South East Asia- A short fleeting look...

South Asians are supposed to be hardworking and dedicated recruits but unfortunately they come from a third world sector of this globe where corruption, terrorism and other issues are so perilous that they usually are unable to survive, loyal citizens are soon trapped by fickle citizens and this racket keeps on growing every day. South Asians is a term used to describe the citizens who reside in the south of the continent, these citizens or commonly known as humans believe in easy money making and plan on spending a luxurious life without inputting any effort. The idea of easy money making leaves them illiterate because they as students think earning money is all it takes to lead a well-appointed life but unfortunately they are wrong. These people are labeled as illiterate and then comes the issue of massive poverty and huge population and with this comes economic destabilization and then we hear a sound CRASH… your economy is back to level one. Super powers like America, Britain and other emerging powers like china benefit from south Asian countries in terms of resources and labor but we are the sole owners of resources and labor, why can’t we make the most of them and make our own country great, reduce poverty and make heaven on earth. With Southeast Asian governments working towards stabilization and the United States is enjoying good relations with these countries, American businesses and investors have been at the forefront of investment activity.

A region with nuclear power, geo political location, multi-cultural diversity and hospitality are left for the super powers to be called as garbage or a production of third world countries. Why can’t we get united and sense about something better. Make our region a better place to live. No region on this globe was perfect but with lots of hard work they made it perfect. We belong to the same world so why not eliminate intolerance and the blame game we play and hold ourselves responsible for a better region. Do what you can and make this region a competitive one. We cannot change this government or be the next rulers but we can clean this region, educate it, feed the poor who reside among us and prove to the world that we can make a difference. It’s not about changing bad to good or good to bad but it’s about doing your part. We should deem it as our contractual obligation to serve the society so that others can be helped and guided for their optimistic future.


Miqdad Sibtain
0917150

Karachi-The city of lights...

“When you look at a city its like reading the hopes aspirations and pride of everyone who built it”- Hugh Newell Jacobsen-

Being the largest city of Pakistan and having the main sea port, Karachi is always open to businesses, be it industrial or banking. It is the capital of the province Sindh and the original capital of Pakistan until Islamabad was constructed. Karachi is ranked as the Beta world city. After the independence of Pakistan, the city population increased dramatically when hundreds of thousands of Urdu-speaking migrants(Muhajirs) from India, East Pakistan which later became Bangladesh, and other parts of South Asia came to settle here in karachi. In terms of urbanization, Karachi has always been an urban city, always well aware of the updates going around the globe. It is a home to people belonging to diverse ethnic backgrounds from all over Pakistan as well as other countries. The culture of Karachi is quite different from other cities of Pakistan, since it was the city which was the choice of the majority at the time of partition- thus, a blend of Middle Eastern and South Asian culture is seen in the city. In terms of society, it is the largest city where most middle class families of the country reside. Its ethnically diversified nature makes people, of different ethnicities, quite comfortable around each other. People of different religions respect and celebrate their fellow citizen’s festivals. Regardless of religion and cast Eid, Christmas and Diwali are celebrated by almost everyone in the city. This mediocrity in the nature of the city makes it a favourable place to enjoy and live. But with the passage of time, Karachi is turning into a city of social and political chaos, be it the condition of our traffic or our mind, in every area we have started to lack tolerance. There are different income groups and no such balance in financial statuses can be seen, some people are filthy rich and some can hardly make to basic necessities. Also these days, people are under terror and fear due to uncertain security conditions. It is, undoubtedly, a diversified society but in my opinion it lacks pluralism. However if government and people both play their parts fairly in the society, then it would not be very difficult to brush of the dust of problems from the city.

Shumaila Amirali

Karachi

Even though the our father the great Jinnah told us that the only way we could prosper would be if live united amongst each other and stopped thinking ourselves as Sindhis, Punjabis, Baluchis, Pathans and Mahajirs, but instead took everyone  under the same banner as a Pakistani. So here is the greatest mistake all of us have made not once, not twice but in every step and sphere of our lives. We refuse to renounce ourselves with what we really are and so is the greatest city in Pakistan, its central hub, its metropolitan city, its financial center and its former capital the greatest target of, fragmentation.

Karachi is the melting pot of Pakistan. Different individuals from different ethical backgrounds and races come and meet here. As it is the urban center of the country and the financial hub many different people meet there economic needs here. This causes heavy migration within the country to the city leading all types of individuals to come and recede here. They do live amongst each other but they never blend in. From the khyabans in defence to the kacha roads in lyari you will see millions of people with thousands of different living, conversing, eating, meeting and celebrating styles. These people have brought in their different cultures but not all got the importance they deserved. Some believe themselves and their cultures and styles of living to be above the others, giving birth to such diversified views and degradations.  You will see that the elite in the defence will have a very degrading attitude towards the working class and especially the low class of the low income societies. Their belief that they are above all because of their financial backgrounds have blinded them of the unity of the millions that led to the creation of this state. They forget that it took thousands of sacrifices and tons of blood to draw the lines between the two nations. They forget that the unity if not gained again will take the country down the drain. Karachi thus becomes the prime example of this “class” diversion. Karachi is so divided that half of it is ruled by the sindhis, the remaining by mahajirs and some parts of it by pathans. It seems impossible for them to live together. Every now and then we hear news of fights amongst the pathans and the mahajirs. Innocent lives are lost because of these riots. Property destroyed, cars burnt and innocents tortured.

