WHEN the Senate rejected a move to relocate Pakistan International Airlines offices to Islamabad, the fierce drive to shift as many offices as possible from Karachi to Islamabad received a very welcome jolt.

Some months ago there was a similar move to shift the offices of the Civil Aviation Authority to Islamabad. There were strong protests. The affected families prayed night and day for the move to fail. God heard them. The government fell. It was discredited, disgraced and its key figures were put behind bars. The CAA was not taken away from the metropolis.

Trust me when I say this, when you relocate an office and don’t consider the human dimensions, you are being absolutely unwise.

East Pakistan broke away from us exactly for this reason. We disregarded human implications of our moves, which were senseless. Taking away resources from one place and giving it to another gives rise to secessionist sentiments. Mujib-ur-Rehman talked to me at length on this in Karachi when I interviewed him for an English magazine.

Wake up Islamabad!

Azmat Ansari
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2019