In Karachi, the political and ethnic violence that’s killed hundreds of people since July
In Pakistan’s largest city and commercial capital, Karachi, the surge in violence that began in July and has killed many hundreds of people, continues. The Daily Times reports that five people were killed yesterday in what it described as targeted killings. Much of the violence involves gangs from rival political and ethnic groups. For more, we reached Raza Rumi by cell phone. He’s editor of Pak Tea House, and based in Lahore. Danny Wood started by asking Raza to explain the issues, including the ethnic divisions, behind the violence.Click here to listen talk of Raza Rumi … Read entire article »
Karachi on Fire (again): Who Should Be Held Responsible?
This thoughtful write up is contributed by Hasan Haider, a film student at the National College of Arts and a concerned resident of Karachi. I was at a wedding reception when I got a phone call from a relative that I should get home as soon as possible since the city was shutting down. Someone has said something to the MQM Party leader and now the city would experience the same bloodshed it is famous for. My father rushed all of us into the car and we rushed home, only to find sounds of firing on the main road near my house. We slowed the car down and turned into the next street around the corner and tried to avoid all the main roads. As soon as we got home, my father started called other … Read entire article »
Filed under: Karachi
What needs to be done in Karachi
By Raza Rumi: The recent escalation of violence and senseless butchery in Karachi serves to remind us once again just how the state is withering away in Pakistan. State-building has always been a neglected project in Pakistan’s largest city. Ineffective and weak institutions were commandeered by large, organised mafias often with public support on the basis of ethnic identity. This spurred other groups to organise themselves in a similar manner and now Karachi is a playground of ethnic battles and fascist tactics with violence seen as a legitimate instrument to achieve and exercise political power. Click here to read complete article. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Karachi
Things More Important than Sovereignty and Honor
Zia Ahmad Two days ago, a motley crew of a handful militants raided and occupied a highly sensitive and supposedly heavily fortified Naval air base in Karachi. The ensuing battle lasted for sixteen plus hours at the cost of ten military personnel, fourteen injuries and two surveillance planes. Bear in mind, these are the official numbers. We can’t really blame the people if they find the official toll of damages suspect and assume a higher count of casualties. It is also said that a contingent of a hundred commandos was deployed to reclaim the naval base. Let’s run the numbers again: … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Army, Karachi, Taliban, Terrorism, violence, Yusuf Raza Gillani
Armed to Educate
By Zara Farooqui And Maheen Bashir Adamjee Forging a new future: Lyari, known for its gangs and crime, also has thriving “street schools” set up by locals. Photo: Danish Khan “Your car is parked on my classroom,” a visibly angry man scolded Newsline’s photographer, Danish Khan. Confused, we looked around to discover that the narrow lane in which we were standing – watched by curious half-clothed children with runny noses and surrounded by rubble, roaming goats and … Read entire article »
Karachi’s Industrialists and “Institutionalized” Extortion.
Asad Furqan Siddiqi Karachi is often referred to as the backbone of Pakistan’s economy. In reality it is actually the heart of Pakistan’s economy. Home to over 20 million people of various ethnic and religious backgrounds, Karachi is a place where everyone is fiercely competing for livelihood. For the last 25 years or so Karachi’s diverse population, has always seen MQM as a coalition partner under every Government. Many people give MQM the credit of being “the owners of Karachi” as well as being the party with the “Mandate” to run and operate Karachi. Both are claims, which are often disputed by independent analysts who argue that if polls in Karachi are carried out under strict neutral scrutiny there is no way that the MQM will emerge as the single majority party of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Karachi
Karachi at the End of the Raj
Karachi as seen by a British soldier sometime between 1942 and 1947: lively … Read entire article »
Karachi: memorial service in memory of deceased Minister for Minorities
