A RECENT documentary on YouTube about Karachi’s decline has generated considerable discussion. While it succeeds in engaging viewers through effective storytelling, it raises an important question about the distinction between storytelling and journalism. The issue is not whether the documentary criticises the party heading the provincial government. The concern is whether Karachi’s complex decline can be explained by focusing primarily on one political actor, while giving comparatively little attention, if at all, to the broader historical and political context.

Karachi’s challenges did not emerge in isolation. The city’s trajectory has been shaped by decades of political engineering, ethnic polarisation, shifting power structures, patronage-based governance, institutional weakening, and competing political interests. The rise of various political forces, changes in administrative arrangements, and the role of state and non-state actors are all parts of the larger story.

Any serious examination of Karachi’s deterioration should evaluate the contri-butions of all stakeholders, including successive governments, local adminis-trations, political parties and institutions. Selectively highlighting one actor while minimising others risks replacing investi-gation with narrative framing. Karachi’s complex story deserves to be told in full.

Sikandar Arif Baloch
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2026