To some it may be unthinkable. It isn't. Not many moons ago, Karachi had a synagogue. It implies there were members of the Jewish community in the city who for understandable (or perhaps inexplicable) reasons started leaving Pakistan after the country's inception in 1947.
The Magain Shalome synagogue (as it was called) existed till the '80s, the decade when a despot Gen Ziaul Haq ruled this country. So it's not surprising that the synagogue was pulled down by the then property dealers to replace it with a plaza during the general's tenure. It's a bit hard to know where exactly that place of worship stood because things are so hodgepodge in an area that old-timers know as the Ranchhore Lines quarter. However, nothing helps like a steely resolve.
Wandering around M.A. Jinnah Road is an experience in itself, an experience that's become part of Karachiites' everyday routine. Walking past the NJV School and moving towards the Young Women's Christian Association building (both beautiful structures of historical import) there's a road that separates the two and leads into a lively locality. They call it Jamila Street, a representative of the Karachi that's slowly but surely slipping our minds. To its left are Anjuman Bagh (a compound where Parsis live) and two Ranchhore Lines schools, one of which is a pre-partition entity. But let's talk about Barnes Street, oh sorry, Jamila Street in this piece.
Before you arrive at a place where a few years back Jubilee cinema screened countless Punjabi and Urdu flicks (not anymore though) there's a bunch of old buildings that have undergone many a change but still maintain most of their original architectural attributes. Try and ignore the shops that sell motorcycle and car accessories in big numbers and make as disturbing noises as motorcycles with yanked-out silencers.
First up the Ibrahim Mansion will grab your attention. Annexed to it are Haji Bashir Beg building, Karim Manzil, Halima Bai and Pandia buildings. Dates of construction are mentioned at the entrance of a couple of these structures, for instance 1941 is etched on top of Karim Manzil's entryway. Obviously additions have been made to these beauties, turning them into look-alikes of contemporary Karachi concrete high-rises. They're different, and in a nice way.
Just when you inch closer to a bustling round-about, you'll see an unusual edifice called Chandio building. Reason being that it's topped by a dome. Standing amidst jerrybuilt, haphazard apartment blocks and uncared-for stone pieces, the structure sticks out like a sore thumb.
Now stop here for a moment. Turn right and get pleasantly surprised. Who would've thought that there was a Maharashtra Mitra Mandal in Karachi? Well, there is. It is a tiny house-like building that may have been used as a mitra mandal (friends' council) for Maharashtrans before 1947. After all, Karachi used to be a part of the Bombay Presidency. Not much information is available on the mandal, but what can't be disputed is that Maharashtrans too were a component of the pluralistic rainbow of Karachi before partition.
A few steps ahead of the Chandio building lies the Hassanli Hoti Market constructed in 1926. The big columns at its entrance impart a unique touch to it. Move a hundred yards or so forward, and you'll see a residential-cum-commercial structure in the corner of a road intersection on whose ground floor cloth-sellers and other vendors make their presence felt by waving their hands as if carrying magic wands to lure potential buyers. That's the site where, arguably, some people believe the synagogue survived till the '80s.
What's indisputable, though, is the graves of some Jewish men and women in the Cutchi Memon Graveyard at the fag end of Barnes Street. The Jewish gravesite is to the right of the entrance to the cemetery and form a kind of a rectangle covered with ungainly shrubbery. A few are more than a century old, as Babu Bhai and Ghulam Ali, two amiable and helpful gravediggers claim, and two or three were dug in the first half of the 20th century.
The headstone on one grave has the deceased's info written in English and in, perhaps, Hebrew. But the writing is so faded that it's hard to make sense of the actual text. Also, these graves are fast disappearing into the soil.“Jews used to come here from that side of the wall,” says Babu Bhai pointing towards the boundary wall on the right of the Cutchi Memon Graveyard. “That entrance has now been cemented. There was this old Jewish lady who was alive till last year. I think it was in Ramaswamy area that she lives or lived,” says Babu Bhai.
He is referring to a certain woman, a teacher by profession, by the name of Rachel Joseph. A couple of years back quite a few newspapers printed her story suggesting she was the custodian of the synagogue and that she and her brother were duped by property dealers who had assured them that they'd get the siblings a new flat with some room for their place of worship. Never happened. Where is Rachel Joseph now? Hard to tell.
Architect Noman Ahmed says “In the 1990s we discovered that there were 485 Jews in Karachi. But the fear of persecution had made them adopt Christian names. Then it became very difficult to distinguish them.”
The Ranchhore Lines quarter was named after Ranchhore tank which was situated in the very area. Historians believe the precinct remained uninhabited till the late 19th century, for its earlier development took place on Bunder Road. The quarter had Lawrence Road in its north and Bunder Road in the south. On its western extreme was Mission Road whereas the eastern boundary was shared with Preedy and Ramaswamy quarters.But these facts don't seem to help the quarter in the 21st century. Roads have become thinner, alleyways insular, and buildings graceless. And it's not happening in the name of modernity.
mohammad.salman@dawn.com
