Karachi may be cool, its politicians are not

Had any of our politicians attended these events, someone would surely have pointed out flaws in their policies.

After being described as ‘volatile’, ‘violent’, and ‘unstable’, Karachi has finally become ‘cool’. The recent cold wave makes it true literally as well but, metaphorically speaking, the city has become cool to be talked about. Perhaps, it is because it topped the charts as the world’s fastest growing metropolis, or because it topped another list for being the most dangerous city to live in — but it seems that most, if not all, eyes are on Karachi.

Harvard University’s South Asia Institute decided to hold its South Asian Cities Conference 2014 in the port city. Mid-January saw experts flying in from across the world to give their two cents on the city’s major problems with urban growth and development. Those who attended a few sessions at the three-day conference learned to question the mass transit systems, or their lack thereof; they learned that building one flyover after another is not only a waste of resources but a burden on existing traffic.

A month later, the fifth Karachi Literature Festival brought together writers, journalists, academics and others to talk about, not only the city, but ways to improve the country. Educationists and professors talked about how, along with improving the number of children going to school, there is an urgent need to make sure that these children are getting the right kind of education in all schools; that the media may have forgotten the Baloch families marching towards the capital but there are some who are following their every step.

The gates for these two festivals were open to all. People, who we may never be able to question otherwise, were sitting right in front of us and answering all the questions. An audience member echoed everyone’s sentiments when he asked a Japanese donor agency official why the Karachi Circular Railway system has yet to materialise. And the crowd nodded in guilt when Ayub Baloch said that the Baloch just want their sons back.

People may have walked out of these sessions thankful that the right issues were raised and maybe we will see the bahaar that Intizar Hussain asked us to hope for. Unfortunately, these voices did not reach the ones who are capable of bringing change in the real sense. What stood out most in both these events was the absence of politicians and elected representatives.

Our local government minister was not sitting in the audience as the bus-rapid transit system or flyovers were being explained and criticised. Our education minister was not taking notes when professors and educationists laid down the steps that need to be taken to bring up literacy and education in Pakistan. Had any of our politicians attended these events, someone would surely have pointed out the flaws in their current policies. They would have been asked to explain their strategies to an audience that may not have accepted their bureaucratic excuses and held them accountable for the future of this country. It is, perhaps, precisely for this reason that our elected representatives are holed up inside their fortress-like houses, their guarded SUVs and barricaded offices, from where they cannot hear the voices of reason and from where they don’t have to explain the need to spend millions of rupees on concerts and fashion shows.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2014.

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