ALTHOUGH Karachi’s vivaciousness has lost a bit of its edge in recent times, one can never write it off when it comes to creating an enlivening atmosphere around its neighbourhoods. Here’s an interesting piece of information in that context.

Not many would know that Korangi used to be a culturally vibrant locality, and its residents were pretty proud of it. So half a century back, they decided to organise an event to celebrate their area with a bang. Unfortunately, when it finally took place on Aug 7, 1970, floods in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) all but washed out the Jashn-i-Korangi which was inaugurated by Irfan Saruhan, Consul-General of Turkey. Still, a brief ceremony with a small exhibition of paintings and produce of the cottage industry in Korangi marked the first day of the three-day celebrations at Project Building, Korangi No 5.

Things were not moving smoothly in another part of the city, too. On Aug 3, 1970 the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) suggested to the people of Natha Khan Goth near Drigh Colony to undertake planning and development of old settlements through their own efforts. The authority offered to the residents that it would be willing to take upon itself the zonal planning on their behalf, free of cost. The KDA’s new approach indicated that it wouldn’t like to get involved in the amelioration schemes of old settlements except to the extent of helping the residents out in preparing the zonal plan. According to a news item, the idea was based on past experiences where the KDA had taken up projects but found its funds blocked and ultimately failed to complete the job.

The business side of things in the city was no different. On Aug 7, the CIA police tried to raid Mehboob Cloth Market and Capital Cloth Market in search of smuggled pieces of cloth but their attempt was foiled by the shopkeepers as they immediately closed down their stores. (It’s said that a similar raid was made a couple of months back in which a certain quantity of foreign cloth was seized.) After the attempt, the shopkeepers of Mehboob Cloth Market went to Governor’s House and later called on the city commissioner complaining about harassment. On Aug 8, Mehboob Cloth Market became quite the scene for onlookers the whole day as the CIA joined by the Customs Department continued with their attempt because of what they described as ‘checking of smuggled cloth’. All doors leading to the market were closed to owners of the shops and to the newsmen who tried to cover the raid described by police sources as the biggest ever. However, this newspaper wrote that the question asked by the public present at the scene was: how did such a big quantity of fabric come to the market without the knowledge or prior information of the Sea Customs Anti-Smuggling Staff?

As always, it’s the creative facet of Karachi which minimises the effects, to a great extent, of such tense goings-on. On Aug 4, an exhibition of 39 photographs taken by Mian A. Majid opened at the Arts Council. The show presented a fine mix of artistic imagination and superb technical skills. Most photographs were a combination of prints using the technique of super imposition that stood out mainly for its ‘thematic appeal and expressive texture’.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2020