| 03 May 2004 | Monday | 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
Hoti's resignation upsets PPP supporters
Freedom fighter or a terrorist?
Horticulture you said?
Jalib remembered
In a roundabout way
Blame it on the mismanagement, bad policies, misfortune or whatever. The one thing which this country has more than its fair share of is controversies. The public, more than anybody else, have had to bear the brunt of the crises arising from these controversies.
The latest controversy to hit the country is over wheat supply arising from Punjab's decision to ban the movement of wheat out of the province. Shortages of wheat and rising prices have already begun to hit Sindh, while the NWFP and Balochistan have threatened to cut off electricity and gas supply respectively to the Punjab if the latter does not lift the ban.
This is the country's second major wheat crisis in less than three months, the last wheat crisis having peaked in February when many cities, including Islamabad and Rawalpindi, faced soaring Atta prices and a shortage of the staple in the shops.
The crisis was compounded by a debate over whether it was due to a real shortage in the national wheat supply or whether it was just an artificial shortage created by profiteers and smugglers with the connivance of some officials concerned.
An attempt to import wheat from Australia to tide over the shortage then, also became controversial when the consignment was rejected on arrival at Karachi port in February, allegedly because it was contaminated by a deadly virus.
The government now faces the possibility of a legal suit for rejecting the consignment of Australian wheat, which was later accepted by the UAE, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
In education, the most recent controversy pertains to the federal government's efforts to revise the curriculum and purge it of extremist views. The shortage of textbooks, which hit the Punjab and the twin cities last year, and now Sindh this year, is another controversy which the education authorities have had to grapple with.
In the field of higher education, controversy over the Model University Act 2002, which provides for unprecedented changes in the way that public universities are being run, managed and staffed, has prevented its enforcement in many a university.
In the transport sector, an unresolved longstanding controversy over the Punjab government's conclusion of a franchise agreement with a Rawalpindi-based bus company disrupted the public transport service in the twin cities recently, causing considerable inconvenience to commuters.
The controversy turned violent when two buses were torched, and several people, including an MNA of a major opposition party and the wagon drivers union leaders, were arrested for the act.
Even the bus torching incidents became controversial when the wagon drivers and the MNA accused the bus company of setting its own buses alight in order to blame and malign the wagon drivers and the opposition party.
The most heated controversies have raged in national politics over the LFO, the National Security Council and President General Musharraf's uniform. But one would have thought that the subject of sports would be free from controversy at least. Not so it seems, judging by what is happening in national cricket.
By the end of the recent historic Pak-India cricket series, rumblings in the cricket scenario had blown into outright demands by a newly established Former Test Cricketers Association for the resignation of the Pakistan Cricket Board's chairman, Shaharyar M. Khan (who had assumed charge only last December), and the chief executive, Ramiz Raja.
The FTCA also demanded the reappointment of either the previous chairman, Major-General Tauqir Zia, or the former cricketer and current MNA, Imran Khan, to replace Shaharyar M. Khan.
And now, national cricket is gripped with the controversy surrounding the injuries of several players during the Test series with India and the medical examinations of the players conducted by the PCB. The latter has been accused by some of witch hunting after Pakistan lost the series to India.
Most of the controversies have their origins in conflicting vested interests (commercial and corporate), as well as in power and political struggles. This is apparent in the recent cricket, wheat, education and transport controversies.
Controversies also emanate from major policy changes, particularly when their implementation is mishandled and mismanaged. The recent controversies in the education sector has plenty to do with the 2001 decisions to modernize the curriculum and to deregulate the textbook and publishing sector, previously monopolized by the textbook boards.
The continual controversy in the wheat sector has its origins in the earlier decision to dismantle the wheat procurement regime and liberalize it. The interesting thing is that in almost all of these controversies, the president of Pakistan is urged by one party or the other to step in personally and resolve the issue.
The president had convened a meeting in Islamabad of all concerned to discuss the curriculum issue. He was also called upon to intervene in the transport crisis in the twin cities, as well as in the cricket leadership issue.
The president even received a call from the Prime Minister of Australia who had telephoned to seek his personal intervention in the wheat import controversy! Not surprisingly, the president has also been urged to initiate an inquiry into the latest wheat crisis arising from the ban of wheat movement out of Punjab.
Conflicting interests exist everywhere else in the world, but these are usually managed within a certain framework which allows the normal functioning of the system concerned. Here unfortunately, clash between vested interests, whether personal, group, party or provincial, are not checked in time.
