THEY say history repeats itself. Sometimes it feels as if the repetition is nothing but a succession of events with a new spin on them, and the feeling is often not based on good experiences. Today Indian Muslims are facing a huge problem where accusations are being hurled at them by their country’s bigoted groups. On May 18, 1970 this newspaper carried a statement issued by the Pakistan Muslim Gujarati Anjuman in which it expressed horror at the mass killing of Muslims in the state of Maharashtra in India. In a resolution passed at a meeting in Karachi a couple of days back, the Anjuman bemoaned the fact that the government of India had utterly failed to give protection to Indian Muslims. It urged the government of Pakistan to take measures to make its Indian counterpart conscious of its responsibilities towards the Muslim minority.
As one can note, Karachi has always been a politically and socially aware town, keeping its administrators on their toes. Naturally, they would be constantly coming up with ideas to meet the city’s growing demands. On May 22 it was announced that the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) had completed preliminary thinking on its five-year (1970-75) and annual development plan (1970-71). The total outlay of the proposal was Rs245.152 million and was exclusive of the expenditure –– Rs34.05m –– already incurred by the corporation on projected schemes. In the plan, the KMC had given top priority to improving water supply and provision of house-to-house connections, and Rs70.2m had been earmarked for this aspect alone. Next came the sewage disposal system and it got Rs39.41m followed by new schools for extending the benefits of free primary education to the remotest parts of the city; Rs29.902m had been allocated to finance it.
Ironically, the issue of water scarcity had become the bane of city fathers. The same day, the KMC and the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) said the 30-inch diameter water supply line feeding PIB Colony, Nafeesabad, Iqbal Colony and Aminabad would remain out of commission for 12 hours (from midnight until noon). Therefore, there would be no supply to these areas during the 12 hours of May 23. It happened because the KMC had to complete the widening of University Road at the Jail Road-Shaheed-i-Millat Road roundabout which also involved the relaying of the 30-inch pipeline.
As if that wasn’t enough a dispiriting piece of information, on May 22 it was reported that the incidence of mumps had increased in the city in the previous three weeks. The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Civil Hospital and the Epidemic Disease Hospital received 132 cases of mumps from almost all localities of Karachi as against 111 during the month of April.
As for the art world, on May 20, inaugurating an exhibition of paintings by M. A. Rauf at the American Centre, Roshan Ali Bhimji, president of the Eastern Federation Insurance Company, commented that politicians and diplomats would do much better if they communicated through pictures. There were over 50 paintings done in a variety of styles.
Speaking of style, on May 23, an Italian military plane passed through Karachi to commemorate the historic flight from Rome to Tokyo 50 years ago by an Italian pilot, Commander Arturo Ferrarin. The aircraft followed the same flight schedule and timings observed by the commander. A large number of Italian community members in the city cheered for the plane at the airport.
Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2020