MURDER OF SHAHBAZ BHATTI OUTRIGHT REJECTION OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH: DR FAROOQ SATTAR KARACHI: 6TH MARCH 2011 A condolence meeting and memorial service was held under Muttahida Quami Movement in memory of the deceased Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti at the Karachi Press Club. The ceremony was attended by thousands of mourners belonging from different faiths. People maintained silence in memory of Mr Shahbaz Bhatti and paid rich tributes to him for his services. Speaking on the occasion Deputy Convener of MQM Dr Farooq Sattar said that the assassination of Mr Shahbaz Bhatti is an attack on the security and existence of the country. He said that if we want to promote a culture of tolerance in the country then the famous speech of the Quaid-i-Azam on 11th August 1947 to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Karachi
A city not unlike home
By RAKHSHANDA JALIL A visit to Karachi gave RAKHSHANDA JALIL that elusive connect with India when she was least expecting it. I t appears to be a truism much acknowledged that Delhi and Lahore are soul sisters. Yet, I must confess, I saw no such striking resemblance between the two cities on my first visit a couple of years ago. A recent visit to Karachi, however, struck a chord in my born-in-UP but raised-in-Delhi heart. Here was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Karachi
KARACHI- Wrapped Up In Violence
Wrapped up in violence, This city of mine and yours In Edhi and Chippa ambulances The bodies and its remains Wrapped up in darkness The city and its lights As its screams go unheard As the dead search for their graves … Read entire article »
Filed under: Karachi
The barbarians have attacked another shrine – no respite for Karachi
Raza Rumi Karachi’s famous shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi was attacked a while ago. Over 60 people are injured and 12 are dead. After Lahore’s Data Darbar attacks, this is a trend that is gaining an ugly momentum. We condemn this act and mourn the deaths of innocent people who were visiting to perhaps allay their stress and seek some peace from the place. Shrines are not just religious – these are public spaces and also cultural markers. What a shame that terrorists are trying to destroy our culture and turning us into a bunch of afraid people living in a fractured and violent society. Thursdays are special for shrine-goers. And this is what suits the terrorists’ agenda. This is not the first time that such a heinous tragedy has occurred. We … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Karachi, Pakistan, Sufism, Taliban, Terrorism
PAKISTAN: MQM; Success or Failure in Punjab?
MQM needs to change perceptions about it before it finds any ground in the Punjab Crosspost by Yasmeen Ali MQM’s effort to enter Punjab can be deemed as a historic political development. Altaf Hussain in an address many months earlier, promised Punjab an end to feudalism, while announcing MQM’s entrance in the Punjab political kaleidoscope .This is an interesting promise, considering MQM was unable to dent the feudalism in rural Sindh where it exists, much more than in Punjab. According to the MQM’s 2008 election manifesto “the prevalent feudal system of Pakistan is the main obstacle in the progress of the country and the prosperity of the people”. Before going any further, let us identify what feudalism is. In one view, that of Marc Bloch, views feudalism as the complete system, political, military, social, and … Read entire article »
At least we are not Dubai
Among all the gloom about our country, we tend to forget the richness and the diversity of our cities and culture. We have a lot to achieve, but we overlook a lot more that we possess. George Fulton expresses his disdain for Dubai, a ritzy burgeoning middle eastern city that portrays itself as a coastal quasi-western city of choice for businesses and tourists. We may not fully agree with George’s assessment of Dubai as just a glamorous and materialistic cosmopolitan. Yet his comparison of Karachi or Lahore (with their rich culture, traditions, intelligentsia, linguistic pluraity and democracy) with a drab city (run by an autocratic dynasty and inhabited by empty fops looking for relatively quick riches) do ring a loud bell. (AZW) By George Fulton, The Express Tribune http://tribune.com.pk/story/7950/at-least-we-are-not-dubai/ We haven’t got a lot to be thankful for these days in Pakistan. But at … Read entire article »
Filed under: ancient civilisations, Architecture, culture, Democracy, Karachi, Lahore, New Writers, Pakistan, Politics, public policy, Society, UAE
Ode to Karachi
Karachiwala: A Subcontinent Within a City, By Rumana Husain Reviewed by Murtaza Razvi Dawn, 27 Feb, 2010 In a country steadily rehearsing for uniformity of opinion on matters national and global, Karachi’s cultural diversity is at once intriguing and enchanting. It is the city of a bulging, bellowing, moving, shaking, teetering and tethering middleclass, the rich and the famous, the brave and the brute as well as the meek and the poor. … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture, Identity, Karachi, Pakistan, Society, urban
PTH biweekly Cartoon
Picture of the Week
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Sunrise at the Arabian Sea, Charna Island
24 Dec 2011
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