Instead of it being firmly resolved in accordance with the rules, merit and chain of command, interests clash is usually politicized and allowed to deteriorate to the extent that the interests of the people are jeopardized and the development of the nation is put at stake.
Hoti's resignation upsets PPP supporters
Khwaja Mohammad Khan Hoti, one of the longest office-holders in the Pakistan People's Party NWFP, has formally resigned from his post as the provincial president. PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto accepted his resignation on Thursday. Party supporters feel his resignation is a big political loss to the PPP.
Mr Hoti says he will not resign from the basic membership of the party and continue to work for the party as an ordinary member. However, he belongs to a political family and it will be difficult for him to stay away from active politics.
He will have to choose a future course of action as his predecessor, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, had to accept the challenge in the shape of a PPP splinter group. Or he may join the parallel PPP, a merger of the splinter groups, which is in the offing.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Q, which is in search of a suitable candidate to head its provincial branch, may also strike a bargain with him. The PML-N also needs him. Mr Sherpao will certainly welcome him in the folds of his tiny group. Some of the parties contacted him and offered him to join their ranks.
The anti-Hoti group, which had approached Ms Bhutto via Naheed Khan and others blamed Mr Hoti for injecting disinterest in the organization, says that his departure would not make any impact.
"The departure of many giants from the PPP in the past has, instead, strengthened the party. Where Kausar Niazi, Mustafa Khar, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Mumtaz Bhutto and Aftab Sherpao have gone.
We know who makes their transfer and posting in the political parties and on whose behest they quit the parties. They all have landed in the lap of the establishment," pro-Bhutto workers and regional-level PPP leaders observed.
There is no doubt, many a PPP stalwarts have left the Bhutto family in the past. This situation had forced Ms Bhutto not to trust everybody around her, but she could not show doors to her party's provincial chief merely on doubts she had developed in her mind on the basis of an unconfirmed report on organizational matters. From now onwards, the departure of even a single leader would jolt the party and make an irreparable dent in the organization.
Ms Butto had refused to take any disciplinary action against those MPAs who had changed sides during the Senate elections and ditched Sardar Ali Khan, party's nominee for the general seat.
Only one MPA, Zahir Ali Shah, who had reportedly shown his willingness to replace Mr Hoti, had voted for Sardar Khan. During his meeting with Ms Bhutto, Mr Hoti had demanded stern action against the renegade MPAs, but Ms Bhutto didn't pay any heed to Mr Hoti's demand.
Mr Hoti had twice resigned previously. but every time he had to take it back on the request of Asif Ali Zardari. This time Mr Hoti had made up his mind not to withdraw his resignation. Though, Ms Bhutto has asked him to take a berth on PPP's central executive committee, but he has refused the offer.
Mr Hoti, who was to address a press conference about his differences with Ms Bhutto, had to cancel it after his long meeting with an emissary sent by Mr Zardari. "Mr Hoti is provincial party chief, but he can't bring any changes to the tehsil or district level organizations.
The PPP also needs division of work and democracy", said Farooq Hoti, son of Khwaja Hoti. Mr Hoti is being forced by his close friends to accept the vice-chairman's post in the centre and stop bringing difference into the public.
Freedom fighter or a terrorist?
There is nothing like the launching of a political memoir on a controversial personality to stir up a bit of local history and ignite the flames of nationalism. M.S. Korejo did it four years ago in his painstaking analysis of the late G.M. Syed, one of Sindh's greatest sons.
And the recent introduction of Khadim Hussain Soomro's treatise on the life and times of Syed Sibghatullah Shah, better known as the sixth Pir of Pagaro, who was eleven years old when news was received about the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre in Amritsar, evoked memories of an exceptionally difficult time for the people of Sindh.
The first time I heard somebody mention the Pir of Pagaro, was in the early 'fifties. My father, who had been dental surgeon to the Quaid-e-Azam, one day had a most unusual visitor. It was an Englishman by the name of Freddy Young, inspector general of police at the time of the insurgency.
After paying tribute to the courage and bravery of the tribesmen, he described how he was forced to enlist the help of the Royal Air Force to bomb the villages and forests to flush out the spiritual leader of the Hurs.
I was appalled by what I heard, which shattered a number of illusions I had about the British. But I soon forgot about it, for students who had attended boarding school in India had been conditioned to accept the verdict of history as handed down by the Raj.
