KARACHI: Yes, Karachi used to have a Love Lane. Not too long back, at that. Where was it? You might ask, in case you have never been there or are not aware of it. Well, somewhere near Lawrence Road (now Nishtar Road), the same Lawrence Road named after, no, not the Lawrence of Arabia, but one of his namesakes who worked for the British army.

So, what’s the reason for bringing up Love Lone in this column? The answer is simple: half a century ago, when the authorities wanted to block a road for whatever reason, they were thoughtful enough to announce it through the media for the commuters to opt for alternative routes to avoid inconvenience. On Feb 23, 1965 the district magistrate of Karachi issued an order for closing Lawrence Road from its junction with Love Lane to Britto Road to all vehicular traffic. It was done to facilitate the carpeting of the road by the KMC. By the way, Love Lane still exists. Therefore, it would not be a bad idea to (re)discover it physically… or metaphorically.

The very mention of the name Lawrence rings a royal bell, speaking of which, it should not surprise anyone to know that in the good old days, kings and queens did not hesitate to visit Pakistan. On the night of Feb 25, Queen Mother of Thailand, mother of King Bhumibhol Adulyadej, had a stopover at Karachi (airport) for three hours on her way from Bangkok to Geneva. She liked her brief stay in the city. After all, Karachi was a peaceful and beautiful town where new projects kept coming up, contributing substantially to the city’s aesthetic vertical growth, unlike today where it’s only growing horizontally.

For example, on Feb 26, a flower and vegetable show opened at the Zoological Gardens sponsored by the Pakistani Horticultural Society. Inaugurating the event, Chief Justice of Pakistan A. R. Cornelius lauded the efforts of the society in making Karachi a garden city, where visitors could enjoy the beauty of flowers, plants and trees. What would Justice Cornelius have thought if he were alive today?

Also, on Feb 25, the Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) announced it would set up two pilot projects, one in each wing of the country, for the production of fish flour. This meant that the political tensions between East and West Pakistan were still under control. However, as mentioned in the last week’s column, the 1952 language riots had turned things a bit sour. There were individuals, as there always are, who kept trying to bring the people and cultures of the two wings closer.

On Feb 25 (yes, it was a busy day) a play titled Rishta was staged at Katrak Hall by the Karachi Cultural Centre. It attempted to prove that the differences in language and customs were no barriers to the unity of the people of East and West Pakistan. The play was directed by Nizamul Haq and the cast included Mahmood Ali, Maqbool, Mansur, Lily Zarina, Meher Parveen, Amjad and Chanda Nizami. The production was well received.

That being said, Karachi seldom had/has a day when agitation in one form or another is not witnessed. That week, the Post and Telegraph workers went on strike in front of the General Post Office on McLeod Road (now I. I. Churdrigar Road). Come to think of it, in 2015, if the internet and 3G services went kaput, who would give a call for a city-wide strike?

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2015

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