DURING the question and answer session in one of the sessions on the last day of the recently held international Karachi conference, an audience member talked about the discovery of the graves of ancient Phoenicians in the area which now falls under the jurisdiction of Gulshan-i-Iqbal. It sounds far-fetched and would be mighty difficult for archeologists and historians to prove.

Another interesting fact about the present-day Gulshan neighbourhood, which is just half a century old, is that the first public balloting of residential plots for the Karachi Development Authority’s Scheme 24, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, (post-partition and not in Phoenician times, that is) took place on Nov 15, 1965 from 9am to 5pm. The draws were held for plots measuring 1,500 square yards, followed by 1,000 and 600sq-yds. However, the commercial value of those pieces of land at the time was not mentioned by the media. It would be an understatement to say that in 50 years their value has rocketed sky high.

Although Gulshan-i-Iqbal was a post-partition addition to the Karachi cityscape, at least with reference to its name, there were still quite a few localities and streets whose names had not been changed to suit Pakistan’s ideological nomenclature. Belasis Street was one of them. In those days, it enjoyed great importance because of its proximity to the commercial centre of the city near McLeod Road (now I. I. Chundrigar Road). And if anyone thinks that traffic congestion is a problem that first reared its head when Karachi’s population hit the 10-million mark, it’s not true. The logjam was as much a nuisance in the 1960s as it is now.

On Nov 21, this newspaper carried a report on traffic jams being a regular feature of Belasis Street. According to the report, it took no less than half an hour to pass through the street to reach South Napier Road, a distance of about 200 yards. Who was responsible for that? Answer: the newly introduced one-way traffic on McLeod Road! Ironically, even with a two-way flow in the 21st century, gridlocks cannot be avoided.

The one difference between today’s city administrators and the ones who were at the helm in 1965 is that the latter would not be indifferent to civic issues until someone stirred them into taking action. For example, the provision of clean drinking water was at the top of their priority list. On Nov 19, the commissioner of Karachi, Syed Darbar Ali Shah, inaugurated a water supply project at village Rehri Miani in the Ibrahim Hyderi union council. The project was completed at a cost of Rs45,000 and was designed to meet the (drinking water) requirements of 5,000 residents. The commissioner also spoke to those who had gathered to witness the inauguration. He appealed to the basic democrats to work sincerely on a self-help basis for the speedy progress of rural areas.

On the subject of appeal, here’s something which typifies the vibrant nature of Karachi and its professionals. That week, an assistant editor working for Hyderabad-based English-language daily the Indus Times was sacked by its management, for reasons details of which may be divulged some other time. On Nov 19, the executive council of the Karachi Union of Journalists held a meeting. Resenting the dismissal of the journalist, it appealed to the then information minister to reinstate him.

Of course, the minister would not have responded immediately, because the impact of September’s India-Pakistan war had not completely subsided by then. In fact, off and on, an odd noise or two from across the border would reverberate about another war. On Nov 21, the National Awami Party organised an event in Korangi in connection with Hasan Nasir Day. Speaking on the occasion, the secretary general of the party, Mahmudul Haque Usmani, said a cry for a decisive war with Pakistani raised by Indian warlords was meant to score victory in the forthcoming elections in their country. If that happened, he warned, it would be too bad for India.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2015