How ‘The City of Lights’ lost its Sparkle, and how Karachiites are Fighting For a Brighter Tomorrow...
Karachi is undergoing metamorphosis. The “City of Lights” of yesteryear has been brutalised and “target killing” has become order of the day. With an estimated population of 18 million, the megalopolis Karachi is now controlled by mafias.
There was a time when Burqa-clad women with all their jewellery would return from marriages late in the night all alone without any fear, and children would play in the lanes up till 2am and doors remained open for them. The boundary walls of bungalows were also not more than four feet in height, and one could have a glimpse of lawns while walking on the pavement.
Then things started changing. But these changes have a history. The capital of Pakistan, Karachi, witnessed a great upheaval in 1953, when peaceful students were fired upon because they brought a procession to demand for better education facilities. Seven students and a passerby lost their lives, but the establishment was eventually forced to accept students’ demands.
In fact, the 1953 movement, led by left-wing Democratic Students Federation (DSF), was a turning point in Pakistan’s chequered history. The establishment decided to shift the capital to Islamabad.
Again in 1964, it was Karachi and Dhaka from where the opposition leader Mohtarama Fatima Jinnah won the elections despite the notorious ‘Basic Democracy’ system, in which only 80,000 BD members were allowed to cast their votes in presidential elections.
The democratic upsurge of 1968-69 that forced military dictator General Ayub Khan to announce that he would not take part in next elections, shook the corridors of power. There was euphoria in the air, and students, industrial workers, teachers, doctors, lawyers and intellectuals and writers felt as if a revolution was in the making.
However, another military dictator General Yahya Khan staged a coup and took hold of the reins of power. Perhaps it was in 1968-69 that the civil and military establishment decided to break the will of Karachiites.
The break-away of Eastern wing in 1971 after genocide of Bengalis and establishment of Bangladesh as an independent state too weakened the democratic movement in the financial hub of Pakistan. This was because the politically conscious leadership of Pakistan’s Eastern wing had always given a lead to the rest of Pakistan, including Karachi.
Thus began a process of de-politicising of Karachiites. Ethnicity and parochialism was promoted by the State, and industrial workers were fired upon in Landhi’s industrial area of Karachi. Political activists were disillusioned, what they thought was a revolution was only a mirage.
Brutalisation of society reached its peak when the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown in July 1977 by despot General Ziaul Haq, and Bhutto was sent to the gallows.
Karachi is undergoing metamorphosis. The “City of Lights” of yesteryear has been brutalised and “target killing” has become order of the day. With an estimated population of 18 million, the megalopolis Karachi is now controlled by mafias.
There was a time when Burqa-clad women with all their jewellery would return from marriages late in the night all alone without any fear, and children would play in the lanes up till 2am and doors remained open for them. The boundary walls of bungalows were also not more than four feet in height, and one could have a glimpse of lawns while walking on the pavement.
Then things started changing. But these changes have a history. The capital of Pakistan, Karachi, witnessed a great upheaval in 1953, when peaceful students were fired upon because they brought a procession to demand for better education facilities. Seven students and a passerby lost their lives, but the establishment was eventually forced to accept students’ demands.
In fact, the 1953 movement, led by left-wing Democratic Students Federation (DSF), was a turning point in Pakistan’s chequered history. The establishment decided to shift the capital to Islamabad.
Again in 1964, it was Karachi and Dhaka from where the opposition leader Mohtarama Fatima Jinnah won the elections despite the notorious ‘Basic Democracy’ system, in which only 80,000 BD members were allowed to cast their votes in presidential elections.
The democratic upsurge of 1968-69 that forced military dictator General Ayub Khan to announce that he would not take part in next elections, shook the corridors of power. There was euphoria in the air, and students, industrial workers, teachers, doctors, lawyers and intellectuals and writers felt as if a revolution was in the making.
However, another military dictator General Yahya Khan staged a coup and took hold of the reins of power. Perhaps it was in 1968-69 that the civil and military establishment decided to break the will of Karachiites.
The break-away of Eastern wing in 1971 after genocide of Bengalis and establishment of Bangladesh as an independent state too weakened the democratic movement in the financial hub of Pakistan. This was because the politically conscious leadership of Pakistan’s Eastern wing had always given a lead to the rest of Pakistan, including Karachi.
Thus began a process of de-politicising of Karachiites. Ethnicity and parochialism was promoted by the State, and industrial workers were fired upon in Landhi’s industrial area of Karachi. Political activists were disillusioned, what they thought was a revolution was only a mirage.
Brutalisation of society reached its peak when the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown in July 1977 by despot General Ziaul Haq, and Bhutto was sent to the gallows.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles
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