| February 26, 2006 | Sunday | Muharram 27, 1427 |
A Sunday hobby?
THE subject of divided families in Pakistan and India, as well as the emotional trauma and human tragedy that can get associated with this context, has not only an abiding and powerful thematic interest, but is one that needs to compel decision-makers to take steps towards reuniting the families. I am absolutely certain that the divided families’ desire to meet their separated members across the border is a sustained dimension of their personalities. And in Karachi, their number is disturbingly high. This process needs to be stated at the very outset.
Therefore, when the colourful ceremony of bidding farewell to the passengers of the Thar Express was telecast live last week, I was one of those who were very excited. I did not read either the live telecast or the presence so many representatives of the officialdom being indicative of the status or significance of the event. I was contemplating the deeper significance of the event which brought about the revival of a train service that had been suspended in September 1965. I think there is every reason that makes one to pause here to think about the long period of 41 years that both India and Pakistan have lived through.
But let us focus on the ceremony at the Cantonment Station where leaders and representatives were discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the restoration of this much-awaited train link. There were the individuals who had come only to be present at this historic occasion. Not just occasion, but also an emotional one with a psychological relief coming with it. And the hope that very soon the Indian consulate will reopen in Karachi and will promptly issue visas.
I watched the ceremony telecast live from the Cantonment Station, with some disbelief, too. But it seemed too good to be real, in a sense. But there were also being expressed opposing views, reflecting fears, well-known fears, some of them. But it seems that times have changed, and even though there may be governmental shyness and reluctance to move as swiftly as the peoples of Pakistan and India desire (in particular the divided families) the fact remains that the Thar Express symbolizes the desires and dreams of the poor, in particular.
There is absolutely no denying of the fact the majority of the beneficiaries of this restoration of train link will be the common people. It is a cheaper and closer link. The well to do have other options, including the air link. The City Nazim, Syed Mustafa Kamal, who was present, along with Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, at the ceremony, was very clear that the poor would stand to gain from this train, and pointed out that the local people faced difficulty in travelling to India via Wahga, but now they would be spared of a long and arduous journey and additional expenditure as they would reach India in a shorter time through the train.
The mention of local people brings in a very important fact that it is the visa-seeker in Karachi or Hyderabad or adjoining distracts who stands to gain most from this train. In a way, divided families reside mostly in these cities.
There is now hope that the Indian consulate in Karachi reopens soon, otherwise the purpose of this positive development could be negated. It would not make much sense to get a visa from Islamabad, incur that high travel cost, and then return to Karachi, and travel via Karachi or even Wahga. Of course the ties between Pakistan and India have been war-like for long, and then with time (being the healer), we have now a peace process. It is not the best of situations, but with all its failings and shortcomings, the Thar Express raises hope and optimism.
I know a Karachiite who had married a girl from India. That was in the late sixties. He died two years ago. Throughout the 30 years of his marriage, the biggest problem was not the fact that he lives from hand to mouth, but how to ensure that his wife travelled to India regularly. Visas, from Karachi, then Islamabad. Then travel from Wahga to India. Then, when his in-laws would help him via a cousin in Saudi Arabia, his wife would travel by air. Then that stopped. Besides rising prices, this desire of his wife to travel to India was the sustained theme in our conversations. That enabled, in a way, to focus on the canvass of Pakistan-India ties. And even though he read the newspapers regularly, he was not able to understand why the two neighbouring countries couldn’t do something for divided families.
I wish he had lived to see the train service come alive, but I am sure the visa from Islamabad would still have been a huge impediment.
Not only are there persistent demands and reports that the Indian visa be given from this city, but there are anonymous faceless individuals who are hoping to travel to India. There are many farsighted individuals who believe (and stubbornly) that this train will bring in a train of development activities in the areas concerned. Presently, reports indicate that there is an enormous lack of development and infrastructure as far as the Thar Express goes.
A Karachiite, who sees the whole picture as positive despite the odds against, says that the introduction of trains in the subcontinent much before 1947 brought a world of change. Communication and railways in this case, will do the same again, he stressed.
It is understandable that the Thar Express has shortcomings and lapses, which have appeared in the press as well. Interestingly, this train doesn’t stop in the Tharparkar area. Does the name really matter? asked one woman, who said that “the emotive worth of this train link being resumed is cause enough to be overjoyed, at least for now. One step at a time, will bring the miles, eventually.”
But let me end with this thought that comes to mind; that the peace process brings about all the desired results which will enable, hopefully, such persons who saw the creation of Pakistan, to travel from Karachi to India in the comfort that old age seeks. Or, is this asking for too much?
THE government proved on Friday by its will backed by action not to let a rerun of Feb 14 hooliganism hold the city to ransom. It made the Minar-i-Pakistan grounds available to the would-be protesters but no one took the offer. The MMA, which had called for the rally, refused to play by the rules and rejected the idea of earmarking a particular place in the city for holding a protest. The government, however, was in no mood to allow for any deviations from the set plan; and, for once, the resolve worked.
