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city hyderabad The way we
were karachicharacter
city Karachiites braved rain and rough roads to get to the Arts Council where The Citizens Archive of Pakistan recently held their first event in the city, entitled The Shanaakht Festival. Kolachi explores the causes and effects of this effort. By Amina Baig When Pakistanis far
younger than their country attempt to put August 14 in perspective, most of Shanaakht, The Identity Project came around at just the right time. When the only road one can walk down when thinking of Pakistan is one pockmarked with incidents of violence, bad decision making, and more often than not, completely dug out, the Shanaakht festival served to remind Karachiites that there have been better times, and worse, and that there is always hope for a happier future. The festival was an effort
pulled off by The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP), and ran between the Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, one of the eight board members of CAP, stated that the festival was about "contemplating identity." That seems apt, today, as Pakistani youth seems to be stuck between so many conflicting philosophies that they possibly cannot decide which path is the right one to take. Couple that with the ignorance and disinterest most have towards anything Pakistani, and you have an absolute identity crisis at hand. Identifying our past Shanaakht was a brief walk
through time, and one that proved to be far more engaging than the "The idea is to archive things we are losing," says Amean Jan, another member of the CAP, "photos, video and audio clips; the story telling sessions with people who experienced Partition first hand are being recorded too, as these people will not be around much longer." The completion of the 60 years of Pakistan as a freed nation is an important event, and as Amean explains, questions of "who are we, and where do we come from?" are still being asked. The thought behind the festival was to bring everyone back together, according to Amean, and take a shot at contextualizing those questions, and perhaps answering them. The road to discovery The fact that such an
event took place in Karachi is nothing short of miraculous. Most good things
in The volunteers at the festivals were mostly students from various institutions, and young Karachiites. This, apart from the free entertainment and lesson in history and current affairs, was the other great service Shanaakht offered. Sarah Ansari, a volunteer at the festival terms the experience as an enriching one, and much more interesting than anything young people in Karachi occupy themselves with. "We helped wherever needed, we assisted artists putting up work, cleaning up, anything that we could do," she says. "What I liked best about the festival was that there was no discrimination," says Sarah, "the day Moeen Akhtar and Anwar Maqsood were going to go on with their Loose Talk, anyone who came and asked for a ticket got one, regardless of who they were." Huma, a visitor at the
festival felt as though the volunteers weren't informed enough about the Karachi's Shanaakht Hira, a product manager for a multinational company came out of the festival with more of a sense of Karachi's history. "We dint know what Karachi was like 25 years ago," she says, referring to the story telling session with Hameed Aliani and Ghulam Mustafa Z. Masti Khan, "and now I feel like I know my city a little better, after hearing these people speak of Karachi in the early days." Bilal Tanweer, a freelance writer thought the festival was one of the best things to happen to Karachi in recent times. He said that the content of the festival raised fundamental questions and highlighted the importance of history in shaping identity. "There is an identity
crisis among the youth of Pakistan," says Bilal, "which is why
they will latch on to Waqas Bin Ali, who was part of the street theatre troupe from Karachi University, felt that the festival failed to answer questions not because it was ill-equipped to, but simply because only certain segments of Karachi were aware of the event taking place. "I had thought more people would come, but many had not even heard about it, and even within my university, only the Visual Arts department knew about Shanakht," says Waqas. "The event was a good one, it gave a platform to so many people to show off their skills, but I wish it had been better publicized," he said. Another visitor at the festival proclaimed that while the exhibits filled in gaps in history we might have never paid attention to, it has done more of a job raising questions of which direction the future is taking. Getting the show on the road "Getting
funding for the festival was a long and hard road," says Sharmeen
Obaid-Chinoy, "and Apart from funding, which worked out well once word of the festival got out and organizations and individuals stepped forward to lend a hand, the biggest problem CAP faced while organizing the festival was finding a venue to host all the events under one roof. The Arts Council is the only place in Karachi where this festival could have taken place, with its auditoriums, gardens and gallery spaces, but according to Sharmeen, the place is "dilapidated," with a large number of people coming to the Arts Council after the 70s. CAP was hoping to hold a similar event across the border, but their finances did not allow them to. They would also like to host various events across Pakistan. Amean Jan says the purpose behind archiving all things Pakistan is to enable "future generations to explore history." The Shanaakht Festival might not have answered many questions, but just the fact that it has managed to raise so many in Karachi minds is one of the best impacts one could have hoped for. The fact that all classes within the city had the choice of going to one place where everyone could celebrate and reflect upon Pakistan's independence together is normally an unimaginable one, but obviously doable. This small step points to the possibility of huge leaps being taken to preserve Karachi's plentiful cultural assets, and nurturing a sense of oneness amongst all echelons of the city. hyderabad flight Learning to fly: Reviving air travel from Hyderabad The Hyderabad airport has finally been revived, giving hope of travel and commerce opportunities to citizens. Kolachi reviews the airport's journey from becoming non-functional to standing at the threshold of promise Provision of good
