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#ReclaimingOurWalls: Graffiti to be removed from walls in city

Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui says he will ensure all wall chalkings and ads are removed.

Our Correspondent April 05, 2015

He was of the view that wall chalking should be discouraged. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

KARACHI: The commissioner of Karachi is aware of everything that goes on in the city. He is aware that a lot of people use the city's walls to advertise things such as curing impotency and Baba Bangash's magical love potions. This time, he says he has had enough and wants them removed.

During a meeting at his office on Saturday, he included removing wall chalking as a part of the 'clean and green campaign' being carried out by the city's administration.

"It is the worst example of the manifestation of our social behaviour," said Dr Fateh Muhammad Burfat, a professor at the sociology department of Karachi University. He added that when you travel by train from Karachi to Lahore, you can find this kind of absurd, phallocentric wall chalking at every stop.

He was of the view that wall chalking should be discouraged and the government must take strict action against the inappropriate graffiti. "In every civilised society, it is prohibited to commercialise the walls with [such] cheap advertisements," he said.

According to Burfat, wall chalkings have been used as a form of protest against the established political and social system. "People express their anxiety, opinions and fears through this discourse of aggression and expression," he said. "Since wall chalkings — advertisements, political slogans and other messages — make the urban landscape look 'ugly', the authorities have launched a drive against it."

The commissioner, Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, said that the city administration has asked all political and religious parties to step up and remove graffiti from the city's walls to help keep Karachi beautiful, clean and green. He added that the campaign against wall chalking will continue in different areas of the city till everything was removed. Whitewash will be used to erase all types writings on the walls along with the advertisements.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2015.