Until the introduction of fresh textbooks in Karachi, the first war of independence was still the Indian Mutiny, and Nawab Sirajudaula of Bengal was still the arch villain who had to be replaced by the benign, hugely popular, people-friendly Mir Jaffer.
Articles in which the pir was mentioned popped up every now and then, but in the majority of cases the references were skimpy and appeared to have been made in passing. There is a fine book by Dr Sarah Ansari which examines the system of political control constructed by the British in Sindh between 1843 and 1947, in which the author explores the role of the Muslim elite in the life of the province.
She examines with considerable skill and finesse the development of the institution and power base of the pir and the hereditary Sufi saints, and the mechanics of the system of control into which the pir was drawn.
The overall success of the political system depended on the willingness of the elite to participate, and according to the author, it did indeed work in Sindh. This enabled the British to govern while allowing the pirs to adapt to colonial rule, and later independence, without serious damage to their interests. And that it was only in the heightened nationalist atmosphere of the 1940s that the system broke down with disastrous effects.
In the 1940s, when the administration in Sindh started to tighten its grip over the nationalist politicians who supported both the Congress and the Muslim League, the Pir of Pagaro was variously described by the British as a terrorist, a bandit, a murderer and a rogue.
To his followers, he was a fierce disciplinarian and a freedom fighter who was determined to deliver his people from the clutches of an alien power. And to a number of people in Sindh, he was seen as a man who believed in education and enlightenment, friendship between Hindus and Muslims, and an enemy of politicians who were spreading communalism.
It was to understand and appreciate some of the reasons why a perfectly reasonable and workable system came to a sudden halt, that Khadim Hussain produced his little book on the life and times of this controversial spiritual leader.
To my mind, this is the first concerted attempt by a Pakistani writer to isolate and focus on the militant thread within the fabric of Sindhi feudal society, which mitigated against the might of British military power.
It is the first book which tries to give an insider's view of the events that led to the execution. It is also the first book which tries to tell it like it actually happened and to set the record straight .
Freedom at the Gallows, though it contains only 150 pages, and follows a chronological, rather than a narrative approach, nevertheless covers a fairly wide spectrum. The reader is given glimpses of members of the family who formed the dynasty.
And a number of prominent Sindhis, G.M. Syed, Allah Bux Soomro, Syed Miran Mohammed Shah, Sher Mohammed Khan Bijarani. Shahnawaz Bhutto, Haji Mir Mohammed Baloch who, in spite of differences they might have had with the pir and one another, nevertheless rallied to his support and defence, when it came to the freedom of their beloved homeland.
One of these politicians who greatly impressed G.M. Syed, was Allah Bux Soomro, who in 1940 conveyed his misgivings about the new state of Pakistan... "At present the Hindu trader's and money lender's plunder is worrying you, but later you will have to face the Punjabi bureaucracy and soldiery and the mind of the UP...You live in a dream world about the 1940 Resolution...In practical terms there is little room for resolutions...Pakistan will pose a threat to Sindh's independence, Indian unity and the peace and progress of other Asian nations."
Soomro's assassination in 1942 remained a mystery, though H.T. Lambrick in his hugely successful book The Terrorist published in 1995, claimed that a revelation had been made by Sain Rakhio Hur that Allah Bux was murdered by the Hurs to avenge the former's anti-Hur policies.
The book etches the emergence of the Hurs as a militant and freedom loving people, the first insurrection, the circumstances which contributed to the pir's formative years, the seven-year incarceration, the second confinement and the ugly reprisals against the Hurs by the British. The book is also peppered with details of correspondence between the pir and his advocates and members of the Crown.
There are also a few delightful asides like the time the pir on pilgrimage, made friends with Rashid Ali of Iraq, who was an ally of Adolf Hitler. And the time he imported Bengali fighters to train his Hurs in the art of guerilla warfare. And towards the end of the book, in a memorable chapter, are details of the trial which will remain as one of the greatest farces in the history of British jurisprudence.
The trial, which followed shortly after a police officer by the name of Ghulam Akbar arrested the pir in 1929 under the Illegal Arms Act, is significant for the fact that the spiritual head of the Hurs was represented by none other than Mr Mohammed Ali Jinnah, whose services had been obtained through the cooperation of Mohammed Ayub Khuhro.
The defence counsel was assisted by a local lawyer Motiram Advani. But both gentlemen were prevented from consulting their client after the city magistrate of Sukkur cited restricted privileges for an accused under British law.
