite
@observer They were hindus but they were peace loving at least
@Saqib: First of all, you are not culturally superior to us. And we wont leave our identity just because you are more educated than us because you live in the urban areas.If you are so good, why didn't you overcome the hindus by force of your culture and intellect, as you are trying to do here
@mrs ahmed: There is no quota system in UK because they have good education facilities in the rural areas.
@mrs ahmed: You need history lesson. Karachi started from keamari and ended at Gurumandir. Hindu Sindhis owned some of the best houses in the city. We Sindhis do not differentiate on the basis of religion.A Sindhi is a Sindhi, whatever religion he belongs to
@mrs ahmad Urdu speaking people are ahead of Sindhis in eduacation because Sindhis mostly live in rural areas. But If you think you are culturally superior to we Sindhis, it is your superiority complex which hasn't allowed you to integrate with the local population even after 65 years
@Abid P. Khan: u urself proved my point local sindhi muslims were backward educationally and rest of other parameters of development, out of 14 only one mayor .The fact with true karachiites is that they are educationally culturally much above than sindhi muslims no doubt local sindhis are developing with the aid of qouta system , ignoring merit and qualification . They have covered centuries of hard work in merely 40 years thanks to qouta system .
@mrs ahmed: . "if u look at the list of mayors pre partition days out of 14 onl 3 were muslims and that too were outsiders not local muslim " . A correction would be in place. Before 1947 in fact there were 4 mayors of Muslim origin. The third mayor of Karachi (during 1935-36) was a Sindhi Muslim, while the other three as you pointed out were of migrant origin.
@Qazi Mehran Sindhi: . "i disagree with the writer…! this is totally wrong.i disagree with the writer…! this is totally wrong." . It is wrong from your point of view. It would help your argument a lot if you pointed out which facts the author quoted are wrong. Otherwise the conclusion that your reaction is nothing but an emotional outburst, is right.
@Salma: I agree with ur comments that writer has not proved himself neutral, he has expressed his bias against Sindhi and Balochs. All sindhi & Baloch does not posses double cabins and criminals as well as all Urdu speakers and panjabis are innocent citizens, they also have criminal gangs. more lethal then Sindhi & Balochs.
@Ali Baloch: Dear ali , pls use ur head while claiming that most ICS officers were sindhis , if sindhi muslims were not backward in terms of education social developement , then where was the need of qouta system , this system was put in place for the benefit of less educated and less skilled rural sindhis to jump over merit and qualification , otherwise if all jobs and admissions were left to open merit 99% would have gone to migrants u see , this backwardness was made an excuse for this very injustice done it is written when making this law , u see qouta system is still in place which counters ur argument that sindhis were educated and culturally and socially developed long before 1947. What is the problem for sindhis to get rid of this law no other province has this highly discriminating law.Even after 40 years of so much patronizing they still do not feel confident to make merit only criteria. Problems of karachi would dissolve in no time if only qouta system is dissolved at least at the level of grade 17 and above govt jobs and also admissions in professional colleges.Actually rule of law and meritocracy is the only way out of all the problem, take it or leave it. I bet if quota system is removed and best qualified people are entered in civil service , what ever thier ethnicity and language and mohajir or sindhi , just do it for 5 years all problems would be gone karachi would be thriving like it did in 50s and 60s, all can reap the harvest , only if justice is adopted , it is left on the shoulders of educated sindhis like you , take it or leave it
i disagree with the writer...! this is totally wrong.
Mrs. Ahmed, Thanks for sharing the facts but I love your line, "Go do an honest survey which is very difficult for people who shy away from reality and truth." Just Love it People Lives in State Of denial, One of the Veteran Said to me once that If you see Mass Migration any where in the world there are two Scenario If culture, intellectual and Hardworking class of those people is superior than the place they migrated to they overcome the existing system rather than merging into it and its vice versa, there are hundreds of example like this on Earth.
@Mrs Ahmed
I would like to solute you on your great analysis. and showing the true picture.
The only change Karachi needs is to be governed like London , Newyork , Delhi under powerful city governments, we saw the results of such a governace at time of Mr Mustafa Kamal, regardless of the Party he belonged to he gave us a a glipse what it could be for the city. and every one will agree at that time Karachi was really in a much better condition. I hope some one like Mustafa Kamal who would Own Karachi comes in governence regardless of his social backing, He should be able to follow the foot steps. The Sakes were never that high for a Mayor then now.
@Samo: yah i agree original people of karachi were baloachi and sindhis , but u see confined to lyari only not rest of the city which was few miles radius around sadr area . Greater karachi started to develop after 1947
@Samo: thats my point one gabol family , u see class is formed when great number of people satisfy some indicators of a particular class . How many times i repeat , middle class gauge development . there was no sindhi muslim middle class at the time of great partiton of 1947. Go and do a survey of education levels of todays middle class karachiite sindhis and find what was their grand father and grand mother educational level , it will explain u the whole argument.How can u be a new arrival , if ur grand father and great grand father were living in karachi u are real karachiite, u would be marked by the date of ur arrival. And forget about lalo khet , name is of least important , call it Uzair Baloach c the time of partition (1947) I also agree religion does not matter , but what to do our elders doped by Two nation theory , and made them believe that they were going to Paki land by the right of vote. Only maulana zad knew who was ignored that we will be treated so badly when 'kaam nikal jaya ga'. Honestly say do we the children of mohajirs have equal rights as the son of soils , every now and then we are asked to go back. Every other people are given compassinate hearing if they have grevieneces, aam maafi is talk about to disgrunted people who have taken up arms , and if some elemnts of urdu speaking people have taken law intheir hands which i dont support , people call for the blood , WE HAVE NO LAND AS OUR OWN ,
@Ali Baloch: strange u are not concerned that 70 clifton was built after 1947 , Bhutto is the father of sindhi nation and it is symbolic also that he himself started living in karachi after partition and his father went to work for a nawab of junagadh and they lived and educated in our ancestral part of india , the most brilliant person sindhhas ever produced. U see qouta system is a curse rather than blessing it does not allow intellect to grow rather stunts it, i live here in the U.K and and rarely find educated sindhi professional family where as huge numbers of urdu speaking doctors and other professionals are thriving here , u see no qouta system in the U.K. , and also punjabi professional but more into business hardly any sindhi , u see the qouta system has made all sindhi people confined and they are not able to compete in the wider world
