| April 2, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1427 |
This image obsession
QUITE honestly, if it wasn’t for yesterday’s story that “student dies during VIP movement”, one could be focusing on the point about the cheerful buoyant mood that Karachi has been for many days now. Karachi’s ability to bounce back from one mishap to another is almost an accepted fact of living here. I have in mind the successful and thought provoking World Social Forum meetings and the Expo 2006, and the round of mushairas.
But in what can be perceived to be a sort of euphoria and an “all’s well” syndrome, here comes this grim gruesome reminder of multiple meanings. People die or get grievously wounded in traffic accidents daily, as if there is some kind of a schedule to maintain. But it is when a death occurs, as reported in Dawn yesterday that one shudders. One then perceives that all is not well. In the racy rhythm of officialdom there is being caused sufferings, and misfortune, and from the look of things there doesn’t appear to be any end to it. VVIP movements are causing excessive inconvenience, to say the least. In a way, the thematic thrust of the World Social Forum was about such tragedies, as that of this girl.
In this latest instance, 23-year-old Zile Huma, a student of Karachi University Mass Communications Department, died of an appendix rupture reportedly after being stranded in a traffic jam due to VIP movement in the city on account of the ongoing Expo exhibition. It is the second paragraph of the news report that is more than simply troubling. This says her family refrained from disclosing the circumstances in which Zile Huma died, apparently due to some pressure from authorities. Pressure from the authorities, think!
It is said that this is the fifth or sixth such incident that has been reported. But one can imagine the unreported sufferings of the people who get trapped in traffic jams, born of VVIP movement, which has a security umbrella that appears to be expanding.
Like the citizens of the Sindh capital, a foreign participant of the World Social Forum, troubled by the security measures and the traffic suspension, had remarked to Dawn “As to why the President and the Prime Minister didn’t use helicopters instead of causing hardships to the common people.”
If it wasn’t for the death of Zile Huma one could have written more and entirely of the exuberance that the city appears to have right now. Not just the media, even some ordinary citizens were aware that a major event was being held in town. But a very significant comment came from one of the delegates to the WSF, Preeti Herman, who reportedly opined that “the media fooled us into believing Karachi was dangerous.” She went on to say that “to declare Karachi a dangerous place has political dimensions and is beyond any truth; I am safe and freely roaming around wherever I want to go.” She was in Karachi for the first time, from Bangalore. She was warned by her friends to be careful in Karachi, as foreigners were insecure here. But it was quite the contrary. It is simply the reputation that is “bad”.
This visitor from India said, “The people of Karachi are generous and kind. Wherever we have visited we received love and a friendly atmosphere. Even cab drivers did not charge me when they came to know that I was from India.” There were many more delegates and visitors who had the kindest and most complimentary things to say about a city that is always on the receiving end, when it comes to the image factor.
This brings in the point about the image of Karachi, especially with these two major events being held in the city, one of which is the Expo 2006 that concludes today. For all those who contend that Karachi is an unsafe place, surely these two major events demonstrate the ability of the city to spring surprises, besides the official resolve to deliver well and on time.
Of course it is pertinent to mention here what one Karachi had to say about the Expo 2006 which would be open to the general public at a ticket of Rs200 per person, which he said was “exorbitant”. This was perhaps an attempt to keep the common man out, and at the same time it was an attempt to make more money, he said. He went on to say that he wanted to go to it, but he wouldn’t even think of it at this ticket price. I tried to explain to him that the organizers of the exhibition had their own reasons for this ticketing strategy, but he didn’t want to hear any explanation.
On the other side, the six-day World Social Forum was held at the Kashmir Road Sports Complex though originally planned for Lyari. Thousands came to it and even though some of the scheduled events were not held, there was enough to make the occasion a heavy weight. It was held without any official and corporate patronage and there was a kind of common man’s theme certainly lent to it a richer dimension. In that sense it wasn’t an elitist assembly, but as one Karachiite remarked it was a kind of “poor man’s general assembly”, even though it concluded without a formal resolution. But as Afshan Suboohi in Dawn wrote that the WSF “reinforced the belief that the world would be transformed some day in top a more equitable, efficient, democratic, peaceful, and humane society. It expressed the will of the people for a change.”
Events like the WSF and the Expo 2006, and of course the spate of mushairas that are on, also give birth to hope and desire that the city will have this kind of a cheerful mood round the year. Even though that is impossible, the hope and the desire remain.
To lend to the city more glitter and colour, the month of Rabiul Awwal has begun. Eid Miladun Nabi celebrations have commenced and mosques are being decorated and illuminated. This gives to Karachi another familiar traditional dimension.
But, the point remains whether this month Karachi would be free of VVIP movements. That ever growing security umbrella for VVIP movements would not affect thousands of Karachiites this month. I wonder!
