How Karachites destroyed Karachi through fear, ethnicity and an immoral choice of MQM, PPP & ANP
How the city of Pakistan’s most able, talented, resilient and diverse people ended up in such a miserable state
The Karachi
Anyone who has spent time in Karachi and observed its electrifying spirit of livelihood, work, and business will agree that they are perhaps the best share of the population Pakistan has, and one cannot get away without giving special credit to its Urdu speaking population for this.
But one would scratch their head that how come such a city would end up in this miserable state. The problems of Karachi from law and order to departmental corruption, and from electricity to water supply are so evident and talked about that we are not going to list those here, but in short, we can say that its the worst governed city in the world and we are here to call the names and put the blame on an unusual suspect.
The problems of Karachi are so much evident and talked about that we are not going to list those here but in short we can say that its the worstly governed city in the world
What went wrong
Karachi was booming until a fear and an ethnic mindset started getting hold of Karachites. The Urdu speaking (who are around 41% of Karachi’s population) developed these thoughts that they can be trampled and ditched by the Sindhi, Pakhtoon, or Punjabi population especially those in the power corridors. And on the other hand, the Sindhis, Pakhtoons, and Punjabis also tried to strengthen their stakes because they were fewer in numbers and felt the need to be strong to overcome this numbers deficiency.
Their fears were not unjustified either given the developments on the ground, but what they did in response to this fear was definitely not justified. What did they do?
They sought refuge in, and choose the worst of the saviors to protect their rights and got trapped resulting in loss of precious lives, livelihoods, businesses, perception of the city, investor’s confidence, and whatnot.
As the Bible says “What I feared the most has cometh upon me”.
Karachi was booming until a fear and an ethnic mindset started getting hold of Karachites. This fear was not unjustified, but what they did in response to this fear was definitely not justified
One might say that MQM, PPP, and ANP got hold of the city through might and power, and the people were helpless. But the truth is that these political parties would not be able to do even 10% of the damage they did if they didn’t have the support of Karachites, yes the same helpless innocent Karachites supported these political-come militant groups for their tiny little interests, for a sense of security against other ethnicities and to counter that fear of unknown that someone might take away everything from them based on their ethnicity. I can recall one of my friends used to tell us “Agar Altaf Bhai na hon to Pathan human zinda kha jaen gy (If there's no Altaf Bhai, Pakhtoons would eat us alive)”, that was the mindset that allowed the likes of MQM and PPP to do their misdeeds.
I can recall one of my friends used to tell us “Agar Altaf Bhai na hon to Pathan human zinda kha jaen gy (If there’s no Altaf Bhai, Pakhtoons would eat us alive)”, this fear mindset allowed the likes of MQM and PPP to do their misdeeds.
What Karachites could have done differently
So what Karachites could have done differently? The simplest answer to this would be the example of the city of Sialkot, a jewel in Pakistan’s entrepreneurial landscape.
Sialkot was way behind Karachi in 70s and 80s, it was badly affected by the wars of 1965 and 1971 due to its close location with Indian border. But the people of Sialkot took a different route than the rest of the country. They forgot about the rights they had on the state and the responsibilities state had to fulfill for them.
They created a culture of self-reliance, they threw all the fears out of the window, they put in the hard work and believed in their own abilities, instead of relying on filthy and corrupt political or state bodies.
Today they are the most prosperous and perhaps the most successful city in the country in many ways, contributing a whole 10% of the country’s exports and increasing on it every day.
They asked govt to build them an Airport so their clients and importers can directly come to them and do the business, but after usual delay by Govt they decided to build it themselves, and when the question came to how they will bring airlines to use their airport, they created their own airline, again to kill the need for dependence.
Had Sialkotis depended on the rotted politicians or lazy state bodies to materialize their potential, to get their rights, and to implement their ideas, they would have been no more than an average city with little to no contribution and complete reliance on government’s mercy.
Putting the blame
So whom are we putting the blame today for the mess we have in Karachi? Today we are naming the people of Karachi themselves for making wrong choices, for relying on the worst options instead of putting in the work, for not believing in their own selves and for prioritizing their little and short term interests over future of their city and their next generations.
This doesn't mean that we are setting free the real culprits, the political parties and their militant wings who abused the trust Karachites put in them and ripped this city of its glory and prosperity
But now is an opportunity to change it all
Karachi still,- I am not stating the old myth that it generates 70% of the revenue because that's an overstatement, but it provides millions of jobs, feeds a population of 20 Million, generates at least 30% of tax revenue of the country and still has its awesome spirit alive in it.
So lets now start taking control of stuff by:
— Deciding that we won’t make any choices or decisions on ethnic basis whether political or social
— We will take the inspiration from stories like Sialkot and try fixing our issues on our own
— We will make sure at every forum that those who failed us as a city will enjoy no more support from us instead we will make them pay for it by naming and shaming them for the wrongs they did.
