SUMMER was in full swing. After all, it was the month of May which Karachiites had to bear the brunt of. Already, a few patients of hyperpyrexia had to be admitted to local medical facilities in the first 10 days of the month. And on May 13, 1969 it was reported that five victims of heatstroke (hyperpyrexia) were admitted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and Civil Hospital in the previous two days. All of them, who had high fever ranging from 106.7 to 107.1 degrees Fahrenheit, were brought to the hospitals in a semi-conscious state. Two of them were labourers while the rest were children. The reason for the ailment was: they had been exposed to the scorching sun. Doctors advised them to apply ice-cold water bags to their heads to prevent brain damage.

Now imagine having to remove heavy stuff from your residence or commercial building in such extreme weather conditions. Well, the same day (May 13) the district magistrate, Karachi, directed the public to remove all encroachments such as hedges, lawns, plants (trees excluded) put up outside their boundary walls within a week. Failure to do so would entail severe penalties, the magistrate warned.

Similar messages were relayed elsewhere in the city. On May 14, the Pakistan Employees Cooperative Housing Society, in a notification, directed under the orders of the Martial Law authorities, all owners/residents of bungalows in the society to remove all the hedges and lawns planted beyond the compound walls of their bungalows within three days.

One doesn’t know whether what followed was the result of stern warnings, but on May 15, the disputed encroachment on an attractive portion of the National Highway near Lal Kothi, which first served as a public park and then a private one, was cleared away after more than a decade. The plot of land belonged to the Central Public Works Department and was earmarked as part of the 240-foot-wide highway. It was first encroached upon by the Pakistan Employees Cooperative Housing Society more than a decade ago when a children’s park was established to meet the recreational needs of the increasing number of children in the area.

On May 17, a seven-day grace period, ending May 22, was granted by the Martial Law authorities to the residents of Landhi-Korangi Municipal Committee to remove all kutcha or pucca encroachments.

Now to the all important cultural facet to the Sindh capital: on May 17, a Sindhi music concert was organsied in commemoration of the 217th death anniversary of the great poet-saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai under the auspices of the Pakistan German Forum and the Goethe Institut. The vocalists who took part in the event were Ghulam Hyder, Ahsan, Aziz, Karim and Kamal Mahtani, Emy Rana and Roshan Bhagaria. The concert was unique because of the bold experiment as the singers sang three special pieces from the Shah Jo Risalo — in the Urdu, Bengali and Gujarati languages. The Bengali translation was done by Nasir Hyder and the Gujarati one was translated by Hassamally Rammal. The three songs in their original Rano, Kalyan and Kehiyari ragas were beautifully sung by Ms Rana, Ahsan, Ms Bhagari and Dr Ghulam Hyder.

How interesting — the great Sufi’s kalaam in Bengali and Gujarati! You wonder if it’s still available with music buffs.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2019