communication facilities like transportation is the basic responsibility of
the It may come as a surprise to people around the globe and of other Pakistani cities that the second largest city in Sindh, Hyderabad has a non-functional airport that had succumbed to the negligence of concerned quarters. The Hyderabad airport had been closed down about a decade ago because according to the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) the city did not give them enough business; Hyderabadi travel agents had denied this claim. The business sector of Hyderabad and citizens of many adjoining districts used this airport to travel to Karachi and other parts of the country including Lahore and Islamabad. However after the closure of the airport, many entrepreneurs chose to move to Karachi. Though the number of flights was low, and frequent flights were only available to and from Karachi, weekly flights to other cities were run too. In 2001, PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) withdrew all operational facilities from the Hyderabad airport. All flights were suspended hence making the airport non-functional for domestic flights despite the fact that officials travelling on private aircrafts still made use of it. Everyone from the Prime
Minister to Chief Minister and Governor of Sindh promised that the airport After the closure of airport for domestic flights, the airport remained under control of the CAA for training and landing facilities for rescue and high government officials' planes. The airport was inaugurated informally on June 28, 2007 after a seven year gap and the District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jameel was the first to disclose this news to people of Hyderabad especially the business circles. The Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) played a pivotal role in the revival of the airport as it continued efforts through communicating with concerned quarters and government officials for resumption of flights from Hyderabad. Former Vice President of HCCI Nadeem Siddiqui told Kolachi that the lack of an air-travel facility in Hyderabad created hurdles for people in the business sector travelling up country. He says that though no date for resumption of flights from Hyderabad airport has been announced, it is important that air travel service be resumed soon as it would boost business and HCCI concerns and will ease travel from Hyderabad instead of forcing people to move to Karachi. Since Hyderabad doesn't only cater to locals, and is a commuting centre to a large number of interior Sindh people and the hub of multinational businesses that run their affairs from Hyderabad, business for airlines would not be a problem. "I
started communicating with relevant authorities
soon after assuming office for the revival of the Kanwar Naveed said that the airport has been made operational and staff has also been hired. The second phase comprising of determining flight schedules will be announced within a couple of months. "PIA, as well as the private airline, Air Blue has small planes that can easily land at the Hyderabad runway and there will have no problem getting business as I have checked bookings at travel agencies in the city and its adjoining areas," promises the District Nazim. The district government has already had the airport repainted but the VIP lounge is in bad shape and needs immediate improvement. The district government of Hyderabad has also promised the CAA authorities 50 million gallons of water per day. The Hyderabad airport is famous for the 1998 hijacking of a plane enroute from Karachi to Gwadar. However the pilot successfully trapped the hijackers and landed the plane at the Hyderabad airport. The administration had the hijackers arrested, there were no casualties and incident was covered worldwide. According to a local travel agent, a large number of his customers travelling to other parts of the country are from Hyderabad or interior Sindh, therefore airlines resuming flights from Hyderabad will not suffer any loss. He says that even a decade ago when flights functioned to and from Hyderabad, there was always a rush of people who prefer this modern and fast mode of travel. What is badly required is the improvement of facilities at the defunct Hyderabad airport and a massive face-lift by increasing the capacity of the passenger lounges in keeping with international requirements and standards. Immediate construction of the road leading to the airport is also required. The resumption of domestic flights to and from Hyderabad would allow the city to reconnect with the bigger picture and will also pave way for business and sporting activities in the district and other parts of the province of Sindh to flourish. The way we wereOf Jinnah, Liaquat and those who came after them By Kaleem Omar One thinks often, in these trying times, of Mr Jinnah, of his belief in constitutionalism, of his commitment to the rule of law, his unyielding integrity, and his iron resolve in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. No leader is more