But in spite of the valiant efforts of Mr Jinnah and Mr Advani, the Pir of Pagaro received a 10-year sentence from the city magistrate. An appeal was filed and the sentence was reduced by three years.
The British were intent on setting a horrible example. And this is just what they did. Years later in 1942, in Hyderabad, the pir was once again in the dock, and was being tried by a judge who also doubled as martial law administrator.
This time Mr Jinnah declined to represent the pir, in spite of the efforts of Mohammed Ayub Khuhro. Perhaps the Muslim League leader had a pretty shrewd idea of how badly the cards were stacked against the Hurs, and didn't want to spoil his enviable record of successes at the bar.
In reading through the various vignettes of the lives and times of the sixth Pir of Pagaro, and the many conversations he had had with local politicians and members of the Raj, the picture that emerges is of a supreme nationalist who believed in putting principle above all else, who shunned communalism and who believed in the importance of education. And above all else, he comes across as a man who believed it was his bounden duty to fight against the tyranny of a foreign power.
Horticulture you said?
One would have thought that the main function of the Parks and Horticulture Authority was to give the city of Lahore public parks and to grow flowers wherever possible. That is not so.
It has invited applications from reputable firms for formulating policy about publicity boards in the city. The firms should be concerned with urban planning and development and should be eligible for setting up "point of view for matter under consideration and public safety, arrangements of traffic and analyzing with aesthetic angle".
Now, why should the PHA be concerned with publicity boards which in any case can be called hoardings? I think it would be advisable for the PHA to let the people know what are its officially defined functions and duties.
In another surprising development, the PHA proposes to construct a cricket pavilion in the Race Course Park. I have not been to the place lately but a friend tells me that it has a cricket ground.
I do not know why there should be a cricket field in a public park. Nor do I know if it should have a pucca pavilion. The only thing that I am certain of is that a public park should have no concrete structures to clutter a place meant for giving the city open spaces where the people can breathe more freely than they can elsewhere in a hugely polluted city.
So, my first objection is that a public park should have no provision for a cricket field. My second objection is that if we are stupid enough to play cricket in a public park, we should have the decency of doings without a pavilion.
After all, we do not want the Race Course Park to host national or international competitions. Or do we? Let us be civilized for once and play cricket where it should be played. Cricket at the Race Course Park will simply not be cricket.
* * * * * *
There are reports that we may soon have a new Punjab assembly to replace the present one which was constructed in the thirties for an undivided province. Has the old assembly grown too small for our law-makers? And if we have a new assembly adjacent to the old one, shall we demolish the latter or put it to commercial use? Houses of parliament are built across the world to last hundreds of years and not for a generation or so.
If we need a new assembly today, we shall be wanting another one in, say, 2084. In a hundred years or so, therefore, we shall be obliged to move the assembly out of Lahore. What the heck are our city planners thinking.
Or are they capable of coherent, cultured ideas? If we have to have a new assembly, let us sell the old one to Mian Amir Mahmood, the District Nazim, so that he can establish one of his numerous educational shops there.
* * * * * *
The following piece by Shobhaa De appeared in The Indian Express on April 29:
I speak on behalf of thousands of citizens like myself who became victims of a corrupt and confused system on April 26 - a dark day in the history of our city. V-O-T-E is perhaps the single most powerful four-letter word in a democracy.
But on Monday, that word was neutered. At the risk of sounding over-dramatic, I can tell you I feel raped by the system. Raped, abused and powerless. I can yell, scream, cry, write letters, mobilise public opinion, but at the end of the day, the fact remains I could not vote.
So someone's won. Someone's laughing. Someone's saying "Let these people shout, what difference will it make? Nothing can change those numbers now." I do not for a minute believe it was a technical error.
If I'm sounding paranoid, I have the right to. These elections will go down as, perhaps, the most manipulated in our history - we may never know the faces of those who masterminded the entire operation.
Being an optimist, I arrived at the polling station I've been voting at for over 20 years. I'd been forewarned my name did not feature on the current list, so I went from the Government Law College to the Collector's office well in advance to ensure all our names (there are seven registered voters in our home) were duly restored.
When I got to G D Somani School around 11:30 am on voting day, I found several irate Cuffe Parade residents demanding explanations about the omissions. One solitary zonal officer pleaded helplessness, while those manning the desks refused to answer any questions.