A nation so divided can never progress. We must remember that the tale of the sticks, in which on stick can be broken very easily but if a bunch is created it takes much more than just easy to break them off. We must not allow the “others” to divide and rule over us again. We suffered it long ago, we must learn from history.

Asad Dalal

My perception on the Karachi Society...

Karachi for me is a blend of the many different parts of the country, and yet strangely unique. Being an international metropolis it is home to a multi-lingual community. As it is the greatest economic hub of the country, Karachi has since long attracted Pakistanis from all the four provinces. For me, the Karachi society is like an all-embracing mother that has opened its arms and accepted people from varying backgrounds. The populace of Karachi is a unique blend of people belonging to different ethnicities, cultures, languages, socio-economic backgrounds and religions. Karachi is composed of people from all provinces and yet it seems hard to place it in one province, even the one it is geographically located in. Karachi has a distinctive quality to it. The convergence of such diversity in all walks of life works as a uniting force for the Karachities and strengthens their bond and their love of the city. The variety of such cultures and ethnicities gives Karachi its rich heritage. Karachi is the land of acceptance. People here live they want to; just observing people will reveal a variety in dress and language. Karachi is also termed as the land of opportunities. Having a huge industrial sector it provides employment to a huge number of people and promises them various prospects and chances of a better life style. The people of Karachi are a set of liberated individuals who believe in freedom and strive fearlessly to go on with their daily activities and gain success in them.

Nimra Azmat

0917157

My perception on the Karachi Society...

The Karachi society for me is predominantly a working class society. The presence of a great number of industries in the city results in its having a rich work force. However, people ranging from all socio-economic status are present in this city. Some of the richest families of Pakistan who own a great share in the economy and the industrial sector of the country reside here. As opposed to this, the Karachi society is also composed of a great number of people living in squalid conditions in slums and surviving below the poverty line. Karachi is home to both the rich and the poor and people belonging to varying degrees of these statuses. White collared, blue collared and brown collared people and such occupations are present in the city. This class distinction is, for me, a prominent feature of the Karachi society. Of late, the Karachi society has become an intolerant and barbaric crowd. The diversity of the ethnicities, cultures and languages of people which should actually have been strength and the pride of the city, has become the cause of various clashes. The major problems of Pakistan such as poverty and inflation have had drastic effects on the people of Karachi and have turned people into a frenzied mob. The individuals of Karachi also have a wide variety of political afflictions of the country to choose from. However, instead of uniting, these differences have spread the evil of hatred and unacceptance in the people. The people have turned into violent bloody thirsty animals. The phenomenon of target killing, according to me, is a peculiar emergence from Karachi. The environment of Karachi is terror-stricken as the city is rocked frequently from terrorist attacks and other protests and demonstrations turned ugly with bloodshed.


Omer Sarwana
0917158

Karachi Society...

When we think of Karachi and its society in general, many things come into our mind, such as Architecture, diversity of people, pollution, enjoyment and so on… we always hear people who feel proud when they say that what has this city or country in general given us and we would like to leave this country if we would get a chance...it’s sad when those same people are asked that  which is the place which you all will remember forever, then the reply is mostly seaview, or Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum or Boat basin or Mohatta Palace, etc. All these places are the STRENGTHS for the entire KARACHITIES. When the utterance of the word strengths comes, many things come in mind. Going deep in the meaning of the word strength, it is the power or force. To reflect this word on Karachi, we should be proud of our city as it has given us a lot of comfort and our favorite memories, throughout our lives.

Now a question arises that everything in this world has weaknesses along with strengths so how to make Karachi a better place of living? We should try to minimize the negatives arising in our society by spreading love and affection everywhere. We should help the poor and try to raise their standard of living as that will not only help them but the entire society will be benefited from that as their will be less burglary, violence, robbery, stealing and mugging. All these things are linked to one another. All these weakness are associated to one another and if all of them get together, they become a threat to the the entire society therefore we are the ones who should take the first step to improve ourselves and then others, that way we will be the ones winning the race.

Moderator in tears...

Just how much blood, sweat and tears does it take to run an online blog? Most community managers will tell you there aren’t enough hours in the day and more than likely, that it’s a labor. As more and more niche communities are launched, more and more community managers are looking for innovative, relevant ways to monetize their community, but without enough time and resources they struggle to find a foothold.