@Ali Baloch: Firstly i request u to calm down , u urself accepted that Abdullah Haroon is irani sindhi born in 1872, for ur information they arrived from katch , indian gujrat area ok , and if u own him sindhi , i am so unlucky born 90 years after, u would have accepted me as sindhi. Pls try to understand due to swindling of our elders by two nation theory , they first struggled then voted for pakistan knowingly that the piece of land they live is not under geogarphical boundries of apkistan. By this token the whole of sub continent slipped from under our feet , in india on the morning of 15th august 1947 ,they became traitors and we are children of traitors , if we look from their point of view , after all our elders were instrumental in break up of sub continent and the two sides of pakistan we are mohajirs , our own doing. although mr jinnah said pakistan would be homeland for the muslims of sub continent. Before partition people moved in whole of india without being referred as mohajirs ok , mostly muslims from areas todays Pakistan would go to our ancestors land for higher educ 1947 yes few colleges in karachi mainly hindu sindhi and other non muslims students one high school of muslims sindh madrasa tul islam . Go check the pre 1947 admission registers if availble. Read sociology books u would come to know all developement is associated with middle class ok and this middle class is determind by skilled and educated numbers in any society . also the first favculty at sind universty and liaqat mewdical college would tell u the same story.I have studied from mama parsi school , we had no sindhi girl in our class , u see they use to admit children after entrance test , actually no qouta system was there as we have in professional colleges of sindh , which is the reason u have sindhi doctors and engineers( agha wiqars i mean) .Go to Aga khan medical college admission list u would hardly find sindhi speaking sindhis , because again no qouta system there u see admission test is the criteria .My argument is just that that there was litrally no litearte class among sindhi muslims at the time of partition by naming few families which can be counted in fingers of one hand u dont say that it is present in a class form , bulk comprises a class,ok . Go do an honest survey which is very difficult for people who shy away from reality and truth, from sindhi speaking karachiites, that were their grand fathers were also living in karachi before 1947 and in which area , u will know answeres urself , ok . Also remeber karachi was not part of sindh before 1936 if i am not wrong , my argument is let karachi be goverened like , London , Newyork , Delhi under powerful city govermrnt , with law and order uner it , the turn around is right at the corner. Also we are children of mohajirs although our grand parents for centuries were respected inhabitants of whatever area they lived , they got trapped in two nation theory , so is present day people can fall into some suicidal mistake. It is a fcat that before 1947 , muslims from UP , Bihar , Deccan and rest of minority provinces were educationally , socially , economically and culturally were much higher standreds as compared to areas which became pakistan after 1947, ok history books tells us least educated porverty stricken , under shakkles of hindu waderas and their few muslim stooges.Also let me clearify that i never said all the civil service at the time of 1947 were muslims in india , i said that the muslims who were in civil service both high and low ranks before 1947 were from areas who u could say mohajir areas , and few punjabis , and hardly any sindhi muslim were there even in lower ranks.Get ur facts right.Be happy and healthy
@mrs. Ahmed
He is correct. The Gabol family was actually rather wealthy. For example, they owned the land on which the Airport was built. I suspect that you are simply angry that the truth goes against your viewpoint. Having had family in the city since before Partition, by all logic I should be a 'true Karachiite'. However, being Sindhi, it disproves the migrant viewpoint and I'm reduced to a new arrival. Believe me, the original Karachiites are Balochi and Sindhi(both Hindu and Muslim). This fact irritates the refugees, which is why, for example, Lalookhet became Liaquatabad.
The question with Pakistan in general, and therefore Karachi, is...why bother? The answer is, because the country is so poor, that people don't have the opportunity to show a better side. If people are stripped of their dignity and made to run after scraps of food, if they lose their wives and daughters, or husbands, at the whims of waderas, if the civil administration is controlled by thieves, and the businesses run by thugs, the people will end up being angry and dispossessed, behaving like hyenas. In any case, there are only two solutions, a nation under Law, or a nation under a King. Laws are made, and enforced, by men - No-one is willing to invest in Pakistan on the basis of its legislature's ability to govern. And no-one is going to fund Pakistan if it comes under a dictator (who is not a puppet of dollar-backed interests - read Drugs). And even if, a government is called that is willing to solve the problem - it is still a particularly intractable problem - might suggest that Karachites first consider what kind of outcome, other than exile, they might prefer to stomach...and then hope for the best.
@Ali Baloch: i would rather say, u also look into history , back then governors were british ok , i qoute nazir naji , at the time of partition there were 400000 literate people in whole of sindh , from these 300000, wentto india because they we sndhi but hindoos ok , rest 100000 were karchiite who were parsees , remaining hindoo , goans and other , no uslim sindhis. Abdullah haroon family was from surat , not native sidhs, ok Sindhi muslims and baloah wee in abject poverty , illiteracy and lived in shanti of liyari. Even bhuto family had no home in karachi before 1947.They lved in bombay , both bhutto sisters married people from UP and deccan and himself married an irani bombaiite lady , because no sindhi muslim family had children ,matching the education class and intellect they acquired in Bombay . what are talking about sindhi muslim civl servants Indian civil service had muslims belonged to UP, Bihar , deccan and few fro punjab , no sindhis. Ask naji saheb , when hindu left , there were no high school muslim sindhi teachers .Hindus left and places went vacant ill eucated ppl arrived .When Liaqat medical college was established the faculty of professors were mostly ur speaking or sme punabi doctors, mindu n sindhi doctor qualified from abroad was avaible. Dont be thankles ,ask people from oldergenetos who are honest would agree.These educated migrant opened gated of middle class to muslim sidhi common person.
@Fahad Clifton has been in existence since the 19th century please go and read a History Book. @Mrs Ahmed you are wrong 4 were Muslim out of the illustrious 14 your forgot to mention that back then the office of mayor was held for a mere 1 year. You also forgot to mention that nearly all Governors and CM'S of Sindh were Sindhi Muslims, You need to check your facts Sindh alone produced more ICS officers then any other British Indian Empire territory so your argument that middle class, Muslim, Sindhi civil service was non existent is biased. Truth is you and almost every one else I have met has the same baseless arguments about the pre partition history of Sindh and you refuse to acknowledge that Karachi is a part of Sindh and will remain so regardless of what you or any one else might say.
@HK: wonderful u have pt the case of karachi and an true karachiites, in a great academc way
@SJL: vey true
I see "Mera sohna Khanewal" on a rickshaw in Karachi. The outsiders consider themselves as outsiders and I want to treat them so!! If one cannot love Karachi then please leave my city or live as secondary citizens. No Sindhi/Punjabi/Muhajir/Pathan/Balochi fight please, it should be applied on everyone.