Fortunately, I met ace cop Ahmed Javed, who sent two havaldars to the Collector's office. Within half-an-hour he'd called back to say, "The news isn't good - your names do not appear anywhere".
He suggested I go to the Collector's office myself. When I got there at 1.30 pm, our names were not to be found. "Madam, you do not exist," I'd been told.
The Collector DR (Pradeep) Vyas, was polite but unyielding. He made out like it was all my fault, insisting his officers had done everything to make sure every registered voter had received valid forms. Finally, he offered to hand over the all-important Form VI, so I could re-register for the next elections!!
By that time, I'd lost it. I was feeling humiliated, defeated, and worse, cheated. What sort of democracy is this, I asked myself, as once again I went back to G D Somani School, perhaps hoping for a miracle?
A day later, the rage has been replaced by a mission. It is not just about me and my own family. A system that roughly snatches away the most powerful tool a citizen possesses in a working democracy is sending out a strong and sinister signal.
Take away a citizen's vote and you violate that individual. You strip that person naked. You strike at the core of freedom itself. I shall stay invested in my beloved India forever. It is my country. I am proud of it. But I shall also demand a price in return - I want my vote back.
Jalib remembered
Karachi: Famous poet Habib Jalib was remembered at his 11th memorial meeting on Saturday. Presided over by Pakistan Peoples Party leader Chaudhary Aitzaz Ahsan, the meeting was hosted jointly by the Progressive Writers Association, Jalib Yaadgari Committee and Karachi Press Club.
Aitzaz Ahsan, recalling Jalib's early years, said he was born in a lush green East Punjab village shrouded in a romantic environment. But after the partition, when Jalib came over to Pakistan, it was an entirely different world for him.
The first phase of his poetry reflected the former romantic atmosphere and the latter phase was devoted to his shattered dreams. Mr Ahsan admired Jalib for his courageous stand on democracy and basic rights of the people. He stood by his beliefs till the last, he said.
Among others who spoke on Habib Jalib included former Sindh governor Mr Mamnoon Husain, Mr N. D. Khan, President of Karachi Bar Association Mr Abdul Hafeez Lakho, Father Joseph Paul, labour leader Shaikh Majeed, Lala Lal Bux Rind and Abdul Hameed Chapra.
The speakers, while paying glowing tributes to Jalib for his heroic struggle for the cause of democracy and rule of law, condemned those 'opportunists' who in the garb of politics were strengthening the dictatorship in the country.
Secretary Progressive Writers Muslim Shamim spoke on the literary merits of Jalib's poetry and said that he embodied the spirit of time and the voice of common people.
Father Paul said that love for humanity was first principal of Jesus Christ, adding that Jalib also loved all people without any discrimination. As Jalib had a long association with Karachi, his son Nasir Jalib demanded the city government to build a complex in memory of the great poet.
Baba Najmi and Riaz Tasneem paid their tributes in verses. Saeed Pervez did the compering.
In a roundabout way
These days as one drives from the Clifton bridge to Jahangir Kothari Parade one is struck by the three swords monument on the roundabout covered with huge jute curtains. The workers are busy giving the marble a coat of polish and, more importantly, erasing the graffiti painted by some irresponsible citizens. This is the first roundabout and the second commonly called Do Talwar is getting a similar treatment.
The first roundabout in Karachi was the one on what continues to be called Purani Numaish on M.A. Jinnah Road, because it was at the nearby KGA (Karachi Goan Association) ground that the first Pakistan International Fair was held shortly after partition.
The Numaish roundabout occupied a lot of space, but as traffic increased it was pruned, if one may use the word. Old Karachians claim that the roundabout at Purani Numaish was the only one that existed in Karachi at independence.
In the early 1950s when Nazimabad was developed, two roundabouts emerged, one was called Pehli Chowrangi and the other was named Doosri Chowrangi. For many years Doosri Chowrangi was called Petrol Pump because a service station, the first in the locality, was located there.
Both roundabouts were removed with the passage of time. On the site of the second chowrangi a flyover, the first in Karachi, was built.
The Schon Circle is gone and so has the company which sponsored it, but the name remains. Some monuments look monstrous. A case in point was the ugly submarine on what is still referred to as Submarine Chowk where the Gizri Road meets Khayaban-i-Jami. Mercifully enough, it has disappeared. But now what needs to be removed is the aircraft that is placed on the roundabout near Jahangir Kothari Parade in Clifton. It should have been outside an aircraft museum or in a children's park.