Last week’s assignment is still not done by almost half of the class. It was due on the 21^st of January and today its almost 5 days past the deadline. Well since it’s the first article all of you are given a second opportunity. You are requested to turn in your articles max by Friday (this Friday). Fridays are reserved for blog work rest of the days I’m busy (Like girls have attitude men have esteem). I’m sorry you have to read this post. This post is forcefully written. Please go through these notes below. Though they are harsh but I think the stricter I am the higher GPA I’ll score:

1.       Blog posts carry ten marks at the end of the term. Late entrys will not be counted or uploaded on the blog.

2.       Plagiarism is not allowed. Each article is tested before it is uploaded. 9/22 articles were imitative last time.

3.       Please avoid buttering because I will not upload your articles after the deadline.

4.       I was not willing to be a blog arbitrator and I’m forcefully pushed in the job


Good Night :-)
Miqdad Sibtain

Group Distribution...

Group1	Group2	Group3	Group4	Group5
Mahin Khalid	Paras Saif	Faheem Yaseen	Sidra Qureshi	Muhammad Adeel
Sarrah Millwala	Falak Haneef	Rida Rasool	Nageen Pervez	Taha Qureshi
Khizra Javed	Nida Siddiqui	Raza Haidery	Onaiza Qureshi	Miqdad Sibtain
Asad Dalal	Sonal Arshad	Owais Hadi	Saleha Altaf	Asif Faruqi
Hussain Mazhar	Alizeh Gohar	Nimra Azmat	Anika Kamran	Ayesha Shaikh
Ayesha B Rashid	Aliza Zehra	-	Tehreem Rajani	Ushna Khan
Omer Sarwana	Shumaila Amirali	-	Anam Qadri	Nashmea Ayaz
Sani-e-Zehra	Rachel Viccaji	-	-	-

Social Policy...

Individual perception of the society of Karachi.

As I said before, the society of Karachi has two kinds of people. We, for the sake of assumption ignore the sects, provincial origins and all the other cultural diversity that exists in this city. The two main categories of people are;

a)      Those who wish to stay in Pakistan.

b)      Those who wish to leave Pakistan.

So to see this as the main dividing line to categorically divide society, isn’t too presumptuous. The characteristics that people who wish to stay would be an optimistic view in the ethnocentric attitudes. They would want to learn the history of Karachi/Pakistan. They would want to speak the original scripture of our Urdu language, if not want to know the other provincial languages. They would want to return back to Pakistan to contribute in the wellbeing of the country. The latter would the automatically classify in the other group.

Law and Order of Karachi

It’s a sad fact, but Karachi has been living in ‘bad times’ for as long as I can remember. For instance, in 1995 when I arrived to meet with my friends and family, I was told that it was a bad time to go out. In 2003, the same issue was brought to my attention. The year 2006, I had missed my A level paper because the situation was ‘bad’. My first year in university, I wanted to go out with friends but again the situation was ‘bad’. However, like many other citizens I grew immune to the statements. The odd part is things haven’t changed a bit. I remember it was last week when I wanted to go out for a site seeing tour, and my parents and relatives stopped me again, and the reason would probably be known to you by now. The statement said. “these are bad times.”

So looking at this experience, I realized were (as a society) very self-prophesizing. We make a huge fuss over the situation; however most members of this society manage to go to work, get shopping done and even have time to sit outside with some fellows to have a smoke. Ironic, to think these are ‘bad times’ while I lay on a ‘char payi’ with a few friends sharing a laugh.

Government Policies.

Well this aspect can be well described by the definition of an economic term called “profit”. Now looking at the definition we economists would work on, it would read something along the lines of such;

“Economic profit is a gain to one’s self with a gain to society, if not at least no opportunity cost incurred upon others”.

The definition I learnt, the government likes to follow is somewhat along the lines of;

“A gain to one’s own self, with a loss to others and minimum a higher incurred opportunity cost.”

So looking at the input I gave in, I see the society of Karachi as such. It shows a depressed society, because of the self-prophesizing tendency. We need to learn the reality and improve upon that. Tight accountability checks and balances are required so it would be next to impossible for anyone to step out of the line of the system.

Taha Qureshi

Karachi Society...

I khizra javaid, am a psychology major. So when I was told I would have to take sp as a compulsory course it sort of made me angry. Why? Because I wanted to health psychology or organisational or even child psychology, but Social Policy, really?

Then came our first class after two weeks of anticipation. Sir Maskwaith turned out to be as unusual as his name. He started off with us not introducing ourselves, but with us talking extempore about what our perception of karachi society was like. It was fun listening to everyone give opinions. Some were funny! Like Nageen Pervez, she tried to find positive things in karachi. Shows she is a loyal karachiite but really these days there isn't much to be happy about in our gorgeous city of lights! Then I totally agreed when some people said there's greed corruption and lawlessness. We need to accept our flaws before correcting them! No point in hidind our head in the sand.

I personally think everything has a good and bad. So does Karachi. We have good loyal population, even if our rulers are nepotistic, corrupted and greedy. So I don't agree with anyone who says karachi has no hope. Its educated youth will become its hope.

