‘The
Jewel in the Crown’
By H. Maker
The Helpline Trust
Karachi, Pakistan
Saturday, 8 October was the
inauguration ceremony of Jewel in the Crown: Karachi
under the Raj 1843-1947 at the Mohatta Palace
Museum. It was reported: “The exhibition
is a marvelous and a rare opportunity for the
Karachites to see those golden days of history,
when Karachi had emerged, from a fishing village
to the commercial capital and the city of lights
of Pakistan”.
The rich and the famous had graciously and generously
provided precious jewels from their private collections
for the exhibition and our PM was there to honor
the city and for the inauguration. But unfortunately,
much to their discomfort the commuters once again
had to suffer traffic jams as is the case when
the President or the PM visit the city.
Sir Charles Napier had paid this tribute to Karachi:
“You will yet be the glory of the East;
would that I could come again, Karachi, to see
you in your grandeur.” It is just as well
that the time machine has not yet been invented,
because if Sir Charles were to visit the city
today, he would be terribly disappointed and disgusted
to see what we have done to his jewel.
Neglect, incompetence, greed, pollution and violence
have ravaged this once noble and proud city and
turned her into a city of slums. Her proud heritage
has been auctioned to the highest bidder and her
gracious and graceful buildings have been turned
into death traps of illegal, glittering towers
of glass and steel.
Sheema Kirmani had written a play, Is Sher Ko
Yahen Se Dheko – See This City From This
Side. Perhaps our city fathers should ask the
citizens, over 50%, who live in the kutchi abbadis
of Karachi, as to how they see and feel about
their jewel in the crown, which they call home.
I am sure the answer would be alarming and perhaps
even shock them.
The citizens of this jewel have been treated with
scorn and contempt and have been denied the basic
civic amenities of life. A crown under which we
have hospitals that do not heal, schools that
do not teach, food and medicines that are adulterated
or substandard and yet expensive, law enforcing
agencies that harass and shake the citizens down
on a regular basis and a life, which is a daily
struggle just to survive.
The President, PM, Governor and Chief Minister
should see this jewel from its uncut and rough
side, as suggested by Sheema and take a ride in
one of Maulana Eidi’s ambulances or a mini
bus and experience the crowded, hot, dusty, bumpy,
sweaty and dangerous journey through noisy, congested,
smoke polluted streets and see how the ordinary
citizens live and go through every day.
And to crown
it all, we are also informed that the Karachi
Port Trust is adding another jewel to the crown
and taking us to new heights by building the Port
Tower Complex, which will be amongst the ten tallest
building in the world at a cost of 10 billion
rupees.
What more can a common man ask for? So what if
he does not have clean water in his taps, proper
education and health care, or is jobless and goes
hungry or is poisoned by substandard and adulterated
food and medicines, has sleepless nights due to
power failures, gets thrown into jail because
he refuses to pay a bribe, or is trampled under
the wheels of a speeding bus, or gets blown up
or shot dead because of his religious beliefs?
So what if there is no accountability or the enforcement
of the rule of law and our Constitution and the
National Assembly are irrelevant? We can still
hold up our head in pride and scream at the world:
WE ARE A NUCLEAR POWER AND HAVE ONE OF THE 10
TALLEST BUILDINGS IN THE WORLD!
They say, “Heavy is the head that wears
the crown”, especially if it has so many
jewels in them. I wonder if the 150 million multiplying
citizens of Pakistan share the glory and the splendor
of our jewels in the crown?
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