Why does the aircraft carry the name of an airline? Is it because the airline pays for the maintenance of the grass and flowerbeds?
The ultimate word on roundabouts must lie with columnist Khalid Hasan who had once asked how we could decide on the shape of our constitution when we couldn't even agree on the size of our roundabouts.
Closing off roads
City residents are irritated by the manner in which important roads have been closed by the administration because of the presence of diplomatic missions. Mohammad Ali Bogra Road, on which a European consulate is located, has been shut off completely, much to the frustration of residents.
The same problem applies to other consulates around the city, particularly those situated in the Clifton area and on the main Abdullah Haroon Road. Some organizations have asked the government to create a diplomatic enclave for consulates that feel they need a more secure environment so that the main arteries of the city are left unclogged.
Ever since traffic was restricted on Abdullah Haroon Road, traffic jams are witnessed on alternative routes. The good news is that there are expectations that the US consulate will now shift to a more secluded area in Defence, so that the woes of those who use Abdullah Haroon Road should finally be over.
Courage in the face of adversity
Every morning 15-year-old Kulsum walks a good half-hour from her home in Garden to reach the Civil Hospital. Climbing up the flight of steps to the Polio Clinic, she rests her feet, maybe massages her left painful foot a little before she starts work.
Kulsum is a familiar figure at the Polio Clinic, perhaps one of Dr Mubina Agboatwala's oldest patients. "She was two or three when her mother brought her to me. She was severely paralyzed and could not even sit up," says Dr Agboatwala looking at the young teenager fondly.
But these days Kulsum comes for a different purpose, not as a patient but as a helper. "I have just given my matric exams and am free. My mother suggested that I come and help the patients here at this place. My father drops me here every morning and then picks me up in the afternoon."
"I know how the children feel, I myself have gone through all the travails," says Kulsum. But seeing this young face among many doctors actually gives the children a lot of comfort. "These exercises can be quite painful, but need to be done. I coax, sometimes cajole them, make them laugh and wipe away their tears," explains Kulsum.
But for Dr Agboatwala, Kulsum is not just another hand in the clinic. She provides the parents and their children with a glimmer of hope. "She's my star patient and shines out.
I admire her parents, especially her mother, who'd bring her almost everyday, for years, to the clinic and that is not easy. And then she continued her studies too," says the doctor who sees so many polio patients wasting away.
One of the largest public health efforts not just in Pakistan but across the 125 countries where the Global Polio-eradication Initiative was launched, this year will see an end to the 16-year-old campaign, hopefully bringing an end to the disease.
And while Pakistan is still battling with the disease, Dr Agboatwala looks at the many polio patients she sees everyday and wipes her hand in frustration. "Why didn't anyone think of those who have already been afflicted with the disease? The campaign has no place for the victims or their rehabilitation," she laments.
The going was not always smooth for Kulsum. "There were girls in school who'd stop and tell me my feet were crooked. For a long time I considered myself a cripple. Then one day I decided I'd had sympathized with myself enough and I needed to pull myself together and act normal." And since then there has been no looking back for her. She wants to continue her studies and one day become a doctor.
Food street
After Lahore and Islamabad, Karachi is also going to have its very own food street - but with a difference. The "street" will actually be a bridge that is part of the rich heritage of the city.
The proposed food street will be located on the Native Jetty bridge that stands next to the Napier Mole Bridge in the port area. The food street project is being developed by a Karachi-based business group, which has been leased land and property by the Karachi Port Trust.
The project developers, who say that they will start work on the project by getting international experts to strengthen the bridge structure, have big plans in mind. For one, the street will have a special car park and a recreation and entertainment area. The park that sits below the Jinnah flyover will also be developed as part of the project.
The bridge itself will be enclosed so that temperature and ambience are kept appetizing. The most encouraging aspect, however, will be the food on sale. Finally, the people of the city will be able to savour some of the cuisine of the old inhabitants of the city - this would include Baloch, Sindhi and Makrani delicacies as well as some food from the wide range of communities that make up this cosmopolitan city, like Bohri fare. The street is expected to start functioning within a year or so.
Koel
The bird watcher in our ranks reports the annual appearance of the koel. Its "koo, koo" can be heard all over the city, even in built-up areas such as those around the Dawn offices.
The koel usually makes its debut to coincide with the flowering of the mango tree, and is linked in folk song with the tree's "bor". The koel's even got into the Oxford dictionary, which describes it as a dark coloured cuckoo.
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