After that we started a discussion on the subcontinent before all partitions. It was interesting as to how people compared pakistan, india and bangladesh. The part that really got me thinking was when sir drew a travel line bw the three countries. It got me thinking that yes, if we had no barriers we could make our relations much more friendly than neutral and hostile.

I am more of an observer and listener than I am a speaker. So I didn't contribute much. But it was fun as to how the class progressed.

Social policy turned out to be a really good surprise! I had another lesson learnt in not judging a book by its cover!

Khizra Javaid

Social Policy-Reflection

When I heard about the course ‘social policy’ I was really intrigued. This course had a very vague name and it was kind of hard to really pin point what exactly the learning objectives of this course would be.

It started off with a speaking session. It was a bit different, because usually when we start class we start with introducing ourselves, life’s aim and such other information, but here we started professionally. We had to give an overview of Karachi and that in itself seemed to be a complex assignment because Karachi is so vast and intricate. It has many different lives and many different aspects.

We all had to give our opinions and speak extempore. I still wrote my points on a piece of paper. In my opinion Karachi is a metropolitan city with different caste’s and different sections of social structures hitherto existing in the world. They all co exist albeit peacefully or non peacefully. We see that a city so vast is being governed by emotions rather than by logic and reasoning. I believe if we over come our discriminations we can have a city parallel to any in the world existing today and tomorrow to come.

And every man seems to take the law in his hands. And one thing that I agree with was Tehreem’s opening statement that ‘to judge a city one must judge its traffic’. In my opinion a lot of us became negative. We had a comparison of not only India and Pakistan but we also compared Bangladesh with them. This was interesting because teachers tend to usually forget or not discuss this important country also previously a part of the subcontinent.  We also discussed Jinnah who is incidentally my ideal personality. I hope to try and do some good just as he has in this world. The book sir recommended to us was one I was already planning to read. I have it with me in fact, But I have also read Stanley Wolpert’s accounts of the Partition. I hope I remember some of my knowledge.

All in all, this class was interesting. It got off a nice start. I hope I can do well, and learn something in this course. I also wish to be able to contribute something positive.


Mahin Khalid Siddiqui
0917149

Karachi social policy...

According to me Karachi has evolved from a rich culture and diverse ethnicity. In its effort to revolutionize itself and become instep with the modern world, Karachi has lost some of its distinguishing factors that once made it a tightly knit friendly hometown to many. Today’s Karachi as many of us know it is a hostile environment in which many of us sleep with our eyes open. Though justice and law should evolve along with a cities’ basic features, Karachi has digressed from its development aim in relation to the law and order. Crime and injustice have left its impact on Karachi’s framework and though the city trudges through time, internally the city delves into chaos and misfortune.

Social policy refers to the basic outline any society of individuals follows. Social Policy can be either law or it can be the norms that become the corner stone of any society. No city or structure of society can thrive without a policy that dictates day to day life. Social policy forms some semblance of order, which exists even in chaos. A pattern or value orientated system. The broad concept of social policy thus makes it a rather spread out topic. No two societies can follow a similar policy since no two societies have the same set of people.

 In class we discussed where Pakistan was headed as a country, and in doing so we reflected on Karachi as target for discussion on development. We compared Pakistan to Bangladesh and India and came to the conclusion that our infrastructure and life has come a long way from being intimidated by the British and other white superiors. We can relate our experiences of low self esteem and inferiority as those descended from the time of the British Raj which crippled us initially and continues to cripple us under the banner of Western civilization and globalization.

Though many of us picked up on Pakistan being a failed nation, and Karachi’s social policy having failed its residents, we fail to observe how our nations has survived albeit all odds and misfortunes. We fail to address the injustices that hit our nation in its infancy the repercussions of which exist even today. We fail to shed light upon those who have driven this nation forward, this city forward, no matter what the circumstances. And lastly, we fail to see that Karachi, which was known as the City of Lights, continues to attract people as the hub of Pakistan’s melting pot in terms of culture and ethnicity. We demean our country and city without taking into consideration the hardships that have brought us to this point today. Being the resident of such a multi cultural city gives me much pride and provides me with an identity that no other place would offer. Above all debate and discussion, Karachi is ‘Home’.

Sarrah Millwala 

The port city of Karachi...