@karachiwala: Please use some differnt login ID, small k is not that much of a difference. No personal feelings. God bless you all.
@Raja Islam: I am confued what civil service and who controlled karachi , if u look at the list of mayors pre partition days out of 14 onl 3 were muslims and that too were outsiders not local muslim sindhis, all the administration whih was headed by British and lower ranks filled by parsees ,goans and sindhis yes sindhs but hindu sindhis , i know the city population was made of prsees , christians hindu sindhis gujrati and memons from surat, ok the muslim sindhi middle class which is thriving today was simply non existant. the local of karachi sindhi muslims and baloach were confined to shanti town of liyari. yes the middle class of UP , Bihar and rest of india actually created Pakistan greatest folly , today thier children are refred as outsidrs and now and again are asked to go back.Also ur remak that u would rather be with hindu sindhi than muslims of minority provinces , dissolvs two nation theory , which was employed to swindle our grand parents. We are paying the price.
@HK it's not your love for Karachi that is in question. It's this strange obsession with refusing to believe that Karachi is and shall forever remain a part of Sindh!!!!!!!!!.
@Samo :
Still we have high numbers of hindu population in Sindh, what i am talking about is not that , if you know any thing about karachi ill state you the areas , Karachi consisted of sadar , burns road , cantt , pib and marten quaters areas like these .
areas like Nazimabad , North Nazimabad , Noth Karachi , Gulshan , Gulistan-e-jahur , Clifton . etc ... these were not existent and were just jungle and water areas , what karachi you see now is what we have built it through. Hindus still live in Karachi and so does the Parsi and others. Its been the work of people that came after migration from India , the people that were the elite and upper middle class of India who were able to afford a plane ticket or a travel via a cruise liner from india migrated to Karachi, so u can see here clearly that the immigrants at that time were no poor or illitrate people , they left their huge properties their businesses and most of them were also forced out by Indian govt as well, So when these ppl came here they didn't raked havoc and utilized their skill set and what ever they had to go had in hand with the local population to improve the city many folds ! , why the improved it is because they already knew how to live better. what they wanted in return was that their sons and daughters be recognized as Urdu speakers of sindh, but what we got in return has been hatred from many who think that we forcefully occupied their land. we left what we had in India as a sacrifice to build Pakistan , thoes huindus that migrated from Pakistan were gifted thoes lands, so Pakistan govt took over their land in Pakistan as a compensation.
All i require for you is to treet us equal , it is as much your land a its mine , what the issue is we cant say the same for any other area in the country.
I am not a muhajir(immigrant) I am a Urdu Speaking Sindhi.
I think many of Karachi's ills arise due to the split personality syndrome of many of its residents hailing from other provinces. While they love to gain benefit from this city, they neither worry nor struggle nor care for the welfare of Karachi. They would never ask for more grants for this city as obviously it cuts upon the share of the place they actually consider home. In fact, they gleefully welcome any step which cuts Karachi to size. The recent SC decision regarding delimitaton in Karachi is a case in point. It is patenly unfair to single out a single city for this exercise but except for those who really consider themselves Karachiite (most often Urdu Speaking but to be fair including other long time residents of this city from other parts of the country as well), no one spoke against this unfair decision.
Having a strong metropolitan government in Karachi with the whole city under its control is an obvious solution to Karachi's ills which are as much poor governance and infrastructure as ethnic / sectarian rivalries and criminality but how many of the non-permanent residents raise voice for this. They are more content to let the city remain divided so that they can get inroads into cushy jobs in all the entities in Karachi controlled by federal government such as cantonments, KPT, Steel Mills etc.
Then lets take up the police force. How many of Lahore or Peshawar's police force is from other provinces. Not even 1%. For a metropolitan city like Karachi, it is a sine qua non of security regime, that police should be drawn from local communities. Do we ever see this happening in Karachi. No and the reason is obvious.
So my friends who are non permanent residents of Karachi, put your hand on your hearts and accept that it is prejudice and conceit when you talk and work against Karachi and not any doctrine of justice, fair play and altruism which drives your thoughts and actions.
So moral of the story is a Karachiite is a person who lives and dies for - and in - Karachi and keeps Karachi's heart supreme not that of his chak, autaq and watan. And mind you love for Karachi does not automatically translate into derision or hatred for other ethnicities, nationalities or provinces.
@Samo: Great summation of history. You have laid out the facts the way they are.
@karachiwala: The big difference here is that the rest of the country identify themselves as indigenous Pakistanis, while the Mohajirs are still Bihari, Hyderabadi, Lucknowi, etc. and identify themselves with places they have probably never seen.
@mrs ahmed: Not factually correct. The Christians and Parsis were educators and businessmen. The civil service was primarily run by Sindhis. Karachi was much safer and cleaner at time of partition than it is today. I would rather have a large number of non-muslims in Karachi than the current state of affairs with Muslim criminals holding the entire city hostage. At least crime and corruption was minimal at that time. As regards being children of middle classes deserving the right to control territory, if this were so then why migrate at all you had all of UP, CP, Hyderabad and Bihar to control.
@patriot I have written a piece on dear Cowasjee for the Tribune. They are just are not willing to accept my more serious work on Jinnah and Dina Wadia. This 3 Am article wont do good to my reputation, would it? Do go out at 3. Cheers: k.alizubair@hotmail.com
@Abid P. Khan
Rivers are natural phenomena. I did not insinuate that it was man-made, the point was made to show that the way many spew their rhetoric, it's as if they think that it was created in 1947(as a gift to Sindhis no doubt).
@MilesToGo and Abid P. Khan : Sind is older than Hind - when will you grasp that Mohenjendaro in Sind and Mehrgarh in Baluchistan are older than India? and yes it all existed before the ancient Greeks. Forget about the Aryan Hindus or the British or the Muhjairs who came much later. I am reading the comments above and others have already mentioned the obvious. I am talking about 5000 BC when the Greeks didn't even have cities, the cities of Sind were well developed. I see Indian writers here trying to take over the identity of Sind and its ancient civlization but why should Muhajirs be confused about Sind's history when they moved there? Please try to respect Sind and its own history if you love it. It's insulting for native Sindis and Baluch to be lumped with India when they have their own history.
