In the year 1984, President General Ziaul Haq, head of state of a country starved of education and of entertainment, a country that in this world had lost half of itself, decided that its people should have a share in the outer world of space.
He issued a dictat in the form of a presidential order and decreed that planetaria be set up in the provincial and federal capitals: "... to introduce people, especially students, to the experience of travel through space and time, and to expose them to the history of civilization, to the natural sciences and to branches of technology, navigation and space flights.
"The material [to be imported] is built by Carl Zeiss of the German Democratic Republic and is being made available at concessional prices. PIA will finance and manage these planetaria which would be run on a no-profit no-loss basis, and charge nominal fees to meet a part of the running expenses. I have approved this proposal in view of its educational value.....". He ordered the provincial governments and the Capital Development Authority to provide suitable land for the planetaria.
The Karachi planetarium was built and inaugurated in September 1984, and went into operation. The Lahore project soon followed. The equipment for the Quetta and Peshawar planetaria have lain in their packing cases in Karachi since the mid-1980s. In 1994-95 the cases were damaged by rain, opened and repacked. So what exactly is in them and in what condition is not known.
This July, PIA decided to cease its support of the Karachi planetarium. It declared it could no longer afford to subsidize the project as it was running at a loss of some Rs.50,000 per month. The Export Promotion Bureau, on whose land the planetarium stands, wants its plot back and also wishes to collect and clear a substantial amount of back rent which is actually not due, as originally, under Ziaul Haq's watchful eye, the EPB allocated a plot rent free to PIA. The EPB's keen desire to recoup this plot is to rent it to one of the international 'kababachis'. (The minutes of the various meetings held between these two giants makes pathetic reading.)
In course of time, Karachi, and the other cities of Pakistan have been chains of invaded by 'kababchis' bearing the banners of Macdonald's, of Colonel Saunders' Kentucky Fried Chicken, of Pizza Hut, of Burger King, and of many other such purveyors of culinary delights. (An aside : a couple of years ago whilst visiting an expo of the space machines we manufacture, I overheard a group of youngsters pointing to me and saying to each other, 'Yeh KFC ke Colonel hain'! One of them came over and asked if I would sign a chit authorizing the nearest outlet to serve free dinners for six. My protestations failed, I was soon besieged, and must have signed away a good 200 dinners within the space of five minutes.)
Now, one of these lucrative foreign delicatessens has expressed a keen interest in the piece of prime land where stands the planetarium - it is ideally located for the flogging of fast food.
Our education wizard, Herr Doktor Professor Atta-ur-Rahman, who enjoys ministerial status, which he rightly deserves, would like to relocate the planetarium - and build a new planetarium elsewhere in the city. The president is expected to issue a second dictat reversing that of his predecessor, Ziaul Haq.
What the people of Karachi would like is a modern planetarium, to be built and put into operation before the old planetarium is done away with. Is this asking too much? Our 20-year PIA-run planetarium has for all these years shown the original unchanged 40-minute programme, twice a day during the week and thrice on Sundays.
According to the International Planetarium Society, India has 15 planetaria (since we must always and in all spheres compare ourselves with India). The scorecard of Muslim countries shows a total of 17 : Algeria 1, Egypt 1, Iran 2, Kazakhstan 1, Kuwait 2, Malaysia 1, Nigeria 1, Oman 1, Saudi Arabia 1, UAE 3, Indonesia 2, Pakistan 1 - only the Karachi Planetarium is registered though the one in Lahore is functioning.
Mexico, another relatively poor country, has 18, Spain 24, the United Kingdom 46, and Japan 58. The US is on a different plane as it has an astounding 553 planetaria. Much detailed and useful information can be obtained from the International Planetarium Society website at http://www.ips-planetarium.org/atw/ips-around.html)
There is a large range in the quality of planetaria. But the theme that unites them all is the aim of provoking a sense of wonder in both children and adults, and to educate them about our place in the universe. There is nothing better than astronomy to provide some perspective in our lives.
Take the Rose Centre for Earth and Space in New York City which hosts the Hayden Planetarium, arguably one of the best planetaria in the world. Each day there is a huge queue of visitors waiting to get in, representing people of different ages. There are a number of very clever interactive demonstrations and much to discover. The level of these exhibits is such that it taps into the curiosity chamber of all, irrespective of age. Even professional astronomers are amazed by the quality and inventiveness of the shows.
The Rose Centre is located at one of the more accessible places in Manhattan and right next to the main art museums (such as the Metropolitan Museum of the Arts) and to Central Park. The planetarium is crucial for a city that never sees any stars in the night sky and where life is too busy to contemplate our humble existence on cosmic timescales. Apart from science fiction, this is perhaps the only other avenue where budding astronomers can get truly excited about their universe.
Like New York, Karachi has a fast life and tremendous light pollution. But unlike New York, it does not have a plethora of museums and parks. We are very lucky to have the planetarium in Karachi despite its condition, and it will be a huge loss if we place it out of the reach for most of our citizens. The night sky with its stars is a heritage of humanity and a luxury available only to those living outside big cities. For a city of 15 million, there should be some opportunity to glimpse the sky at night and to hear the story of our origins.
Can anyone help?