KARACHI: A makeshift market of some 350 plus stalls has been set up at the Baradari side of Bagh-i-Jinnah, also known as Polo Ground, by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation with the Sindh government’s help to support the affected vendors of the Gul Plaza tragedy.

No one else is allowed to run a stall at Baradari. All the vendors who acquired a stall there first had to prove their identity.

“Up till now we were trying to make do by selling online but the need for a physical shop was felt badly,” Abdul Rahman, a vendor selling children’s garments, told Dawn.

“I wished I had a shop ever since we lost Gul Plaza but I could no longer afford one. I thank God that this chance came up,” he said while displaying a few frilly white and blue little girl dresses.

Abdul Rahman said that he used to have a basement shop in Gul Plaza called Biz Kids. The way he pronounced his shop’s name it sounded like “biscuits” and realising this he joked that his biscuits got burnt in the oven so he had to start afresh with the batter. It went to the man’s credit to still have a sense of humour. “We are still picking up and putting together the pieces of our shattered souls to be able to stand up again in one piece. Somewhere during these two months or so we also taught ourselves to smile again,” Abdul Rahman said with a glint in his eyes.

At the makeshift market, free stalls help shopkeepers cut prices

The vendors stressed that there is nothing different or lacking in quality from what they used to sell at Gul Plaza.

Since they are not paying rent for the stalls, provided to them for free by Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, the items on sale are in fact cheaper than Gul Plaza prices.

Abdul Basit, who also had a children’s garments shop called The Little Stop in Gul Plaza’s basement, said that he used to pay Rs110,000 as monthly rent for his 126 square feet shop. “But this stall is free so the price of the merchandise which he bought in wholesale has also gone down,” he said.

He also said that since the fire, he has been selling from a shop at a mall in Korangi. “Some malls are giving us shops for two to three months without charging us rent but they are nothing compared to Gul Plaza as they are not as ideally located as Gul Plaza. Baradari is centrally located and hopefully our sales will pick up here,” he added.

Mohammad Amir said he had a crockery shop named Mansoori Crockery on Gul Plaza’s ground floor. But he was getting no customers here. “It is fine. It is only our second day here at Baradari and I have complete faith in the Almighty who made even this outlet possible to help me get up again after the fall,” he said.

Huzaifa, who had a ground floor shop called Geo Jewellery in Gul Plaza, hoped to attract lots of customers at Baradari as his stall was right near the entrance.

Jami Raza said that he had two luggage shops in Gul Plaza, one on the ground floor and the other on the first floor. “Both the shops were called Fazle Rabbi,” he said.

Another luggage seller, Mohammad Ali, was busy cleaning the dust off his big and small suitcases. “I had everything gathering dust in a warehouse all this while,” he said. “My shop in Gul Plaza faced main M.A. Jinnah Road. From running a showroom, we have come to running a stall,” he said with a sigh.

Though only 10 to 20 of the 350 stalls have started business, it was hoped that things would pick up soon and more stalls will be open for business.

The timing of the market is from 4pm to 4am daily during Ramazan.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2026