@Samo: "...Please remember that the Muslims who lived in states such as Deccan and UP did not create the city. Or the land. Or the River Indus. All of which predate the Pakistan Movement...." . How silly can Muhajirs get, claim to have created River Indus. Someone else did
@Fahad
Karachi was a bustling coastal city with a population of 400,000 before partition. My grandparents lived here in 1936. Please remember that the Muslims who lived in states such as Deccan and UP did not create the city. Or the land. Or the River Indus. All of which predate the Pakistan Movement.
The Muslims of these states were active in the movement to create a state for Muslims in the Subcontinent. But this idea, that the state will be based only on religion, reeks of prejudice and myopia. The man who introduced the legislation of Sindh's inclusion in Pakistan, G. M Syed, later in his life apologized to Sindhis, and considered it a grave mistake. Were it not for the Muslim feudal lords of Sindh, who overwhelmingly supported the idea of Pakistan, things may have been different today. Funny how the same feudal lords are condemned by the very same community(and I am not condoning feudalism). It is unfortunate that we lost so many of our Hindus, who on average were more educated and urban than their Muslim counterparts.
But returning to the matter of creation, had the majority of influential people in Sindh not decided to join Pakistan, then the goings-on in Aligarh wouldn't have made much of a difference. Many among the Urdu-speaking community prefer to believe that that only their forefathers created this country, and that the indigenous people were just residing in their huts. That they arrived onto empty stretches of land, and got to building. This is, quite unfortunately, the mentality of a conqueror. This deliberately offensive distortion of history states that Muslim migrants created Sindh and it's cities out of a 'jungle' (other versions substitute jungle with a fishing village, although in 1946 Karachi hadn't been a fishing village for centuries), and that the locals should be grateful and learn their place. Many forget to mention that the refugees who arrived here could not have forced an unwilling populace, which at that time was unfortunately supportive of a Muslim state.
Impartial records of history will show how the migrants, along with the new government(also from different Indian provinces), removed the Sindhi Hindus from their homes either under official garb or with the use of threats and violence. As I mentioned, my family lived in Karachi during that time. My grandmother told me how their Hindu neighbors were issued evacuation notices by the government of Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan, so that their homes may be given to Muslim migrants. The neighbors left for India weeping, and there belongings were confiscated and handed over to the Evacuee Claims Trust. A migrant family moved in soon after. Did I mention that no Sindhi was allowed to purchase any object that landed in the Evacuee Claims Trust? My father's family lived in Nawabshah, and among the Hindus who were forced to leave, one person sold their land to one of my grand-uncles. The transaction later stood cancelled. All of 2 million acres and scores of homes and businesses were reserved for Muslim migrants. Half the Hindu population had left by 1954.
Many Urdu-speaking persons justify their superiority complexes by stating that they were never accepted as Sindhis, yet I doubt any of them would have liked to be referred to as Sindhi when the Evacuee Claims Trust was doling out land. It's deplorable that the original inhabitants of Karachi are considered as country bumpkins, while the not-much-more-educated inhabitants of the city's slums and colonies claim that they built the city out of a 'jungle'.
The state of cities in the interior has more to do with how the Muslim Sindhi population was predominantly rural, not with the 'mindset'. Sindhis in Hong Kong and India, for example, are extremely successful. And they have achieved that success without preying on the belongings of others.
And do try to remember that the Parsis, Goans, etc, while extremely beneficial to the city and it's inhabitants, were in fact a minority. The majority consisited of Sindhi Hindus.
Unfortunately there is no one solution,mainly because there are too many "owners" of Karachi People from all over Pakistan say "Karachi sab ka hai" Can an Urdu speaking person from Karachi say the same thing about Peshawar? Can he go to Peshawar and say "Peshawar mera hai" Or to Quetta and say " Quetta mera hai"
Reading all the comments above we can see that the literate citizens of the city of the Quaid have high hatred for one-an-other just due to their ethinic background differences , which by the way they had no part in, its gifted to them , SO untill we can set aside this ethnic and cultural distribution across out country we are going no were ! Only revolution we need is to Own Karachi .... Own Pakistan, and consider every Pakistani as a true brother in every way ! Hope my msg may have some impact on at least a few intellectuals.
@Baloch: This is the sickness of your mind ! , Karachi back then was nothing but a jungle and we didnt migrated we created a separate homeland for all the Pakistani's. and created Karachi to what it is today.
Sindhi comes from Sindhu which is a Sanskrit word. Hindu comes from Sindhu. Indus comes from Sindhu. India comes from Indus.
So Sindhu, Sindh, Sindhi, Hindi, Hindu, India, Indus are all closely related
It is strange that ET allows the most demeaning comments by Indian Hindus against Muslims and Pakistanis, observer being an example, but blocks those who try to counter them. Some agenda at work!
We ban the other countrymen to come to Karachi? why ? is this writer a paranoid foolish? is Karachi a different country from rest of Pakistan that non karachiites obtain a visa to arrive.
No one is having a decent life any where in Pakistan, the whole country needs to overhaul its social and political system. This media has really over reacted in the Shahzeb case , he was not the only one innocently killed in Karachi, look around you will find many in all ethnic groups. Do not divide the already de-parted people.
@Mohsin Sayeed
Mr. Sayeed, your prejudice is thinly disguised. Even though according to your logic the Hindus of Karachi(who constituted nearly 70% of the population of the city) were not Sindhi, do try to realize that genetics do not change according to the religion one follows. The Hindu population of Karachi were almost entirely Sindhi. Those that reside in India are among the most prosperous communities in the country. A remarmable feat, considering how they were forced from their homes by the refugees who began arriving after 1947, and that there was no 'Evacuee Claims Trust' established for them in India. They are unabashedly proud of their Sindhi heritage,as one may see by their enthusiastic celebration of Cheti Chand every year. Their achievements are a source of immense pride to Sindhis all over the world, which is why I find your dismissal of their identity very much offensive.
As for Karachi, the port was developed by the British. Karachi was a highly important trading post long before the Partition of 1947.
Today, the city is an extended slum. It's average street looks no different from a cracked street in Larkana or Nawabshah. The only difference between them is the natural harbour, developed by the British and later expanded upon by the PPP government in the early 1970s. Despite what many would like to believe, the port was always there; it was not brought in from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar.
@Maria:
Megasthenes the Greek Ambassador to Chandragupta's court wrote 'Indica' in 350 BC.
