THE railway workers’ strike in Karachi in the first week of February 1967, which had blocked the supply of eggs and poultry from upcountry, had now begun to cause more trouble to the citizens than they might have expected. Not only did the eggs disappear from the markets, poultry prices went up quite a bit. A strange thing happened on Feb 5. Duck eggs appeared in a large number in the market. They were being sold for Rs3.50 a dozen. But there were very few takers for them. Karachiites did not like them even as a substitute.

Things went so out of control that the authorities had to take drastic measures. A couple of days later, a decent (by air) supply of (hen) eggs from East Pakistan brought some semblance of normality to the situation. The price of eggs came down from Rs110 per 30 dozens to Rs95. It also proved that eggs brought in from East Pakistan could compete in the Karachi market despite the freight charges of Rs1 a dozen. Interestingly, the fear of competition threw into a huddle those who monopolised the poultry industry in the city to consider ways to avoid competition.

On Feb 6, another strike eclipsed the railway workers’ one. All the 800 students of the All Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA) College, Karimabad, decided to boycott classes. Why? It is an interesting story which goes to show how intrepid and confident girls in our country 50 years back used to be. In a meeting they passed a resolution that they would not return to their classes until their demands were met and grievances redressed. Grievances: they had to pay an extra amount of Rs10 per year as a college maintenance fee. They demanded it should be stopped with immediate effect. The girls also demanded that they should be explained how their annual union fee of Rs12 was being spent. The students argued they were regularly paying medical and laboratory fees with a certain amount for the college magazine, but there had been no issue of the college magazine for the previous three years nor were the students provided with medical facilities. The college did not have any lab either, they alleged.

The negotiations between members of the college’s governing body and the students started after two days. The girls stuck to their guns. The college officials assured them that their demands would be met, but the students refused to give in unless they were told so ‘in writing’. On Feb 9, the college administration finally gave the striking students a written assurance that all the issues they had raised would be resolved. How cool is that! Now that’s what we call girl power.

And yes, that week girls of another educational institution were in the news for a totally different reason. Afghanistan’s Queen Humaira was in the city. On Feb 10 she, accompanied by Princess Mariam Naeem, visited the Home Economics College where the students in their spotless white uniform presented a guard of honour to her and chanted slogans commemorating Pak-Afghan friendship. And Queen Humaira, too, looked pretty elegant.

The next day, the queen went to the National Museum of Pakistan. She expressed a keen interest in the prehistoric relics of the Indus Valley Civilisation. She was fascinated by the pottery, seals, idols and other items found from Moenjodaro and Harappa.

Published in Dawn February 6th, 2017