Are you compassionate about Karachi?
Speakers talk about what makes the city resilient
A large number of students taking part in the 6th Karachi Literature Festival. PHOTO: ONLINE
KARACHI:
The Karachi in which Pervez Hoodbhoy, a nuclear physicist, grew up in was a caring city. In the 1950s, when Hoodbhoy was born, the city’s population was around 0.75 million, today it is spilling over 20 million.
While speaking at a session titled ‘Compassionate Karachi’ on the second day of the sixth annual Karachi Literature Festival, Hoodbhoy said that it was important to change how individuals behaved with each other and give them space.
“The city was diverse. People had very different kinds of neighbours,” he said. “Our immediate neighbours were Christians. A little further down there was a Parsi family and then a couple of Hindu ones. Then they all left.” He added that their leaving the city had nothing to do with the population increase but a change in attitudes.
Hoodbhoy explained this further by talking about a social experiment. “If there is a small number of fish in an aquarium, they will swim past each other,” he said. “But if this number keeps increasing the fish will get aggressive. They won’t be fighting for food but for space.”
Karachiites, he added, were like these fish — fighting for space.
“There is no space in the city. It is diminishing. We need space for parks, places of entertainment, places where one can go out and relax,” he said. “It is good to have hope but in order to have a compassionate Karachi, a peaceful city, we need space.” He added that Karachi needed more public facilities, such as parks, playgrounds, places for boys and girls to meet because the kind of sexual tensions that exist in our society were extremely dangerous.
The commissioner of Karachi, who was also speaking at Saturday’s session, was more optimistic than Hoodbhoy. “Karachi is perhaps the most resilient city in the world,” he said. “The city represents hope.”
Author Karen Armstrong, who joined the session via Skype from London, said that we lived in a dangerous world. “It is at times like these one must remember the golden rule,” she said. “Always treat others the way you want them to treat you.”
Amin Hashwani, businessman and social activist, moderated the session and explained the concept behind compassionate Karachi: changing Pakistan, one city at a time. “It is important to have faith and take ownership of the city we belong to,” he said. “The alternative is despair and despondency.” He added that state structures were outdated and becoming irrelevant.
Hashwani claimed that the renaissance is going to start from the cities as they were older than state structures. “Karachi is older than Pakistan and Rome is older than Italy,” he said. “Cities are where the rubble meets the road and your administrator delivers services to you.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2015.
The Karachi in which Pervez Hoodbhoy, a nuclear physicist, grew up in was a caring city. In the 1950s, when Hoodbhoy was born, the city’s population was around 0.75 million, today it is spilling over 20 million.
While speaking at a session titled ‘Compassionate Karachi’ on the second day of the sixth annual Karachi Literature Festival, Hoodbhoy said that it was important to change how individuals behaved with each other and give them space.
“The city was diverse. People had very different kinds of neighbours,” he said. “Our immediate neighbours were Christians. A little further down there was a Parsi family and then a couple of Hindu ones. Then they all left.” He added that their leaving the city had nothing to do with the population increase but a change in attitudes.
Hoodbhoy explained this further by talking about a social experiment. “If there is a small number of fish in an aquarium, they will swim past each other,” he said. “But if this number keeps increasing the fish will get aggressive. They won’t be fighting for food but for space.”
Karachiites, he added, were like these fish — fighting for space.
“There is no space in the city. It is diminishing. We need space for parks, places of entertainment, places where one can go out and relax,” he said. “It is good to have hope but in order to have a compassionate Karachi, a peaceful city, we need space.” He added that Karachi needed more public facilities, such as parks, playgrounds, places for boys and girls to meet because the kind of sexual tensions that exist in our society were extremely dangerous.
The commissioner of Karachi, who was also speaking at Saturday’s session, was more optimistic than Hoodbhoy. “Karachi is perhaps the most resilient city in the world,” he said. “The city represents hope.”
Author Karen Armstrong, who joined the session via Skype from London, said that we lived in a dangerous world. “It is at times like these one must remember the golden rule,” she said. “Always treat others the way you want them to treat you.”
Amin Hashwani, businessman and social activist, moderated the session and explained the concept behind compassionate Karachi: changing Pakistan, one city at a time. “It is important to have faith and take ownership of the city we belong to,” he said. “The alternative is despair and despondency.” He added that state structures were outdated and becoming irrelevant.
Hashwani claimed that the renaissance is going to start from the cities as they were older than state structures. “Karachi is older than Pakistan and Rome is older than Italy,” he said. “Cities are where the rubble meets the road and your administrator delivers services to you.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2015.