When did the Arabs of ” Al Sind” variety appear on the scene? Was it before 350 BC or after?
To give just one example,Al Biruni- The author of “Tarikh Al-Hind' was born in 973 CE.
@gujranwala789: yah UP and Bihar most backward and lawless , ask Imran khan he very recently invited Bihar chief minster to get advise on governance so did khadime aala , or joker aala
@Khawaja Ali Zubair
That was some nice piece. Consider being a writer here on tribune?
@Milestogo: Sind in not a Hindu name - have you ever been to Mohenjendaro near Larkana? The civilizations of the Indus River are even older than Hinduism or any other civilization in South Asia or the Middle East. Why do you let yourself get brainwashed by Indian propaganda when even Indians know that Indus Valley civilization is older than Hinduism? All people who live in Sind whether they are native Sindi or migrants from up country like Punjabi or Pashtun or migrants from India like Muhajirs should be forced to learn Sindi and history of Sind so that they understand how rich is culture of the Sindi people. Then maybe people will start to respect Karachi and Sind in general.
@Mohsin Sayeed:
And UP and Bihar areas of India from where most of the muslim migrants came in 1947 and settled in karachi are the most backward, poorest and law less provinces of india, the situation in those provinces is far more worse than that in villages and towns of Sindh. Karachi owes its development to britishers, sindhi hindus, gujrati memons and parsis that laid the foundation of the development of karachi way before 1947 and made karachi a hot spot for investment in a place which otherwise is an arid desert at the border of sindh and balochistan. Most of indian muslim migrants just benefited from the infrastructure of karachi that was already in place even before 1947 and they actually have contributed nothing except chaos and paan pichkari culture. Even today the biggest industrialists of karachi are mostly gujrati speaking memons who do not identify as urdu-speakers, and culturally and liguistically share far more with sindhi memons.
@Sana: Nawaz sharif has never got any votes from mohajir areas of karachi.
@hamza khan: Great idea! He will give NRO to criminals of all shades. Problem solved. Period.
Here eeryone seems so worried about Mr. Ejaz's comments about baloch and sindhi's, what about the people of Orangi?? He called people of Orangi thugs!! is he in his senses??? Does he think poor people of orangi are thugs? all of them?? don't they deserve respect just because they are not influential like people of Defense and clifton?
Mr. Ejaz Haider how could you alledge someone like our former provincial home minister, honourable Mr. Zulfiqar Mirza, that he patronze the gangs of Liyar?? and if you have any proof regarding his alledged involvement in promoting gangs of Liyari, thn why don't you go to the apex court and file a suit against him? If you not gonna do something about it thn whats the use of useless renting????
Karachi At 3am
Well, I came back home this winter; some old friends were in town for their vacations and we couldn’t help but relive our times again. Stuck between childhood and manhood, we had to make these days count.
Nights were spent loitering around and we really have seen the night life in this city; well if that word can be used.
The streets at this time, are empty but you do see some common characters.
If you venture to the right streets, you would a woman standing in the middle of the road. She has no business there except to carry the oldest profession in the world. Cars stop, negotiate and the street is empty again. Not very ubiquitous, but the evil is there. Sometimes, it is the clothes that give them away, at others it is the clock.
There are riders who deliver food on stead of our beloved fast food chains. Mind you, these guys know the streets but they are equally afraid of anything and everything, including their potential customers. All of them have had their scare.
Surprisingly, beggars are also found at this time. But you do wonder which target market they appeal too. Stay away and don’t stop for charity. You can’t trust a needy these days, certainly not three hours after midnight.
Then there are these tinted cars and jeeps containing unknown citizens who drive as it is no man’s business and are certainly expecting no one to come in their way. You do wonder where they go and where they are coming from. The safest advice is to stay away from them; guard and weapons come cheap to them. So does alcohol and speed.
The scariest are the motorcycle lads who hang in groups. If you see two different motorcycles going in the same direction as you are, keep an eye on them for they just might be tailing you and if they catch, then you have to play in their court. Often, you may find as many as 5-6 motorcyclist maneuvering about in the streets of Clifton. The word is run and scramble.
But if you really want a kick; then pull up some trance and shadow a tinted car. You just might be surprised where it leads you. But if your cover is blown, then run like you never have.
Lastly, night life is nothing without trance on disc player and if the nation forgives me, the Verse of The Throne in your mouth. Cheers.
@mrs ahmed:
We the children of educated middl class can not rightfuly claim an inch of land in the whole of sun continent as our own wonderful isnt it
Hmmmm...did you fall from the sky? You "children of educated middle class" must have come from somewhere in the sub-continent!
I think your bhigar baingan is getting burnt.
I agree with mrs ahmed above. Comment from Baloch was prejudice and discriminatory. He thinks Balochs and Sindhis would have made Karachi a better place. Action speaks louder than words. Show me one town or city in Interior Sindh or Baluchistan which is in ideal condition infrastructure and security wise or which you can prove as a role model? You need to open your eyes! It is the people who migrated from India who have put in their blood and sweat to bring Karachi to a level that now every person living in any nook and corner of Pakistan wants to come and live here .. Why? .. Urdu speaking people have put in their full share as they are educated and hard working. Everyone claims "Karachi mera hai"... when it comes to loot and rape Karachi but no one works for the betterment of this city. Everyone is ready to "take" from it but no one is willing to "give". When every dweller living in this city starts to put their share only then the situation will start to improve.
There is no organization known as Baloch Aman Committee but there is only peoples aman committee.
@Baloch: yah we need to revert back to pre 1947 , karachi , with baloachis and sindi muslims in liyri shantis , karachi few miles radius around sdar , all posh and middle class areas inhabited by Parsees hindoos , and goans , some jews and memon muslims who were from surat and not native sindhis or baloachis .We can further move back in history and karachi get ttched to Bombay residency , and capital of sindh becomes hyderabaad , ok with no sindhi or balochi muslim middile class only hindoos are the high ups or few waderaas thier stooges and most populace in abject poverty , no i mean no middle class who reads or writes in sindhi let alone present day tribune susbscribers. yes we must do that , we also the children of fools who strived for independence of a piece which was not thier own. We the children of educated middl class can not rightfuly claim an inch of land in the whole of sun continent as our own wonderful isnt it
@F Khan: u vote for any other party in next election u would be more ashamed, with all the hard work musafa and his team did in karachi u have a the gall to blame MQM, if all the permanat residents of karachi who have no other address in pakistan just vote for strong powerful mayoral govt , like we have in greater london , newyork , or delhi , we will see a turn aroubd in no time . With direct election of the mayor
Sindhi is Hindi name. It should be changed to an Islamic name.