The port city of Karachi is considered to be mini Pakistan. This is not due to the enormous size of the city but due the different social fabric which lives together under one roof know as Karachi. Secondly it is the industrial hub of Pakistan also being the backbone of the Pakistani economy. Thus Karachi is quite different from the rest of the country and the issues of the city such as infrastructural development, law and order access to justice and providing equal opportunities are also much complex as compared to the other parts of the country.
For the past twenty years or so Karachi has been quite unstable as far as the law and order situation is concerned. This is mainly due to the ethnic, sectarian as well as the political victimization of different political parties by the government of the day.
Thus one could say that attaining peace in Karachi is not that simple taking in mind the dynamics of the city particularly the role of different political parties as well as the ethnic andsectarian divide.
The recent wave of target killing has taken more than 3000 innocent lives this year only.Although the government especially the federal interior minister Rehman Malik tries to defuse the political temperature in the city as it is believed that this target killing is a result of political score settling amongst the main stream political parties of the city such as the MQM , ANP as well as the Lyari faction of the PPP.
However one could not deny the sectarian violence which has taken place in the recent past which starts from a bomb blast at Nishtar Park on the 12th of Rabualawal 8th May 2006 where almost the entire Sunni leadership was wiped out.
But this did not end here the violence increased after the bombing on the main Ashura Procession on 10th of Moharram where a lot of innocent women and children died. This was followed by a paid mob which set different trading centers and shop on fire. This resulted in a massive monetary loss for the traders of the city and gripped the city with panic and uncertainty.
Although the police tried to be efficient in the next procession that was on the 10th day of Safar but still couldn’t stop the bomb blast on Shah-e- Faisal and the second one at Jinnah hospitals emergency.
So the series of bomb blasts and ethnic rivalry has gripped the city for a really long time , but the sad part is that non of the key decision makers are eager to do something so that peace could be achieved in Karachi.
But still I have some suggestions through which I believe that peace could return to this city of lights. Although there should be a broad consensus amongst the different political as well as the ethnic stake holders of the city there should be a new social contract between different ethnicities living in this city which includes the Sindhis, the Urdu speaking people, the Pakhtuns as well as the Biharis, the Balochs and the Bengalis. They all should unite on the point that there should be peace in Karachi and provide ownership to the city. This would lead towards a better and credible way of governance.
Secondly the most important thing which should be done in the short term is that the police of the city should be revamped. This includes the de politicization of the police which means that appointment should be made on merit and what they know rather than who they know. It should be followed by an across the board disarmament drive and no body should be spared.


Asif Faruqi
0917141

Karachi Society...

Karachi is no doubt a full fledge patriarchal society. It is a society organized and run by men. Men make the rules and dominate in business and government and in all forums outside the home. A woman's main value is to support a man, bear children and housekeeping duties. In Karachi or in Pakistan (on the whole) we observe men are the decision-makers and hold positions of power and prestige, and have the power to define reality and common situations.

Moreover we notice that in Karachi men are dominant not in numbers or in force but in their access to status-related power and decision-making power.  

Another element that prevails in Karachi society is ‘intolerance’. We neither have the patience nor the courage to listen to each other. You don’t need more Fridays the 28ths to prove it. Pick up the paper and it’ll scream `Honor killing takes life of another woman` and `Friend kills another over petty issues.

The problem runs deep within the veins of this society and has the potential to tear down the entire social fabric of this nation. If this continues, we’ll end up destroying our own country. We must not, we cannot let that happen.

I think that Karachi society in general is an extremely confused society, which according to me is a major reason for rising violence levels. Not withstanding the major changes occurring across the globe, our people are becoming more violent. Our people are not only unable to understand this situation, but they also find it hard to adjust to the rest of the world. As a result, frustration is plaguing the people, who forget their moral and ethical values, and become violent to vent their feelings.

Pakistanis as a nation are very “emotional”, instead of being “rational. When a society functions on ‘emotionality’, it tends to fall to deviations more than the one which prefers rationality.

Sidra Qureshi

KARACHI...

Karachi can be easily termed as the metropolitan, financial and cosmopolitan hub of the country. It has the most complex but beautiful mix of people from not only different ethnic but also different religious backgrounds. It is the city which welcomes anyone who comes to live here for work, business or just for warm weather. It offers distinct flavors of all these different backgrounds; be it food, dressing or historical places.

The city which was once known as the city of lights has unfortunately become city of violence and target killings. The openness of the city is being manipulated by vested interests on one pretext or the other. Whether its land grabbing, extortion, smuggling of narcotics & weapons or simple political battles. This new image of Karachi is not only heart breaking for the Karachiites but also for the whole country. The city which has contributed so much for the country is now rudderless and its fortunes are being interlinked with this negative image.

We as, Karachiites, will now have to take the ownership and resist all attempts to destabilize the city on any pretexts. I know it’s a tall order but collectively we can make a difference. The baby steps in this direction can be initiated from our neighborhood, educational institutions or work place. Once we develop this concept of positive ownership in every Karachiites’s mind we can expedite in turning the youth of this city to carry flowers instead of toting guns in their hands.

Karachi Society...

Karachi is the unpredictable place to live. Anything can happen her it can rather be most bizarre or most pleasant.

I believe Karachi is a polluted society where many diverse societies existing in just one place. People here are impatient. Everyone here wants to move faster and faster, no one is ready to stop and wait! No one is ready to admit their mistake or take any sort of responsibility. All sorts of corruption lie beneath this surface.

The one thing that bothers me here is that people here stare a lot like A LOT. Staring people can include both man and woman as if staring has become their part time job or something. It is in this society that we find 4 to 5 individuals sitting on one motorcycle including new born babies in their hands or grown up kids sitting with them.

