Highlights of the June 2007 issue
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Between the Lines
Idrees Bakhtiar
The mayhem of May 12 and the resultant tension and acrimony between various
sections of Karachi’s population were a personal loss as well as a national
one. The unfortunate events sent shock waves across the length and breadth
of the country. Karachi had once been a peaceful place that embraced people
from across the country. It was a gharib nawaz city, where people found
employment and could live cheaply.
There were restaurants and hotels where one could get a plate of curry and
one-and-a-half roti – yes, half a roti was also an option – for just seven
annas. People such as myself were regular visitors of these places, sharing
lunch and dinner with many others from different parts of the country.
May 12 A script gone awry?
The government had not been happy with the script being followed in Pakistani
politics for quite some time now. First, contrary to what had usually been
curtains down for the superior judiciary, a chief justice had refused to exit
despite a suitable show of strength by the military establishment. Next, the
movement launched by the legal community in his support had only picked up
momentum rather than losing steam as predicted. And when the chief justice made
a trip to the Punjab — seen as the bastion of the establishment — the zealous
welcome that he received there surprised not just his ardent supporters but also
his detractors.
The senseless violence of May 12 cost many political workers their lives
It was going to be an exciting day for Umar Rahman, Saida Khan,
Irshad Malang and Riaz Shah. Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party members,
they were going to attend their party’s rally on May 12. All four left
Muzaffarabad Colony in a car in the morning. However, their vehicle, which
carried a party flag, was stopped at al-Falah Society. It was surrounded by
some dozen or so well-armed men.
“The electronic media and print media presented only one
side of the story…”
By Idrees Bakhtiar
Q. Why did the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) feel the need to stop Chief
Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry from coming to Karachi?
A. I deny that. The MQM did not try to stop the chief justice from coming to
Karachi. This allegation is being repeatedly levelled against the party. On the
contrary, the MQM has said the chief justice had all the rights under the
Constitution and the law to address any bar association he wanted.
Q. On May 12, the chief justice was coming to preside over the golden jubilee
celebrations of the Supreme Court and not because of his case…
A. I had asked all lawyers and their associations to welcome the chief
justice,
“Only eight people are opposing the project”
The decision by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) to build a
24-kilometre-long elevated expressway called the Karachi Elevated Expressway
through the heart of the city, from Jinnah Bridge to Quaidabad, has generated
controversy and debate. While the CDGK is touting the road as a step that will
take Karachi closer to the rest of the world’s ‘mega cities’, critics are
calling it an expensive planning, environmental and aesthetic disaster. The
people of Karachi,
Q. Who came up with the Karachi Elevated Expressway project and why did you
feel the need for it on this particular route?
A. It is going to connect the Karachi Port with Port Qasim. Today, all the
port traffic goes through Defence, entering residential areas, and then through
Korangi to the National Highway. A truck takes two and a half hours to cover
this distance.
“I find the term fundamentalist very dangerous because it
says almost nothing”
Q. Describe your journey as an author from your first novel Moth Smoke to
the recently published second one, The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
A. The journey from Moth Smoke to The Reluctant Fundamentalist was
remarkably similar in the sense that both novels took me seven years to
write. However, in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, my subject is America and
not Pakistan. I don’t want to be seen as a South Asian writer living abroad
who is perpetually fixated on the region. So I wrote what I thought was a
New York book really. Some of the other changes that happened were that in
Moth Smoke I had self-consciously deployed multiple, competing narratives
but this time around I decided it would be a very controlled narrative. I
wrote 12 chapters,