It is sad that so much in recent times has been written and talked about Karachi’s rich socio-cultural legacy, and yet the tourism department (is there one?) has not come up with a plan which can validate all such claims and help people, local and foreigners, relive the city’s past.

This is not that difficult to do. All the departments concerned have to do is to create a revivalist ambience around old Karachi. Perhaps easier said than done!

Half a century back, the city’s tourism department was pretty active, at least when it came to devising strategies to preserve the history of Karachi for posterity. The good thing about it was that it would not aim for short-term goals; rather the plans would stretch to a minimum of two decades. On Aug 28, 1965 the media reported that the department had recommended to the government of Pakistan to make Wazir Mansion, the birthplace of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah into a museum. The recommendation was contained in the 20-year perspective plan submitted to the president of the country, Ayub Khan, earlier that year. Apart from turning the Quaid’s birthplace into a museum, it had also suggested that the condition of Karachi’s national museum be improvement. Well, that dream is yet to be realised.

On Aug 30, a relatively detailed report of the perspective plan was published in Dawn. According to it, the development of tourism facilities in and around Karachi had been assigned top priority in the 20-year proposal prepared by the tourism department. A copy of the hefty document, which ran into 300 pages, was presented to the president by former department chief Air Marshal Nur Khan. So what were some of the important recommendations highlighted in the document? They were: development of archeological sites, organising guided sightseeing tours, cruising in the harbour, establishment of a dance academy, and evolving a well-organised reception system at airport and seaports for foreigners. Wow! That’s impressive, and implementable.

It may be recalled that in the 1960s Pakistan was a much safer country than it is today, which was why foreigners were more than willing to come to Pakistan. On Aug 27, Pakistan and Poland signed a bilateral air agreement at the Civil Aviation head office in Karachi. The agreement, which provided for preparation of air services between the two countries and the provisions of usual technical facilities to airplanes, was signed by Civil Aviation DG Air Commodore B. K. Das and J. Falber, DG of Civil Aviation, Poland.

The one cultural aspect that Karachiites cannot live without, and for which no proposals and blueprints are required, is music. On Aug 25, music lovers were royally entertained by maestros Ustad Nazakat Ali and Ustad Salamat Ali at the Arts Council. The two legendary exponents of classical music presented ragas ‘bhopali’ and ‘mian ki malhar’, earning wholehearted applause from the packed-to-capacity crowd. The interesting feature of the concert was that it was arranged in the gallery where artworks of the great Sadequain were on display. The backdrop gelled beautifully with the soulful renditions of the two ustads.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2015

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