People in this society just talk and talk a lot about the problems that how depressing Karachi has become and etc. But no one comes with solutions or better ideas for improvement. Even instead of all the problems and threats to this society, people still wake up every morning hoping for a change. We still haven’t given up. I think that’s a great achievement on our part living in this society.


Falak Haneef

Karachi As I See...

Karachi, the city of lights, paranoia, craze, love, passion, happenings and none the less the city of riots. People from different ethnicity and class envigorates the city life. Its a place inured to deaths, accidents, voilence, tragedies, debauchary, treachery and differences. The tacit acceptance of mass tells that they have become used to of insecure lifestyle. I can assure that once you've become a part of Karachi, you get into a loop of differences of religious sects, political parties and thats where you get accustomed to endurace and eternal pain.

I worry about the very existence of this city, its classes and diverse living spectrums, yet we fail to form unity in diversity. I feel old in this city, not wise. The dying culture has become a culture itself, infact it never had one, it opts what its people give. One thing that has become an integral part of culture is how to carry facade in this gigantic land, because we cannot show our true identity, our thoughts and what's our agenda or else it would be like awaking the giant and welcoming death.It utterly atrophies the mind, enervates it.Despite of all this, I would no more vex the torn soul of old Kolachi as by my previous disclosure, it has endured pain in the pits.

Inspite of the long sufferings, it would be an utter sign of crass ignorance how not to talk about the beauties of the city.Karachi is paranoid, it never sleeps and so does its people who liven up the city to the brim. Dining, partying, shopping, hang outs, student life, political life, carreers, NGO's, exhibitions, clothing, fashion and protocol are its best part.The city treats everyone equal yet its very biased towards poor. The rich and yes, middle class has access to beauties of the city. When it comes to poor its seems Karachi runs out of luck.The city is beauty and dirty, dangerous and sheltering and it all depends on how one chooses to play.

Paras Saif

0917160

Karachi Society...

Karachi has a very fragmented society with many ethnic divisions within it including Punjabis, Sindhis, Kashmiris, balochies,Pathans being the ones in majority and in Karachi Sindhis are in majority. There’s a lot of ethnocentrism among each of these ethnic groups. There have been many riots in Karachi among the muhajirs and pathans, and sunnis and shias (the 2 religious sects of Islam). Karachi’s society can be noticed to have become more violent over the years; it’s also affected by terrorist attacks. The society of Karachi can be seen be divided largely in different classes like upper class, middle class and lower class and each these classes are divided further into more classes. These class divisions in the society have created the feeling of inferiority and superiority in the population which will never let the people unite. Now that Pakistan is being ruled by corrupt politicians it can be noticed that the rich are becoming richer and poor are becoming poorer. So the same can be noticed in Karachi and also the number of unemployed and poor people has increased. Also the poor people cannot afford good education and most of them cannot even get the basic education. The condition of government schools in Karachi is so bad it seems as if no one ever goes there, and most of the government schools don’t even have teachers. There is also lack of security in Karachi. Everyday there are many cases of mobile snatching or car snatching at gun point, which again increases terror in the citizens.

Despite all these flaws in Karachi society we can take pride in those citizens who are working for the betterment of this city, the youth of this city seems to be very patriotic and comes together as ‘one’ when there city or country needs help.

Alizeh Gohar

0917137 

Karachi as I see...

Karachi is a truly a multi diverse and metropolitan. It has been a most modern and well infrastructure city after Islamabad. Unfortunately In Karachi we find different ethnic groups and Karachi is in constantly war situation. When I was too young I use to listen about Karachi as a city of lights. When passed my primary education I started listening the killings and barbaric acts. I passed my matriculation exam and started watching talk shows founded that operation was done too to remove criminal elements from the city in early governments of miss Bhutto. 

            We found different ethnic groups in Karachi mostly dominating Urdu and Pakhtun. Urdu speakers known as “muhajereens” migrated from the India after the independence, where as pakhtuns started coming in Karachi in the era of General Ayub khan. Now both are not the son of soils. Their realities both are migrants but are similarly Pakistani.  Karachi as I see is economic hub of Pakistan it delivers more than expected to Pakistan economy almost 45% to 50%. Due to this almost every community lives in Karachi because Karachi is called “Gareeb ke Maa” i-e mother of poor. Now if we judge ground realities we all may come to the one point that due to lack of wisdom in our society we still fight on the name of ethnicity and the current chaotic situation reflects the multi diversed culture of our am mature society. What I believe is there is a need of authentic policy, which helps out us from this hard time. Now question arises what kind of policy we should go for?? May be a military operation? Or may be reconciliation between all the ethnic groups under the shed of political parties? Or do we start cursing history as our state failed to constitute the authentic policy for the migrants?

            Now these are the questions which are yet to be answer. Current chaotic situation where eve day numbers of innocent people are killed and our government has nothing to do except forming a committee to inquire. This process has failed because everyone knows whose major interest is in Karachi. What I believe is we have listed argued number of times that one party is dominating Karachi, but as far as I believe pakhtuns too are dominating now Karachi. What I believe is military operation in every part of the city so that de-weaponization process should come to an end. We found Karachi as a security state where none of us is secure and we all are living at the stake of destiny. Our government has tried nothing except to make happy their collation partners. This is where our government and should take action without any kind of discrimination against all the non state actors.

