ON April 17, 1976, an Indian Rorqual (blue whale) had washed ashore dead at Cape Monze, 30 miles west of Karachi — it was first claimed that it’s a Californian whale. On May 23, talking to the media, Mohammad Rafique, a fisherman, said 20,000 gallons of oil from the whale’s fat could be yielded. He had employed 10 persons to cut up the 50-foot animal and assured the Directorate of Zoological Survey of Pakistan that he would hand over its skeleton to the survey team for preservation. Apparently, it was the third whale that Mr Rafique was handling. About the one at Cape Monze, he had received information two days before the dead mammal came to the shore that it was moving towards Pakistan’s coast. But he was not sure where it would land. As luck would have it, his men, who were keeping an eye on the coast, told him that the whale had reached Karachi near Cape Monze Lighthouse.
From sea to land. On May 21, the Chief Minister of Sindh, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, inaugurated the subway at Liaquatabad which had been in the news for some weeks. Speaking on the occasion, he said the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) under the leadership of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto would serve all sections of the people of Sindh, equally and justly. The people of Karachi and the rest of the province, he pointed out, were all one, gathered on a single platform behind Mr Bhutto, belying the wishful thinking of the party’s adversaries that Karachiites were against the PPP. The subway, built by the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) at a cost of Rs2 million, was 200-ft long and had 40 shops.
The corporation was pretty busy at the time. On May 25, it was learnt that the KMC had initiated a research project for the study of its revenue system and the allocation of its finances with the help of the Applied Economics and Research Centre at the University of Karachi (KU). The study group had [initially] identified a variety of causes of the financial problems and proposed to examine different types of revenues, income calculations, price elasticities and their administrative characteristics. One of the main tasks of the whole exercise was to find out which sources of revenue were more adjustable with a view to devising a flexible system of taxation, adaptable to the changing circumstances.
On the cultural side of Karachi life, on May 18, more than a dozen artists gave impressive performances of classical and light music at an event organised in memory of Ustad Amanat Ali Khan (who died in 1974) at the city’s Ebrahim Alibhahi Hall. The artists included Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan, Asad Amanat Ali Khan, Hamid Ali Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Qutubuddin Khan, Ustad Wahid Hussain Khan and Rizwana Jabeen. The performance of Asad Amanat Ali Khan (one of the sons of the late ustad) with Hamid Ali Khan was highly appreciated. Together, they sang thumris and ragas.
Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2026
