THE issue of a separate province for Karachi seemed to have begun moving in the direction where its logical end was in sight. On Dec 20, 1969 the Landhi-Korangi Municipal Committee adopted a resolution urging the government to merge Karachi with Sindh in the future set-up of provinces. The resolution, moved by S. B. Ali at a meeting of the committee chaired by Zahooruddin Ahmad, was discussed at length by the members. They pointed out that at the time of partition, Karachi was part of Sindh, and historically and geographically belonged to the province. The meeting also named Landhi-Korangi ‘Babul Islam’.

Weather-wise that week, the city looked colourful. On Dec 16, over 2,500 exhibits were put on display at the fifth chrysanthemum show that opened at the Zoological Gardens. Seven professional and four amateur florists submitted their exhibits containing many varieties of chrysanthemum. Among them, the tallest plant was 11 feet long. In spite of the prolonged summer season, there was freshness in the flowers which were thought to be better than those that were on view the previous year. Among the professional exhibitors, the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) were the main contributors, displaying 1,100 and 450 flowers, respectively. Amjad Ali and A. R. H. Habib were among the amateurs who had contributed the largest number of flowers (200 each). The city commissioner, Masood Nabi Noor, inaugurated the show and gave away the prizes. From the amateur group, A. R. H. Habib, Begum Syed Amjad Ali and Syed Wajid Ali secured first, second and third positions, respectively. And from the professional side, KDA Nursery North Nazimabad, Bagh-i-Jinnah, KMC, and Maj Shaheed Aziz Bhatti Park, KDA, got the top three prizes. The prize of merit was awarded to Sultan Khan for growing the best chrysanthemum. Wow! How delightfully different the city by the sea was 50 years back.

The KMC was in the news for another noteworthy reason. On Dec 18, the corporation sent 56 paintings done by schoolchildren of Karachi to Japan as gifts for Japanese children. They were addressed to the Mayor of Yokosuka by KMC Chairman Abrar Hasan Khan. The mayor handed them over to the Yokosuka Children’s Artwork Exchange Association. The artworks had been sent to Japan in return for the children’s paintings brought to Pakistan by Rear Admiral Tetsuo Motomura of the Japanese Training Squadron in September. Along with the paintings, the KMC chief had sent greetings from Karachiites to the citizens of Yokosuka.

This sounds hunky dory. Not all can be well all the time in a megalopolis. On Dec 18, an Iranian national was nabbed by the police near a bank on McLeod Road (now I. I. Chundrigar Road). He was identified as Salamat, alias Mahmood. All police stations had been informed of his arrest as he was wanted in several cases. The police said his modus operandi used to be: to stand near bank counters; after having seen someone withdrawing a large sum, he would follow him outside the bank premises and come forward asking for change for five hundred rupees or a hundred rupees. It was while counting or recounting of the change that the alleged cheat would squeeze away one or two notes and ask the other man to reimburse it. Interesting.

On a sadder note, on Dec 21, the Karachi Press Club expressed condolences on the passing of three journalists: Umer Farooqi, editor Aghaz, Ejaz Hussain, Washington correspondent of Dawn, and Waheed Qaiser Nadvi, resident editor of Mashriq. Separate resolutions adopted by the governing body of the club praised the services of the prominent journalists to the National Press, and described their deaths as a great loss to the profession.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2019