Faheem Yaseen

0917143

Karachi Society...

I think the society of Karachi is very diverse. So many different people from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, religions, cultures and even nationalities living together in one of the biggest cities of the world. There are the homeless people, the uneducated lot, the educated, the lower class, the middle class, upper middle class and the upper elite class etc. How the society of Karachi affects you depends on what part of the social structure do you belong to and whether you are male or female, Muslim or non Muslim?

Although many like saying the Karachi has become a modern society but despite that the rights of women are ignored and it is still patriarchal.

Sonal Arshad Siraj

0917169

The drowning megacity by the sea...

Karachi, the epicenter of Pakistan, has virtually become a battlefield. The commercial hub once known for its ranking as a ‘Beta World City’ is now known for its cauldron. According to Mercer’s 2008 Quality of Living Survey, Pakistan is one of the lowest-scoring destinations with Karachi ranked 213. Karachi also happens to be one of the worst locations for personal safety, scoring a nominal 25.3.

I am, by no means, being pessimistic. I feel that the problems within Karachi’s society need to be highlighted so that possible and productive solutions can be discussed.

I believe that there are three grave issues that Karachi is currently wrapped by; ethnic conflicts, target killings, and the raging influence of land mafia. It is important to note that these problems are largely entwined with one another.

Ethnic conflicts in Karachi have prevalent ever since its inception. The first major ethnic riot erupted in the city in April 1985 claimed at least a hundred lives. This epidemic has been unstoppable ever since. Karachi is a multi-ethnic city and disparities between Mohajirs and the native groups (Punjabi, Pashto, etc) have been long present. It also happens to be one of the greatest causes of target killings in Karachi.

Target killings have caused massive unrest in Karachi. Political parties such as Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) with a Mohajir majority, and Awami National Party (AWP) with a Pakhtun majority have been prominent in this regard. The apocalyptic situation in Karachi was further worsened after the demise of Dr. Imran Farooqui of MQM, last year. Sectarian differences have also triggered its rapid spread.

As per the records of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), the city has witnessed the largest number of murders in the last fifteen years. According to a report in The Gulf Today, target killings in the city have claimed more lives than that of suicide bombing across the country this year. The paper stated that ‘The commercial hub has been plagued by extortion rackets and politically motivated killings that are responsible for the high number of people killed’.

Land mafia – a faceless monster has majorly contributed to the deadly downward spiral that the city has entered into. The aerial fighting, target killing, arson, and looting that Karachi is engulfed in are resultants of land mafia to a great extent.

It was also recently reported that land mafia has grabbed the land of the Karachi University (KU) and started construction work at the premises of the university illegally. It is a shame that land mafia has not even spared the grounds on which education breeds. What is even more devastating is the fact that the KU Engineering department has shown criminal negligence towards the issue and has provided support to the mafia by conducting a fake survey of the KU land.

I have established a model, the proper execution of which could serve as an antidote for the poison spreading in Karachi. It is what I call the ENRICH Model.

Educate

Negotiate

Reconcile

Implement

Commitment

Hope      

This model comprises of four steps (Educate, Negotiate, Reconcile and Implement), with two elements that should be persistent throughout (Commitment and Hope).

One of the major reasons behind conflicts becoming uncontainable in the city is that those involved lack understanding about its root causes and possible solutions. Many wage war inadvertently, without visualizing the consequences their actions may carry. In addition, a prominent number of individuals may be fighting someone else’s battle. For peace to prevail in the city, it is key for people to be educated on the vainness of their violent endeavors.

The power of negotiation is undeniable but it is not a lopsided phenomenon. It requires diplomacy, mutual cooperation, compromise and tolerance. One needs to comprehend the fact that differences of opinion are only but inevitable when it comes to conflicts.

The process of reconciliation in terms of carving Karachi for the better would require the execution of two of its definitions; ending the disagreement and returning to friendly relations, and reconciling opposing ideas and facts. Until the decline of the Mughal Empire in the eighteenth century, Muslim rulers presided over South Asian kingdoms in which the majority of their subjects were Hindus. The exigencies of Muslim ascendancy in a non-Muslim environment led to the need for religious tolerance by the rulers and resulted in ‘syncretism’ in the religion as practiced by the local Muslims. Syncretism is a perfect example of reconciliation; it is the fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous. I believe that societal ‘syncretism’ would be highly effectual with regard to the conflicts in Karachi.

One must agree to disagree and think of the greater good. Even if one does not personally concur with a certain idea put forward, it should definitely be taken into consideration if it benefits the city. It is important to show all involved the benefits of changing, not what they will give up by changing.

As simplistic as the model may seem in writing, its execution can take ample time. However, with persistent commitment to one’s cause and hope that it will be accomplished, it is sure to have positive results.

It is time to revive the ‘truth, beauty, and goodness’ that Karachi was originally established upon.

