THE Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) is oftentimes in the news for non-medical reasons, such as the Islamabad-Sindh rift about who has control over the facility. The fact remains that it’s arguably the busiest hospital in the city of Karachi which looks after hundreds of patients, if not more, on a daily basis. It is also old enough to have a bit of history, some of which must be mentioned to highlight the role that it has played over the years in the lives of Karachiites in particular and Pakistanis in general.

On July 28, 1970 a team of surgeons assisted by anaesthetists performed a successful open-heart surgery for the first time at the JPMC. A man named Abdul Hameed, 35, who was suffering from mitral stenosis (narrowing of valves connecting the auricles and ventricles of the heart) was operated upon by four cardiologists; and three anaesthetists assisted them. The cardiologists included Dr Akram, Dr Waheed and Dr Idrees headed by Dr Iftikhar H. Rathor. The anaesthetists were Dr Faiz, Dr Kamal led by Dr Shaikh Abdul Rehman. As far as the country is concerned, an open-heart surgery had successfully been done two months back at the Combined Military Hospital for the first time in Pakistan.

Unfortunately, good reports are usually accompanied by the ones that dampen your spirits. Hospitals such as the JPMC have laboratories, and here’s a news item related to a different kind of laboratory. On July 27, a lab assistant of the physics department at the University of Karachi was arrested for trying to befool a student of BSc Hons. The accused was said to have promised a young man that he would fetch him examination papers from the Confidential Branch if he was given Rs300. He got 51 rupees in advance and the rest was to be handed over at the time of receiving the paper. He failed to do so and was caught.

Another serious issue that week was the students ‘and residents of some areas’ demonstration that had been going on for a few days against a public transport company. On July 29, the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) staged a protest rally at the Empress Market bus stop against the alleged highhandedness and corrupt practices of the Karachi Omnibus Service. They demanded immediate dismissal of the district manager of the Regional Transport Company (RTC), eliminating the goonda elements from the bus service, implementation of the government decision to charge 10 paisa for a single journey student concession and increase of the present strength of the RTC buses. And on July 30, a large procession was taken out by the MSF and residents of Korangi and Malir that paraded through the main thoroughfares of their localities in which anti-omnibus service slogans were raised.

Interestingly, while a certain section of the transport system was being criticised, the city’s road network seemed to be getting better. On July 27, it was announced that the last of the four bridges built by the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) on Gujro Nalo linking FB Area to North Nazimabad was now open to traffic. The bridges had cost about Rs2.5million, constructed to reduce the distance between townships by several miles. The KDA was building another bridge over Orangi Nala to provide an all-weather road for the residents of Qasba Colony off Manghopir Road. It was getting the final touches.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2020