@Baloch: A beautiful coastal town, indeed which was built, maintained and kept beautiful by Parsis, British and Hindus. If Baloch and Sindhis were capable to run a city and keep it clean and beautiful, each village/town and city of Balochistan and Sindh would be a mirroring it and not a dump
@Milestogo: DeNIle is the river that flows through Muslims' mindscapes. You cannot get rid of the reality just by saying that they are not Muslims, they are very much so. Keep denying and strengthening them. And what are you doing about Kashmiris and Palestinian, if those causes are close to your heart and you think are more important?
Very well articulated article by the writer on the sad situation in Karachi - a city at mercy of political and religious thus of all shades.
For the likes of Baloch and others like him. You're out of your mind! Migration does not wreck cities. Migrants like the ones who came from India at Partition, helped build Karachi. Just as the Italian and Irish immigrants helped build New York. Prior to Partition, the vast majority of the Sindhis living in Karachi were Hindu. Who left. Most of the Muslims living in Karachi were Gujrati who again like the Mohajirs had migrated many decades earlier. The others were Memons and Parsis. Muslim Sindhis and Balochis had a negligible presence and contributed almost nothing to the economy of this city. Get your facts right and try being a bit more open-minded, you racist scum.
The whole of the Pakistan has landed into Karachi instead of creating opportunities at their own cities. this has to happen that real Karachiites will get die from those scums.. No one ever own this city and then talks about living here. What good Nawaz Sharif did to Karachi when he had votes from here? Certainly NONE! I have no objection in sayiong that MQM has owned this city and are playing their part very well. they raises their voices every time for their voters and have talked about changing this system by being in Government, This is what we call Courage.. because everyone can accuse others while siting outside just like PTI and PMLN.. things are more practical once we are in gov.. All of this chaos around city has just created to weaken MQM that is totally Impossible. Mark my words!
Neat. And yes bring back Musharraf,
The Solution of all Karachi issues is in the hands of MQM if they are given free-hand. MQM and its people are dedicated and the only one who can develop and progress this city. We have seen a glimpse of it in Musharraf/Mustafa Kamal era. Only those who have pain for the city can work for it and I can say this without doubt that all other political parties are here just to create havoc and disturbance as they don't have any political say in the politics of Karachi. Give Police under MQM MNA control and see how they will make them work. PPP is a corrupt party and they always create law and order issues in Karachi whenever in Power (go back in history and tell me if I am wrong?)...as PPP does not have much political influence in this city and they don't enjoy support of Karachittes, they always stoop down to issues like target killings, ransom, bhatta etc. I am sure if in next government MQM is given free hand then they have the capability to make it an ideal city.
Very well said. On one end are the unruly militant feudal waderas and on the other some 10,000 active political militants that play the death game for the ordinary citizens in Karachi. The only salvation for Pakistan is to ensure that no citizen, regardless of his rank or status, rich or poor, urban or rural, political or religious is allowed to possess, carry or display any weapon of any bore - licensed or otherwise. Providing security is the responsibility of the state and it must not be sublet to private armies.
Ejaz Haider represents what i call Neo-Establishment. Urban, 'educated', self righteous, nationalist,'secular' and militant. Seems 'minorities' are eternally doomed in this polity.
Sorry for the spelling errors on the earlier comment: heat/heart progess/progress when we go the ballot/when we go to the ballot.
Ejaz Sahib, I would request your establishment to please cleanse Karachi of 'Indian pests' like Dawood Ibrahim who are residing in the posh Cliffton locality. We will be very happy to take back our scum which you are needlessly protecting like shining jewels.
@SQAM: Can you explain how is MQM saving karachi people? I did not get what you have stated.MQM was formed to see karachi and its people progess. Put a hand to your heat and say is Karachi better than pre-MQM days? Leave karachi progress, even the lives of ordinary people are not save.MQM is part of provincial and federal government for more than a decade now.....you do not think that they should also take some responsibility to what is happening in karachi since the last 5 years? Trust me you will see MQM vote bank dented this time in the elections....people are not deaf and blind as some of you think. Just wait a couple of months and see the election results. I am not a ANP, PPP, PMLN or PTI supporter. I have voted MQM twice before.So take my word...fasten your seat belt.....you will be surprised this time when we go the ballot.
Ahhhhhh.. This is not the excellent piece of writing, but it is the reality that writer described in his words.
@Maria: Sindh is the birth of Indian sub continent.It is not older than India.
@Mehran, When they say you cant clap with one hand they were not insane, as far as I know even common Sindhi's and Balochi's brothers also hate these oppressor Wadera's and Sardar's so please don't justify them and you are wrong when you say that we hate you. Off course there is hate among masses for people like Baloch who is commenting that we should go back to pre- partition stage, by disregarding and disrespecting the sacrifices and the hard-work done for the development of this country and brain and skill we brought here and nonetheless Freedom of Pakistan our elders earned. These migrants has made you rich like in Dubai or Malaysia may be less headcount because of the corrupt system, We hate it when someone fails to accept it when picture is clearly out of proportion considering the small population of Urdu speakers, We rock's, Lastly we make fun and laugh at wadera culture not Sindhi culture Mind it.
Dear Ejaz, nobody could have put it better , than what i just read. This is what it is, and it should be an eye opener to everybody, as this city is the financial Hub of our country. What next is coming, it just sends chills down my spine, when i analyze the current environment of Khi. Indeed welcome to Hell. One thing though i would like to know, how does our Army contemplate all this, after all this affects all of us, and this Karachi situation is becoming a existential threat to Pakistan's survival.
Karachi was not always like this but that’s another story.
Yes, in those days Karachi was 60% Hindu. But then, that is another story.
@milestogo: I live in Karachi and believe me its worse than occupied kashmir or palestine.
@Baloch: That happened more than 50 years ago. This is now Pakistan, and anyone is free to move anywhere. Get used to it!
Karachi should be the power house of Pakistan but it is the charnel house of Pakistan. Maria you are spot on here. Sindhi have the business acumen, cultures and values to make the Karachi into a great city. We do not need the Ghairat culture here. I think the outlanders needed to learn the Sindhi culture and values. When you are in Rome do as ...