The city was practically sealed off at all entry points to stop any potential protesters from being bussed in. Mosques were also kept under a vigilant eye and all protest against blasphemous Danish cartoons was contained within the four walls. Some 100 MMA workers were arrested, and the religious alliance’s chief Qazi Husain Ahmed was once again put under house arrest at Mansoora. Thus, all loopholes plugged, the day passed off peacefully.
For ordinary people going about their business, the MMA’s castigation turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the city reeled from the shock of the previous week’s unprecedented violence on The Mall and adjacent roads. Businessmen and restaurateurs, who had lost much of their assets to the mindless violence also heaved a sigh of relief when the chief minister promised this week to offer them financial assistance to put their livelihoods back together. This is only fair. But, having said that, many still believe that the government owes Lahoris an apology for its inaction ten days ago when The Mall burnt like never before.
A committee comprising the provincial communications minister and the city nazim has been set up to assess the damage caused by rioters and miscreants; the price tag reportedly runs in the vicinity of at least one billion rupees. This, the CM says, will be recovered from those who were involved in the looting and arson. Just exactly how the government plans to go about this tricky part of the plan is anyone’s guess.
A handful of ‘trouble makers’ purported to be PPP and PML-N leaders have been nabbed, with the government claiming that it has them on camera as they went about inciting violence during the Feb 14 rioting. The two parties have mysteriously kept mum over the issue, neither denying nor confirming the government’s claim or alleging foul play. Meanwhile, the city police have installed cameras at key locations in the metropolis to monitor any possible hooliganism today (Sunday) when the MMA has once again given a call for a rally, in defiance of the ban imposed on such activities across Punjab.
Ever since the news of the publication of sacrilegious cartoons by the Danish papers has become known here, holding protest rallies — some even turning violent — has become a Sunday hobby for many. Shutting down businesses, enforcing wheel-jams and stopping all commercial activities that feed our overwhelmingly Muslim population have only punished the poor of this country and not the offender in any way.
So today, let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best for the city and its majority, peace-loving citizens. The MMA and the rest of the opposition parties have a right to hold protest rallies, and the Minar-i-Pakistan grounds seem to be a conspicuous and large enough venue for the purpose. The insistence by some to march on The Mall and no other place is hard to defend, especially after the unruly events of Feb 14. The people of Lahore watched the bloody events on their TV screens with a sense of disgust and horror at what was happening in their city; the opposition should respect this public sentiment and by not making the venue of the rally an issue.
SO finally the stipulated 15-day period for kite flying under the Supreme Court’s orders has arrived. The city sky is once again a riot, with kites of varying sizes and hues filling the void with partially cloudy horizon serving as a neat backdrop. Lesco, meanwhile, has set about netting its installations and grid stations to ward off stray kites that conk out power and cause millions in damages to the utility during the kite-flying season.
Will the Basant festival, set for March 4-5, be as jovial an affair this year round as it has been in the recent past? Perhaps not. First there was the October 8 earthquake that pushed back the event; then came the Supreme Court ruling which imposed a blanket ban on kite flying, finally settling for a restrictive period within which to manufacture and sell kites and threads. Other restrictions imposed by the court call for strict monitoring of the activity by the police and the city government with a view to minimising public safety hazards and to avoid deaths in kite-flying related accidents.
Kite and thread manufacturers and retailers now have to register themselves to be able to do business unhindered by the authorities. Many are reluctant to produce more material, fearing they might not even be able to clear the already available stocks in two weeks’ time. Kites, say stockists and enthusiasts, are selling at a premium over their regular prices, owing to the uncertainty attached to the permissibility of kite flying; the court has ruled that the activity could be abruptly stopped if deaths and injuries customarily associated with kite flying do not stop altogether.
The corporate sector, too, is wary of a whole-hearted participation in the Basant festivities this year. The recent rioting in the city has much to do with this change of heart on the part of the multinationals, foreign guests and diplomats who have been visiting the city in droves for the past few years on the occasion. Serious kite-flyers, however, see the lack of corporate and official patronage for the popular festival as an opportunity to enjoy Basant in its more earthly, traditional and pristine form this year. One just hopes that there won’t be as many casualties this time round as has been the sorry norm for the last few years.
IT is Model Town again. There is something very attractive about the place that doesn’t let profiteers, land-grabbers and those with vested commercial interests to sit back and leave this dreamy, serene, residential sprawl alone. As it is, the locality is a far cry from its original character, say, not more than even 25 years ago; old Model-towners will tell you just as much. Much of the haphazard commercialization that has taken place along the Link Road area over the years, say many, is to blame for the trend.
The latest move on the part of the cooperative society, however, as reported by the residents’ association, surpasses all past attempts at defacing and spoiling Model Town’s calm by turning the residential locality into another over-commercialised Gulberg or Garden Town. The society has put up for grabs a patch of 28 kanals adjacent to Link Road. An expression of interest to the affect appeared in the local papers last week, inviting proposals for setting up warehousing and retail business outlets on the spot. This, the residents say, is unacceptable to them. One wonders what the city nazim, himself a Model-towner, has to say on the controversial plan. If you ask the residents, the standard reply that comes is a sorry one: ‘does he care?’ —OBSERVER