deserving of the title "Quaid-e-Azam." He is the only leader in history to have created a new country. This was a truly staggering achievement given the degree of opposition to the idea of Pakistan in the 1930s and 40s from many powerful quarters, including the British, on the one hand, and the Hindu-dominated Congress Party on the other, with outfits like Punjab's Unionist Party and the rabidly anti-Muslim RSS thrown in for good measure. In his famous August 11, 1947 address to the new Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, the Quaid spelt out his vision of what he wanted Pakistan to be. "If we want to make this great state of Pakistan happy and prosperous, we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor," he said. Mr Jinnah was a colossus. It is one of this country's greatest tragedies that he did not live long enough to set the new state of Pakistan firmly on a course of democratic politics, constitutional governance, and policies committed to serving Pakistan's security and economic interests. To add to Pakistan's misfortunes, the Quaid's trusted lieutenant, Liaquat Ali Khan, this country's greatest prime minister, and, like his leader, a man of unimpeachable integrity, died only four years after independence, struck down by an assassin's bullet on October 16, 1951. A nawabzada by birth and the scion of a wealthy family, Liaquat and his wife, Begum Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan, a great personality in her own right, owned neither a house nor any other property or assets in Pakistan or abroad. Begum Liaquat's house in New Delhi, Gul-e-Ra'ana, built on 12,000 square yards of land in a prime location, she had gifted free-of-cost to the Pakistan government at the time of partition to serve as the residence of our high commissioner to India. Today, that property - which is still called Gul-e-Ra'ana and is still the residence of our high commissioner - is worth well over a billion rupees, going by the fact that, a few years ago, a similar price was offered for an adjacent property of approximately the same size. Liaquat was prime minister of this country for more than four years; yet when he died he had only 700 rupees in his bank account. Asked once by Begum Liaquat to at least get a house in Karachi allotted in his own name otherwise she and their two children, Ashraf, then aged 14, and Akbar, then aged 10, wouldn't even have a roof of their own over their heads if something happened to him, Liaquat replied: "I will only get a house allotted in my name after every homeless Pakistani has a roof of his own over his head." There is no other example in Pakistan's history of a prime minister with such selfless devotion to Pakistan. Liaquat lived and died for this country. Even his dying words were for Pakistan. "God protect Pakistan," he said in the seconds before he died. The Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission inquiry report into the events of 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh was finally published in 2001, but the Munir Commission inquiry report into Liaquat's assassination remains classified to this day. The leaders that came after the Quaid and Liaquat belonged to an altogether lesser breed, concerned more with power and pelf than the welfare and happiness of the people. Which Pakistani leader talks of happiness now? They may talk of macro economic indicators and GDP growth rates, but the happiness of the people never finds mention in their discourse. Liaquat's government presented two successive surplus budgets - the only time this has happened in Pakistan's history. Surplus budgets were such an unusual thing even in the industrialized West in that era of low tax revenues and high government spending, that back in May 1950 an American newspaper columnist once wrote: "Maybe we should invite Liaquat Ali Khan to become America's finance minister. We, too, might have surplus budgets then." During his term as prime minister, Pakistan's jute and cotton exports boomed and the country had a favourable balance of trade with the sterling area countries. In April 1950 Liaquat signed a pact with Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, known as the Liaquat-Nehru pact, which helped to significantly reduce tension between the two countries in the wake of the 1947-1948 conflict over Kashmir. Liaquat was a kind, courteous and mild-mannered man. Yet he was no pushover when it came to defending Pakistan's interests. In mid-1951, when tensions with India rose again and the two countries came to the brink of war, Liaquat stood firm, telling New Delhi in no uncertain terms that Pakistan would not be bullied. His defiance in the face of Indian threats was captured for posterity in a now famous photograph showing Liaquat with a raised clenched fist, addressing people who had gathered outside Prime Minister House in Karachi to hear him. In 1997 that very same structure, now the State Guest House, was about to be put up for sale by the Nawaz Sharif government. Luckily, better sense prevailed - otherwise, for all one knows, the Nawaz government, fired by a desire to privatise everything in sight, might even have gone on to sell off the Lahore Fort or even the land around the Quaid's Mazar. The Sharifs of this world, and others of their ilk, may think history doesn't matter. In fact, it matters a great deal. History hasn't "ended," as even the author of that controversial thesis, former US State Department official Francis Fukuyama, now admits. But the poet T.S. Eliot was right when he said: "History has many cunning corridors. / It deceives with whispering ambitions." In Pakistan's case, this history of "cunning corridors" and "whispering ambitions" has seen a score of governments come and go in the last sixty years, some of them better