THE foreign minister spoke eloquently at a seminar held in the city this past week. The subject was the government’s pet refrains, the need for projecting a ‘soft image’ of Pakistan abroad and for putting into action ‘enlightened moderation,’ the emphasis being on ‘projecting’ and on the ‘enlightened’ part, as the government wants the media to reflect its policies. The FM’s speech reminded you of the Lahore police’s very earnest slogan which goes something like this: ‘We need to serve’. How truthful.
The reality on the ground, however, leaves much to be desired, both on the part of the government and the police. The latter were let loose by the Punjab government on a planned Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan moot arranged at the Minar-i-Pakistan, ostensibly after having secured government’s permission. The police literally ransacked through the arrangements made for the moot, literally picking up and throwing the furniture around to thwart the meeting. This is the reality of the state and some measure of how the government itself is opposed to practising any amount of moderation towards the opposition. Enlightenment remains a far cry. As for the police, they, like always, only serve those in the government and never the people.
The emphasis on the projection of a ‘soft’ image itself when it may not exist in reality is a betrayal of this government’s real intent, which seems to be to keep the status quo on many fronts but present reality in a way that makes you believe that a great wave of positive change is sweeping the land. Such an image exists only in the imagination of the rulers, with the gap between theirs and the people’s imaginations ever widening. Come to think of it, the very premise is a false one, given the actual state of affairs in many areas.
An image of a nation is derived directly from what it does to and amongst itself. It entails a good track record on basic civic liberties and respect for human rights, among other things. You can’t have a good half of your prison population languishing behind bars on trumped up charges of adultery when many of the accused may only have been victims of violence against women. According to a survey, some 80 per cent of women prisoners are rotting away in our lock-ups because they dared to report rape. If it weren’t for the apex court to champion causes like the prevention of deaths by kite string or the banning of meals at weddings, those social evils, too, would not have been curbed to the extent that they have been.
But where are the government’s priorities, you may ask. The justice system lies in a state of decay, with the conscientious judges crying out for reform, but none has been undertaken in the past six-plus years. The opposition alleges that accountability has only meant persecution of the government’s opponents, while its allies continue to get away with fraud, kickbacks, loan defaults, etc. Putting women dancers back on TV screens is not the only measure of enlightenment or moderation. The lack of active resistance from the religious right to such endeavours is proof enough that these changes are only cosmetic and symbolic.
The real challenge and hope for change lie in undoing laws that are repugnant to women and minorities. On the political front, ensuring a level playing field for all, the ruling party, the secular opposition as well as the religious right, will mean that enlightened moderation has been put into action. Culling ruling coalitions from political lightweights, who have hardly any roots in the people and ethnic and religious fanatics negates the very idea. Hence the image problem, not only abroad but even at home.
A STORY that appeared in this newspaper this week captured the agony suffered by well over a million daily commuters in this burgeoning metropolis on account of woefully inadequate public transport. It revealed that the city had less than one-half the number of buses required to ease the situation, whereby an average commuter covering a distance of 14 kilometres to and back from workplace spent more than 60 hours a month on commute alone, and what a true nightmare that commute was for many.
There have been grandiose plans of developing a mass transit system for over two decades now. Mention has been made time and again of setting up an efficient urban train system, but nothing concrete has seen the light of day so far. The present government, too, has promised such a system, raising hopes yet again for its materialisation. But until that happens, and things begin to take shape towards that end, there is an urgent need to take some remedial action to ease the depressing situation in this area. One says this because big projects like an urban train system, even when having begun, do take their time to complete.
The existing railway network could be used for running commuter trains, say from Raiwind to Lahore and on to Muridke. Similarly, a commuter service could also be run at regular intervals from Sheikhupura to Lahore and on to the Jallo station. This should not require much investment because the infrastructure is already there. As for the running stock, as in carriages and locomotives, these should be obtained from the railway either by the city government or by setting up an entity in the public or private sector for the purpose of running the commuter service. The idea has a lot of potential and can help ease transport problems for the long and medium-distance commuters.
THERE has been a flurry of cultural activities in the city, as the spring embarks on its final leg. The youth and puppet festivals concluded last week, giving way to Mela Chiraghan, and then came the music conference. As the last mentioned concluded yesterday, the Punj Pani Festival opened its doors to enthral theatre enthusiasts. Side by side, art exhibitions and popular music concerts have also made their presence felt and continue to do so. It was heartening to see Lahoris throng the Open Air Theatre during the music conference, and yet more heartening because the audience comprised largely the youth who, as some mistakenly believed, did not have an ear for traditional folk and classical music. The swelling crowds at the theatre all through the week, with many sitting until way past midnight, told you otherwise. Overall, a good, fun-filled spring. —OBSERVER