Isn’t it a harrowing news item? The majestic Khaliqdina Hall to be rebuilt! Thank heavens it didn’t happen. But on April 14, 1964 the powers that be, the Karachi Municipal Corporation in this case, did think of demolishing the historic structure and rebuild it. Why? So that it could be endowed with modern amenities. Whoever came up with this idea may not have the faintest notion about ‘heritage’ or ‘history’. And whoever did not let that happen, two words: thank you.

Ironically, a day earlier (April 13) visiting the PCSIR the Central Minister for Finance M Shoaib asked scientists, engineers and research scholars to help reduce the high construction costs by developing cheaper building materials . The idea was to facilitate the people to get inexpensive but not low quality homes.

It wasn’t just about the building material at the time. Keeping Karachi clean was at the top of the priority list of those who ran the city. Therefore, when the traffic police came hard on public transport drivers for not keeping their vehicles ‘fit’, the taxi and rickshaw wallahs went on a strike on April 14 because they felt they were being punished too severely. It didn’t take long for things to be sorted out though, as, according to media reports, the transport situation returned to normal on April 16.

Rest assured: no one was left off the hook by the police. Even the tram owners (yes, the trams were up and running in the 1960s, man, don’t we want that to resume) were warned the same day that if their trams were found emitting smoke , notices would be issued to the owners. By the way, trams had somehow eluded the hawkish eyes of the police during the campaign against smoke-emitting.

Also warned were vehicle owners that didn’t have speedometers. The police had estimated that about 70 per cent vehicles in the city either didn’t have, or had faulty, speedometers.

These days there’s so much talk about Karachi’s electricity generation capacity . In the good old ‘60s ours was the city of lights in the true sense of the phrase. On April 15, this newspaper was told by the KESC authorities that electricity had been extended to Memon goth, a village in Karachi district, both for domestic and agricultural purposes. Agricultural purposes? Seriously? Yes, a sector gradually replaced by the industrial zone, hence less electricity supply.

Let’s admit it: Karachi has never lost its cultural edge over the years. Literary giant Allama Niaz Fatehpuri was a major influence on local poets and critics. On April 18 the Allama presided over a literary sitting of the Arabic Society at the University of Karachi. The topic of the event was ‘Muslim contribution to Arabic literature and other branches of knowledge during the early Caliphate’. Speaking on the occasion Niaz sahib urged the students not to forget the cultural heritage of Muslims, which he thought was rich and vibrant.

Carrying on with the theme of culture, an international stamp exhibition organised by a group of students at the Arts Council Karachi on April 19 generated quite a bit of interest. In his message, Governor of West Pakistan Malik Amir Muhammad Khan appreciated the students’ effort and encouraged them to come up with more of such healthy activities. Indeed, more!