than others, some elected, some dictatorial, others merely incompetent or corrupt. Behind all these governments, however, has always lurked the hand of the Pakistani establishment, a conglomerate of shadowy operatives, vested feudal and business interests, venal middlemen and bureaucratic camp followers eager to do the establishment's bidding. The July 5, 1977 military coup against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's government came only a day after the then secretary defence, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, that arch bureaucrat of bureaucrats, tipped off army chief General Zia-ul-Haq that Bhutto had decided to sack him. Ishaq had cottoned on to this fact a few days earlier when Bhutto had asked him for a seniority list of army generals. Zia rewarded Ishaq for his loyalty by promoting him to secretary-general defence and later made him finance minister. As the all-powerful finance minister, Ishaq became de facto vice-president of the country. When the Senate and National Assembly were restored following the non-party general election of March 1985, Zia made sure Ishaq was installed as chairman of the Upper House. It was in his capacity as Senate chairman that Ishaq was summoned to GHQ by General Aslam Beg on the evening of August 18, 1988, after Zia's death in a plane crash, and told that he was to be acting president. Ishaq returned the favour when he confirmed Beg's appointment as the new army chief. A few months later, Ishaq was elected president - a truly remarkable rise to power for a man who had begun his civil service career as a lowly provincial revenue official in NWFP. After Ishaq dismissed Benazir Bhutto's government on August 5, 1990 and appointed Ghulam Mustapha Jatoi caretaker prime minister, General Beg was asked by a journalist at the August 14 Independence Day reception hosted by Jatoi at Prime Minister House in Rawalpindi whether dismissing an elected government so soon after Zia's May 1988 dismissal of the Junejo government had been such a good idea. Beg, who had supported Ishaq's action, replied: "As far as I'm concerned, elections should be held every six months. It would clean up the system." karachicharacter Diamond in the rough Muhammad Amjad, a man in
his early '40s is a true multi-tasker. He designs exotic bridal jewellery to Kolachi: Tell us a bit about yourself? How did you get in to this business? Amjad: I am a born Karachiite. I have done graduation and I acquired a diploma in Power Technology as well. I got a distinction of 93.44 per cent in my diploma exams for which I was promised a gold medal from the Sindh Board of Technical Education but the promise was never met. However, my success made me expect a well-paying job. To my dismay, my first job was of a generator operator instead. As I always aimed high, I joined the Merchant navy after some time. That was a whole different life where I had lots of fun and faced difficulties all at the same time. I traveled to several countries and discovered various cultures of the world. It was all very exciting, but when I got married, I couldn't give enough time to my family due to my work schedule. Therefore I quit my job and switched to the business of painting. Koalchi: Why did you opt for painting and what feed back have you received from the public? Amjad: I was always
interested in art and had learnt a great deal of painting from a French
artist Kolachi: What material do you prefer for painting? Amjad: I prefer silk, because though every colour has its own property, but sometimes fascinating results are produced when applied to silk. When different colours merge, and produce unique textures, it is hard to believe that it is a hand painted job and not machine work. Kolachi: Why did you switch to the jewellery business when you were doing so well with fabric painting? Amjad: Actually, with the passage of time people's interest in painted clothes started dwindling and when I started finding it hard to survive in this business I added jewellery items at my shop too which grew in to a big business. However, I haven't stopped painting and I still paint dresses for my old customers. Kolachi: Is the jewellery business profitable? Amjad: Extremely! It is not only profitable, but unlike painting, promises longevity too as it's a very vast field. I experiment with art in jewellery too. I often design sets myself and at times buy from other designers. I innovate and provide my own touch by changing beads, applying colours and changing them according to the customer's demand. Kolachi: Do you have fixed prices at your shop or are you open to bargaining? Amjad: I wanted to earn a healthy profit; therefore initially I had fixed prices at my shop. But soon I realized that when I would tell a customer I have fixed prices he wouldn't return to my shop. Which is why I now bargain with my customers, but initially quote a higher price, as people tend to bargain a lot. Kolachi: Are people's preferences for jewellery influenced by the media? Amjad: Yes, and sometimes too much. Some people are so influenced that they show me magazines or refer to Indian movies and dramas to design the jewelry worn by the model or actress in them. Once a customer asked me to design a set that was worn by Aishwarya Rai in Devdas. Kolachi: Have you ever though of switching to another profession? Amjad: Yes I have, several times, because this business has left me with no time for my self. I get to work by 3 pm and remain at the shop till 10 in the night. It is so time consuming that I can only spend time with my children on weekends. That tempts me to switch professions, but settling down in some other business and earning the same as I am earning now will be difficult, which is why I stick to this profession. Kolachi: What is your favorite