KARACHI, Nov 24: The third and last day of the Pursukoon Karachi campaign ended with a tribute to Faiz Ahmed Faiz in a presentation called ‘Zard Patton Ka Bun’ at the Arts Council Karachi on Sunday evening.

Like the previous two days, the third day commenced with some interactive art activities and a children’s drawing session. A big number of children participated in the activity. They could be seen carrying markers and pencils in their hands displaying their artistic skill with delight.

A play ‘Ali Baba Chalees Chor’, directed by Zain Ahmed, too managed to attract the young ones’ attention, as did an event called ‘Alif Laila Ka Shehr’ in which writer Rumana Husain and actor Fawad Khan told stories from the Arabian Nights to children.

A panel discussion titled ‘Namaloom Afraad Aur Karachi Ke Halaat’, moderated by Sabeen Mahmud and Yusra, generated a bit of debate. The panelists were Zohra Yusuf, Roland D’Souza, Norbert Almeida, A H Khanzada and Haris Gazdar.

Sabeen Mahmud set the ball rolling by asking perhaps the most pertinent question of the day: who were the namaloom afraad (unknown assailants) who had destroyed the peace of Karachi. Haris Gazdar said it was a middle-of-the-road term which had both negative and positive aspects. By using the phrase ‘namaloom afraid’ we were not trying to reveal their identity, but disclosing the identity in some cases could prove problematic. The point was that the term had become part of ‘public analysis.’ It’s a euphemist way of suggesting that we could discuss a certain subject only if we were alive, he said.

Zohra Yusuf differed on the subject and said they no more remained namaloom because organisations like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) proclaimed violence.

She cited a recent example of the Ancholi blast where the TTP had openly claimed the attack, saying it was in retaliation to the Rawalpindi incident. With regard to ‘ethnic conflicts’ in the city, she said it began with the emergence of the MQM.

Roland D’Souza rejected the notion of ethnic or sectarian strife and argued it was one of the causes and not the ultimate cause. He said it was more to do with the human condition and gave two reasons for it. One, too many people in the world; two, we’re consuming too much. “Compared to our grandparents we’re consuming ten times more. It’s the fight between the people who have and the people who want,” he remarked and called the former a part of the problem.

Norbert Almeida touched upon the increased level of violence where it’d become the only way to survive. “Kill before you get killed,” he commented and informed the audience that these days one could get weapons for rent. A. H. Khanzada stressed on the need for having tolerance in society.

Speaking on the subject whether the law enforcing agencies were in collusion with those who caused violence, Zohra Yusuf mentioned it was there to a certain extent.

She said they were afraid of political groups and pointed out that when the police went into the Kati Pahari area to resolve the issue it was outnumbered and outgunned by the criminals. The land grabbing issue also came up in the discussion and Roland D’Souza talked about the administration’s helplessness in dealing with it, but reverted to his point that Karachi had a problem of resources. “We need to simplify our lives and do with less,” he articulated.

Outside, in the Arts Council lawns, the donkey cart riders gathered and participated in the programme with its organisers. It was a festive event. White balloons were released into the air and a singer sang the national anthem and the famous Faiz Ahmed Faiz poem Hum Dekheinge which was well-received.

Zambeel Dramatic Reading’s attempt at presenting Asif Farrukhi’s story ‘Samandar Ki Chori’ drew a decent crowd at the Napa in-house theatre. They narrated the tale of collective hallucination of a society marred by selfishness and sociopolitical shortcomings. The audience liked the performance of Asma Mundrawala, Mahvash Faruqi, Ehteshamuddin and Ali Rizvi.