A large flag was spread outside the Quaid’s mausoleum on Friday morning to mark the country’s 69th Independence Day. PHOTO: AFP
The passion with which the streets of Karachi bled green on the country's 69th Independence Day on Friday surpassed the city's subdued celebrations the past few years.
Entire families, children and young men took to the streets, waving the flag and breaking into song and dance at random locations. Loud speakers blared patriotic songs in every neighbourhood and motorcycles spared the use of silencers for most part of the day.
"It's Pakistan day!" exclaimed a young girl dressed in white sequined frock. "Pakistan Zindabad!" she shouted as she ran to join her family.
The day began with the customary flag-hoisting ceremony and gun salute at the Quaid's mausoleum and was followed by various rallies and events organised by different organisations and several schools. The Citizens Foundation opened their Qayyumabad school celebrations for the public as they encourage people of all ages to join their Independence Day festivities. Towards the evening, a large number of people headed to Sea View to pay a customary homage to the Arabian Sea.
Read: 10 walls of Karachi go green for Independence Day
Around 150 cars roared through Tauheed Commercial in front of Abdullah Shah Ghazi's shrine as part of a car rally organised by DHA's real estate association. According to Amir Shahbaz, he was celebrating Independence Day after 10 years as this time he found Karachi peaceful enough to celebrate the day. "Earlier there used to be so much bloodshed that we never felt like celebrating Independence Day," he said.
"We arranged this car rally because we wanted to emit that zeal and passion," said another real estate owner, Shareef Khan, a resident of DHA Phase V.
Traffic situation
The patriotic sentiments did not, however, sit well with the roads of the city, most of which witnessed severe traffic jams. MA Jinnah Road, Mazar-e-Quaid, Nagan Chowrangi, Aladin Park and Rashid Minhas Road remained hubs of rallies and celebrations, making the flow of traffic a problem. Moreover, the roads leading to Sea View were jam packed, making it difficult for residents of these areas to reach home. Saira Ali, a resident of Garden, said it took her more than hour to get from Bilawal Chowrangi to Saddar as buses were used to block the main Bilawal Chowrangi.
"The roads leading to Clifton and Sea View were blocked by the local police given the security condition," said an official of the Karachi Traffic police. "Alternate routes have been provided and citizens were requested to commute on these," he said.
As chaos and irritation prevailed among drivers and travellers one rickshaw driver couldn't help but fume his anger at the authorities. "What sort of independence is this? The roads are clear for them [authorities] and closed for us [common people]."
Read: Mime celebrates Independence Day by taking us through 50 years of Pakistani music
Firing incidents
As parts of the city erupted in aerial firing soon after the clock struck midnight, nearly a dozen people were injured with stray bullets. The deployment of a large number of Rangers and policemen failed to control such incidents. Most of the injured people, some of whom were women and children, were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Civil hospital and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment. All of them were in stable condition.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2015.
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