place to hang out? Amjad: I only go where my children want to, which is definitely a place with rides. But before I had children, I always went to a park in Clifton towards the sea. The park is called Silent Park because it is always so quiet and peaceful with very decent people coming in. As I work in a very noisy place, I loved spending time there with my wife, listening to the sound of the waves breaking on the shore. Kolachi: How would you compare Karachi against other big cities in the world? Amjad: During the navy years I got to see almost the entire world including countries in the Far East, Middle East, Africa and Europe and had several opportunities to settle abroad, but I think it is better to live as a first class citizen of a third world country than a third class citizen of a first world country. Comparing Karachi to the developed world, one can point out so many problems, but despite all weaknesses I see it as better than the rest of the world as people value family against money here. It is a city that is home to multi-ethnic people. There might be bad eggs amongst them as well, but fortunately I have always met good people here. Kolachi: If you find Aladdin's magical lamp one day, what three wishes will you make for Karachi? Amjad: I will wish for only one thing, literacy for the people of Karachi. If that wish comes true then I don't need to wish for anything else because this is the one thing that can solve all problems. Other than literacy I want an end to ethnic violence in the city and I want people to be more tolerant towards each other, which obviously comes through literacy. Amjad says that despite his customers' demand for jewellery worn by Indian actresses he always buys things that he likes, wholesale. "I don't watch Star Plus, and I never care if the items I buy have an Indian touch or not. I buy the stuff I can give an artistic touch to as it gives me satisfaction!" Amjad is satisfied with his present line of work, as it is creative, interesting and makes him enough money. Giving people creative freedom and satisfaction through innovation at work, such is Karachi's character. – Photos by Naqeeb ur Rehman
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them draw a blank. They cannot relate to the emotion Quaid-e-Azam's
impassioned speeches evoked in freedom fighters, they cannot understand
their how parents, grandparents and other relatives yearned for a country
that they could truly call their own. Some young Pakistanis cannot even
relate to life before the Internet or cable television.
11th and 14th of August. Unlike many festivals and exhibitions, the CAP made
sure that this would not be an elitist event and tried to ensure audiences
from all walks of life by providing bus services from the NIPA Chowrangi,
Society Office and Korangi Chowk on Sunday, August 12, and on Independence
Day. Entrance to all events was completely free of cost.
history lessons taught at school. Hamari Tareekh, by S.Iqbal was a six-panel
mural, each panel addressing one decade of Pakistan's past. Faces that
shaped each decade peered off each panel along with symbols of events that
coloured that decade. It was viewing Pakistan's history at a single glance,
and also illustrated the CAP's objective of archiving Pakistan's history
very obviously.
Karachi are not free, and the opportunity to view such a diverse exhibition
of media, without paying a single penny triggered off hopes of more events
that might bring the city together in celebration or simply good, clean,
fun.
essence of the exhibitions, but the best thing about young people in Karachi
getting involved with such projects has to be that now that history and
facts have been presented to them in such a dynamic manner, they will
perhaps forget the history classes and 9 o' clock news they have tended to
sleep through, and want to learn more.
anything pop, ours is a generation that goes on without a sense of history,
and for those who are not aware of it, the murals and some of the
photographs told the stories that needed telling." He however, also
felt that the art being displayed at the festival was far too obscure to
reach out to the masses.
logistically it was a nightmare as well, as there is no concept of festivals
in Pakistan."
government and its concerned departments. But instances such as the closure
of the Hyderabad airport for several years only deprive the citizens of a
facility no more a unique one in today's rapidly advancing world.
would soon be restored and airlines would be contacted shortly to resume
flights from the Hyderabad airport but these promises were empty ones.
Hyderabad airport and finally achieved success," said District Nazim
Kanwar Naveed Jameel.
be sold at his shop in Hyderi market, he hand paints clothes, dabbles in
glass painting and sometime back dealt in the automobile business as well.
Despite holding a diploma in Power Technology, Amjad opts for art and
painting as it gives him satisfaction. However the artist hasn't let the
engineer in him die and nowadays is working on a project to generate solar
energy, along with earning money from his painting "If I am successful
in making electricity a free resource, our electricity problems will be
solved," he hopes.
whom I had befriended during my navy years. When I returned home, I thought
of exploring this form of art and set up my shop in Hyderi market. I sold
all art material including paints and brushes and would do fabric painting
on order. I was surprised with the way people placed orders for their
clothes. Hand painted fabric was very much in demand in those days and I was
constantly bogged down with orders. Sometimes I would be so exhausted with
the amount of work I got, I had to ask people to wait for a couple of months
before they got their outfits, and they would!