@Maria: I consider myself a student of history, In Ramayana, Sindh was part of Dasharatha's empire. When Kekayi goes into a sulk, Dasaratha tells her: "The sun does not set on my empire. Sindh. Sindh was also ruled by Rai Dynasty during c. 489–632. Rai Diwaji (Devaditya) was the greatest ruler of this dynasty, I was referring sindh as part of British India not UP or Bihar etc. I apologise if I have insulted in any way to "native Sindis and Baluch" as you have suggested. I owe to Sindh more than or atleast equal to natives and consider it "my land". lets not forget that Sindh and rest of subcontinent share the same history. Cross Tharparkar into Rajistan and you won't feel a difference. Lets start to be human first..
@Mehran: Thanks and I totally agree what you have said.
Spot on!
My two cents: Vote PTI. It is the only party which has talked about a neutral police force and is capable of doing so because it has no baggage. All other parties are marred by nazaria-e-zarurat. The country is imploding. Karachi is the financial hub and the situation there speaks scores about the country's overall mess. Vote out the criminals. Don't misjudge the strength of the vote. Pakistan Paindabad.
@Salma looks like from the drone attacker side....lol
@Karachiwala: Perhaps you don't know that the history of Sind or " Al Sind" as called by the Arabs is older than India. When you say your ancestors came to this part of India, this is insulting to native Sindis and Baluch who have a long history apart from India. I think we both agree that Karachi is home to many ethnicities and groups but I can fully understand Baloch's comments that he finds the article insulting to native Sindis and Baluch since they are only responsible for a small fraction of the current violence. Current violence is largely a result of Pashtun and Indian Muhajir tensions. The author should not blame any one group and especially not blame the native people if he wants to be taken seriously. He needs to blame all of the guilty players and call for a military style operation which will end all the violence. Many different groups from all over the country live in Punjab's cities but there is relative stability and security there which explains the continuing progress in Punjab.
@Karachiwala: It is not about you because you have respect for Sindh. But those who hate Sindhi culture, language and civilization and they make fun of it. In the garb of "feudalism" term, they hate us. When you are born and raised in Karachi, you are part of city, and province and country. Powerful parties with militant wings want to keep Karachi divided into ethnic lines so that they can play with our emotions and they get their vested interests fulfilled. When we all respect each other and dont be tool to spew hate and racial slur, we can change system and city life in Karachi. Take an example of Shahzeb case, it was purely a criminal activity between two elite families living in posh area of Karachi, but it was blown out of proportion with racial toning in media. And we all know that fight between two was NOT done on the basis of any ethnic differences. Secondly, Feudal mind set belongs to all powerful people belonging to any ethnic and sectarian group. Only united voice can stop them and this is responsibility of every sane educated person not to fall prey to hate campaign. Be part of this beautiful province and country.
My God ... How did I miss this ...born and raised in Karachi ...and I didnot know that MQM is actually Mianwali Qaumi Party.
This is cleverly crafted article, mentions all sects and ethnic groups responsible for Karachi violence and bad situation but master piece comes in when this article starts lamenting Sindhi and Baloch people and calling their culture rural medieval mindset. This seems less a fair review than a purposeful article which ignors direct mention of powerful community of Karachi and powerful party of Karachi. A selective commentary is provided to pitch all ethnic groups against each other. Seems an effort to create more misconceptions in hearts and minds of Karachiites against fellow ethnic groups and possible dismay over rural values of Sindh. Pakistan is under huge problems, war is going on in KP and Baluchistan and Post Shahzeb case, pitching Sindhi Rural values versus Mohajir Urban values as battle ground is all wrong and unhealthy for Sindh and Pakistan. All people of Sindh, specially Karachi should NOT fall prey to such hate campaign. Stay like brothers, demand justice for every innocent either s/he is Sindhi, Mohajir, Baloch or Pushtton, Shia, Sunni or Hindu or Ahmedi. Stay United. Reject hate campaign. Thanks ET accepting my comment.
Nice analysis by Ejaz Haider, although the police in Karachi remain influenced politically doesn't mean they are influenced by the political party which has hold in Karachi, but it means the party that has governing the 'Province'. MQM has the most bitter relation with this province controlled Police, and for that very reason they always lobbied for a City or Metropolitan Police force. Well the performance of Police & Rangers can be gauged by today's event at Rabia City Gulistan-e-Jauhar where two groups of same party remained busy in fighting for more than 3 hours in presence of Police where as Jinnah Hospital CCTV shows how easily a gang can fools Rangers personnels and can hide 'bara Saman' from them. Forces in Karachi doesn't belong to normal Karachiiets and that's the reason common Karachite have no trust in them. These Police walas coming from other cities and having no proper facility of living in city are forced to rely on the Land Mafia for getting a piece of land to live. The problem is not very complex if we try to understand it.
Agree with you..the city has gone to the dogs… and only the party who save karachiet is MQM
Greater the number of mullah in every coming years,greater the rate of crime in society.This land of pure has no doubt the highest number of clerics in world yet astonishly the crime rate, instead of going down, is climbing every years.All leads for the whole mess go to manipulation of politics in religion-Mai jin rahon se bhi guzarta hoon.tuajjab hae ke har us rah par mullah ata hae.
@Syed: cause he's a) ranting without evidence for eg. "dumping girls after raping them" "country is being ruled by criminals" and b) generalizing all Baloch and Sindhi feudals as scums, dogs - all govt people as criminals - what kind of journalism ethics are these???? c). lastly this is also racists as he bashes the Baloch and Sindhis when he has spared the gun totting sons of 90 - what double standards!! or is it that he's too scared to take them up!
I am v much anti feudalism but this writer has not made any point here he has just expressed a deep rooted hate towards those who own flashy cars!
@Baloch: Yes you are right, had our elders listened to Abu Kalam Azad and other nationalist leaders they would not have left their ancestral land and come to this part of India. I was born in Karachi and loved every inch of it. I consider myself sindhi but still insulted as outsiders. I wish we all go back to pre partition era as Mr Baloch suggested. I pray Karachi regain its former glory aameen.
