Karachi, Pakistan

By 

Muhammad Maqbool

So here I was, Karachi, the business capital of Pakistan. Home to over 20 million people from all over Pakistan covering almost all casts and creeds there are. But something was wrong; the once glittery words that were used to be associated with the city’s mention had faded in some unknown whirlwind of confusion and terrorism. So what has happened is it Fear? Or is it just a lot of “Hype” that has been promoted by the media? To answer these questions let me take you a little down my memory lane.

Being brought up in Lahore, the only image I ever got whenever I tuned into any news channel was, that the minute I would land in Karachi, either I would be robbed on gunpoint or would be shot, becoming a victim of racism. But No! This was definitely not the case. On this point I would like to thank our wonderful newly free media who instead of promoting the positive side of the story, have always tended to promote the dark side. I was not robbed on landing in Karachi and I was definitely not shot, thank God. So back to my story, my family had moved to this new city and I was here to stay. My family has had a Carpet business established in Karachi long before partition, but for me this was the first time in Karachi at the age of 19, because for starters, I never cared for this part of the heirloom. So now that I was here, I decided on my daredevil instinct to explore the city.

My first few explorations led me to the general conclusion that in this big city “Nobody Interferes”, everybody is so much engulfed in their own business’s and life to the point that nobody has even a split second to think over what is happening in and around them, this is actually something positive because nobody is actually medalling in your life. At the same time the other conclusion was that the “City Never Slept”, whether it be 3am in the morning or 3pm in the afternoon you would find families, couples and loners in public places, coffee shops, food courts and Malls. This is something I didn’t see either in Lahore where after midnight the traffic on road starts to thin off and Islamabad, where, well there is nothing after 8 in the evening. Now coming back to Karachi, the city has more places to offer than any other city of Pakistan, the biggest attraction being the warm water Beach of course. Food, well to be honest, the food is that really baffled me. Being a born Lahori, I belong to the class that never compromises on food and taste and these are the two things we believe can be found only in Lahore, but my explorations led me to a strange conclusion, I know this is a suicidal thing to say, but Karachi has more Taste to offer than Lahore itself.

A living city, then where the HELL was the problem, I mean everyday even in Karachi when I used to flicker through news channels the same news prevailed on every news channel, “Target Killing”, “Political Demonstrations”, “Boycotts and Strikes”…. But why was all this happening and if it was happening why? The people of the city have almost everything; the business capital that controls 38% of the country’s wealth, but still no Peace. Curiosity plagued me to look deep for at least a simple answer to a simple question, why? And to what extent?

It so happened that a senior member of the Jang News Group was a close family friend, on asking him the same question, I was given a simple answer, the city had grown more than its limits, what was happening even in the outskirts of the city was considered to be happening inside the city, even when nothing was happening at all. Well this could be considered a diplomatic statement, but honestly, this is idiotic, to believe that something is not wrong in this city when something has definitely gone badly wrong.

Well to me the Answer is simple, Karachi holds a population consisting of people coming from all creeds of Pakistan and like the difference’s that have caused division in the rest of the country this beautiful city too has fallen victim to the same problem but just on a lower scale. The city has been divided into power centers by Political Parties, who fight at the price of killing innocent civilians. The Pashtun led by ANP, the Urdu-Speaking led by MQM, the Punjabi and Sindhi speaking by branches of PPP and PML. There is nothing to hide here; you can see the colors of these parties spread across the city, marking starting and ending points of their respective regions. But the only problem is why the people of Karachi have to suffer the indecencies of these lunatics who just want to retain power not even thinking a bit what disastrous harm they have already bought to the image of the once capital city of Pakistan. It’s sad but this is the reality. The city might not be centuries old, but it still holds a key position in the minds of all Pakistanis. But alas, the city’s glamour has almost faded and is on the brink of extinction, if not saved now by the people living in and outside this city which is considered to be the “Heart of Pakistan”, it will soon stop beating, and you know what happens to the body when the heart stops working. 

Muhammad Maqbool

BBA II Sec H

09U0617

A wakeup call.

By Arshia Azhar.