@John the Baptist: u do need to be baptized
Since the state has subcontracted its responsibilities to political mafias in the country, particularly in Karachi, it is hard to envisage a sensible approach with regard to a resolution for the multilayered social, economic, ethnic and political conflicts. Social development and harmonisation of society need unbiased social reengineering. Addressing socioeconomic, political and other challenges faced by the people in Lyari, need more attention rather than costly operations for the replacement of unfavoured groups of people or gangs by another privileged mafia. http://tribune.com.pk/story/375857/the-battle-for-the-soul-of-lyari/
KARACHI IS THE HEART OF SINDH
racist and biased, abusive language, shows sick approach ,this is intentional and harsh.
yes the outsiders are those who came in 1947 and onwards, they should go back. and the criminals in the city are left untouched in the article, criminals are trying demographically change the city. ARE YOU MAKING THE CITY OF SINDH NO GO AREA FOR SINDHIS?
IMPOSSIBLE
90% of extortion and 90% of muggings cum killings are not done by those waderas or amn committee but from the cronies of the representative political party of Karachi. So next time trying being a notch less racist.
In Giuliani's first term as mayor, the New York City Police Department at the instigation of Commissioner Bill Bratton adopted an aggressive enforcement/deterrent strategy based on James Q. Wilson's "Broken Windows" approach. This involved crackdowns on relatively minor offenses such as graffiti, turnstile jumping, cannabis possession, and aggressive panhandling by "squeegee men", on the theory that this would send a message that order would be maintained. Bratton, with Deputy Commissioner Jack Maple, also created and instituted CompStat, a computer-driven comparative statistical approach to mapping crime geographically and in terms of emerging criminal patterns, as well as charting officer performance by quantifying criminal apprehensions Critics of the system assert that it creates an environment in which police officials are encouraged to underreport or otherwise manipulate crime data. The CompStat initiative won the 1996 Innovations in Government Award from the Kennedy School of Government. During Giuliani's administration, crime rates continued to drop in New York City
Karachi turned in to Hell when thousands of people migrated from UP and other parts of India and settled in to this beautiful and peaceful coastal town of Baloch and Sindhis. Ejaz Haider needs to read history and make analyses with cool mind - if it comes to cleansing than we have to revert back the city on 1947 position - or simply per-partition era.
Karachi turned in to Hell when thousands of people migrated from UP and other parts of India and settled in to this beautiful and peaceful coastal town of Baloch and Sindhis. Ejaz Haider needs to read history and make analyses with cool mind - if it comes to cleansing than we have to revert back the city on 1947 position - or simply per-partition era.
@Salma:
Sickeningly stupid comment!
I expected analysis not a rant Ejaz sahab. Sorry but this is not one of your best opeds.
@Salma. Don't just write three words. Please explain how this is biased article. Thanks
Excellent article ...
know people who remain sociable with big shots even though theyve shot someone. "It doesnt matter" they say, "he's still a nice guy, and what? he shot some villager in his gaaon. Its just the system." sickening
The writer seems to present a chaotic scenario in Karachi which is contrary to reality. Yes, as any other mega city Karachi has due share of problems but not to the levels of complete and utter chaos. There are several examples of mega cities such as Mexico City, Mumbai, Sao Paulo and others that face similar if not the exact same issues we are seeing in Karachi. The point being like any other mega city Karachi will continue to have issues.
The key here is to empower local government system that represents the people effectively. Such as the one we had seen during Gen. Musharraf's tenure which effectively managed to curb all ills of the city to a great extent.
sickeningly biased piece -
Excellent piece
"Karachi is for everyone" commonly stated phrase which translated means "rape Karachi and go back home with no accountability". Karachi is symptomatic of the malaise spread across the country concentrated in one city. Yes, start with Karachi but longer term solution requires cleansing the "country" of guns, culture of feudalism, sectarianism, Talibanization and elitism. I agree with Ejaz, this Government has failed miserably, but so has the security establishment.
Excellent article, this is what Karachi has become after democracy exacted its revenge on this city.
Agree with every word.....the city has gone to the dogs.....I feel ashamed that I have voted MQM twice.....they are also part of the problem.
The writer appears to have missed a key element of the Karachi imbroglio - the absence of a strong, centralized metropolitan government. There are certainly ethnic and sectarian issues in Karachi but not on an average person level - we would have otherwise seen mobs attacking mosques, imam bargahs and localities of rival ethnicities. It has not come down to it. Criminalization, however, cuts across all sectarian and ethnic lines and can be dealt with a strong, sufficient, professional and independent police force.
However, on a day to day basis, the greatest ill eating up Karachi's vitals is the decay of its infrastructure in the absence of a central body running the city. The writer has mentioned the Shafiq ur Rehman commission but there have been numerous other commissions recommending a metropolitan government for Karachi on the pattern of other megapolis around the world. We only have to see Mustafa Kamal's years when Karachi came closest to have such a metropolitan government when Karachi started regaining the lustre of the 60s and the 70s. Even that could have been improved if the dozens of agencie working in Karachi ranging from KPT to Cantonments to Port Qasim to Steel Mills were put under a single chain of command. There would be fears that MQM will hold sway but again we see that that during Mustafa Kamal's government peace reigned in Karachi and no group cried deliberate foul by the city fathers.
I wish that that this aspect can be discussed in further detail by other commenters as well.
Get rid of all this filth. Vote PTI!
@Morons: I think the fundamental assumption in your proposal is that it is the mysterious 'outsiders' that are source of the problem. I beg to differ. Last time I checked from Wikileaks report, the most popular political party in the city had 10,000 active militants and 25,000 militants on reserve and these people are not 'outsiders'.
I feel sad for my country brethren living in Karachi, but I also have to ask, how long are they going to take it laying down? This is the downside of siding with the favorite sectarian / ethnic parties, at the end of the day, they will divide us all into as many groups as possible and round us all. Time to wake up is now or never. In the coming elections, let us for God's sake select someone without a militant wing who is willing and committed to give the city the attention it deserves.
bring back musharraf!!
Cleanse? Why? We dont want to cleanse FATA and Southern Punjab from terrorists running amok and we are repeatadly told that we should negotiate with them. Are the citizens of FATA and other areas infested with militants children of a lesser god? Why do they have to sit around while the state negotiates and dilly dallies while everyone calls for "cleansing" Karachi. End this hypocrisy, criminality is criminality, wherever it is.
These criminals who spread violence can not be Muslims. Moreover there are far greater sufferings like those of Kashmiri Muslims and palenstinians that need attention.
Excellent write up. I feel that anyone from any part of the country has easy access to the city. This shouldn't be the case. Only certain technocrats (as required by the city) should be allowed after permission from the city administration. Common public should be scrutinized before being allowed to reside in the city or own property. All political parties must work under city administration with all their members registered. And finally the guilty should be executed aptly.