Revolutions have had revolutionary effects on countries, nations, groups and empires. It is evident from history that a nation cannot live under tyranny or adverse conditions for long and that the rulers who are not able to govern properly ultimately have to face the wrath of their people in the form of a revolution. In Pakistan the conditions at the moment are adverse and challenging for the people. Ever since the democratic government has taken charge the numbers of suicide incidents in the country have increased. An ordinary person who earns eight to ten thousand a month is hardly able to feed himself and his family thrice a day. To make the matters worse governments’ inability to control price hike has made the situation even worse. Such has been the performance of this government that people now want the previous government of a dictator back. The last two and a half years have been characterized by corruption, inefficiency, political war between the two major parties, foreign tours which are good for nothing, lack of development, poor getting poorer, rich getting richer and last but not the least lack of security for the people. In such a situation the people of Pakistan have to come out on the roads and fight for their rights. The lack of their participation in politics as mentioned in the previous articles has led to this situation so this the right time to correct the past mistakes and revive the glory of Pakistan and its people. No or little accountability has made the politicians to take this nation as granted and do whatever. They know that come the next elections we will be in the parliament again. This sort of thinking needs to be changed and it is obligatory for us to make them realize that whatever they are doing is wrong. I am not of the view that each and every politician is corrupt; it is our system that is corrupt. It is a shame for us to be the 32^nd most corrupt country in the world. Other countries don’t trust us anymore; the fact that the foreign countries and organization gave their donations to the non-government organizations instead of the government of Pakistan after the floods is very derogatory for us. It is a dilemma which has to be changed. People around the world consider Pakistan as a failed state because of our internal conditions and situation.

In order to change the current scenario of our homeland we need a revolution. A revolution led by a group of people who know regarding how to lead this country. The people of Pakistan have to come out of their nutshells and fight for their due rights. The political system has to be changed; corrupt politicians should be sent to jail and proper accountability has to be held. We have to set an example for everyone, an example that does not give anyone the strength and courage to do wrong to his country ever again. Pakistan has all the ingredients to be a successful prosperous country. The available resources, labor and talent is unmatched; need of the hour is to polish it and utilize it in an efficient manner. It is true that we as a nation have not played our role properly in the development of this country. This is the time to correct our mistakes and do something for this country that has given us a lot. Go ask the Kashmirs’, the Palestinians’ about independence and they will tell how badly they need it and how much they have suffered just because they don’t have freedom. It is sad that my generation and my parents’ generation forgot what our forefathers did to get this piece of land. Their sacrifices have been forgotten totally. We need to try our level best to turn this Pakistan into a Pakistan of Quaid-e-Azam and the only way to do this is revolution. The Muslims of the subcontinent brought a revolution in the region by getting independence from the British; we need another revolution to make Pakistan a strong country that can face any external threat bravely.

It's time to act.

By Muhammad Abid Ali Goraya
o9u0596.

Participation in the politics of the country is the right of every human being living in that country and in my opinion its an obligation. Governments are established in order to govern the people, to work for the people and to do everything possible for the betterment of the population which is being governed. It is common sense that a government which does not represent the majority will not be able to perform well for the people, that is why dictatorship, monarchy and fake democracy can function properly for a short period of time but in the long run they cannot fulfill the demand of the people.The reasons for this is that a government who does not know the problems, the demands of the majority will not be able to solve the problems and will not be able to take proper intitatives for them. In order to establish a government which represents its population, people, we have to partcipate in politics.They are the ones who have to select their representatives and form a government which works for them. this is unforunately not the case in Pakistan.

Since its independance in 1947 Pakistan has not seen democracy ever.The only government that came close to the term 'True Democaracy' was that of Z.A Bhutto during the 70's. Other era's have always been influenced by antidemocratic forces within and outside the country. The governments have come and gone on regular basis. My analysts are of the view that in Pakistan come and go with the consent of antdemocratic forces. In my opinion we have ourselves to blame for it. Lack of participation by the people in Pakistan is very common ; noone is intersted in it.The sad and unfortunate part is that least concerned people are those who are literate and educated. In urban areas of Pakistan the turn out during the election is extremely low and people don't even bother to register and cast theier votes. The end result is the same old faces of the political scene return via obliging and forcing the poor people and getting thier votes which in turn results in no development and sustained corruption.

There is another problem in our political system which is the role of family in selecting canditates. According to the constitution of Pakistan each and every Pakistani has a right to contest the elections but unfortunately everytime we keep on seeing the same old faces or their sons or daughters appearing. No one is ready to step up, gather the support , make people aware and change the system. This problem has resulted in a hige loss to Pakistan and its people, as politicians know that there seat is confirmed  and do nothing for the people.

Pakistan's President- Asif Ali Zardari

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjyuhBmt64w&feature=mh_lolz&list=HL1308845068

Sidra Shahid
BBA II
Sec: H
o9u0309