So,

ENRICH today for an enriched tomorrow!

Karachi Society...

I think that the Karachi society comprises of people who may be having different ethnic, religious, social, cultural, economic, political and/or educational etc. backgrounds, but mostly all of us have one thing in common: we are “confused” individuals making up a confused society! Why do I think that we are bunch of confused individuals? Simply because most of us don’t even know who we are! We are not sure of our identities (or the priority of our identities in cases of multiple identities). We have gotten so used to trying to get along with the “flow” that we have stopped pondering over where the “flow” came from or where is it leading to!

We wake up each day hoping for a miracle to happen but we aren’t even sure what we even want the miracle to do! All of us would want our own personalized and customized miracles. As a society, we are broken into so many fragments and such conditions seem to have been going on for so long that we have forgotten whether there ever was (or will ever be, for that matter) a point of unison which could somehow make us one at some level.

But it’s not all that bad! There is always hope and a desire for the “preferred” future. I’ve seen people looking for alternatives and solutions. But I feel that in order for these attempts to have considerable impact on the society, the solutions would have to be comprehensive and not extremely focused on only a fragment of the problem. Rather to understand it as a coherent whole, a system of interconnected parts.

Muhammad Adeel

0917153

Karachi-The city of lights...

The city of Karachi is called The City of Lights. A city which was once peaceful has now turned into a city with violence and chaos. The Karachi society is characterized by diversity with many different people living here.  There is an absence of unity between the people and different groups of people continue to blame each other for various reasons. The opinions of each other are not taken into account and no one seems to know what is going on. The system of law and order is crumbling and corruption is at its peak. Criminal activities have also become a part of this society and no one seems to be safe.  A person who gets out of his/her house is not sure if he/she will return back home, safely. Apart from this, there is inequality between the different income groups. This is one of the reasons why people are not united.  It can be compared to Karl Marx’s description of a society where the poor are becoming poorer and the rich are becoming richer. This is why differences arise between different groups of people and this leads to instability in the society. People have become materialistic, and so little heed is given to the basic needs of the people, belonging to the lower income group’s .The only way I think that this society can progress, is if people unite under a common platform and care about each other’s welfare. If this happens then the society can progress and peace, prosperity and stability will be promoted. If every person makes as effort to follow the principles of Unity, Faith and Discipline laid out by Mr Mohammad Ali Jinnah,  the society will move towards the path of progress and all problems will be eliminated.

Anika Kamran Dyer

0917139

Karachi-The city of lights...

Karachi –The city of lights was made the Capital of Pakistan after Independence. It is a busiest city with great activity in the trade, industry, education and other fields of life. It has gone through a tremendous change and development in various spheres. With enormous rise in the population, several residential colonies have emerged in Karachi accommodating the influx of people from other provinces as well. Due to this reason, Karachi quickly expanded within a short span of time.

Karachi is a cosmopolitan city with people coming from different parts of the world. It is a mingling of old and new, east and west. It has absorbed the charm and beauty of modern and conventional ways of living. Hence, it is the centre of education and other cultural and social activities. A great number of prestigious educational institutions are functioning here. It is an ultra­modern city, with modern cinemas, recreational clubs, hotels and restaurants. There are beautiful beaches at Sandpit, Sommiani and Hawks Bay. These places are excellent picnic resorts with their tranquil surroundings and provide an atmosphere to rest and relax. The opportunities for yachting, water-skiing and cruising are also available here. The presence of huge and multi-storied buildings has given it a grandeur and majestic appearance.

Conversely, despite of all these traits, the mighty city is facing various conflicts in terms of socialization, culture, religion and politics. The city of lights is turning into a dark state of gloom and blue. With the emergence of various communities, it is a common stance to observe disputes among different castes and creeds in the name of different political, social and religious agendas.

There is an utter lack of unity, tolerance and ability to understand and respect others opinion, among the inhabitants which is certainly leading towards the current scenario of the city. It’s common to heed news about the certain amount of people being killed, streets crime have deepen their roots, hence, thee houses are being looted. The question that pops in my mind now is whether are we even safe in our own abodes? There is a lack of employment, what is forcing the civilians to turn into barbarians? Frustration is the answer! All in all, in current times, it’s highly significant for the people to unit and to provide equal rights, on grounds of humanity to the fellow beings.

Nida Siddiqui

0917156

Karachi Society and it's Pros and Cons

The Karachi society is one of the most multiethnic and has one of the most diverse cultures of the world. There are some positives and negatives about the society which is stated below.

The positives of the Karachi society is that people from all religion, caste, creed and ethnicity come and live in the city. People here are free to practice their religion and celebrate their respective festivals and people also go and celebrate other festivals. Another positive thing about the Karachi society is that the people are very enthusiastic about their life and like living it to the core. People like to stay out at night and party, going out to burns road and have chaat and other food stuff. The society is mainly based for trading purposes where people are meant to work hard live rather than kill or harm each other.

Killing or harming a fellow human being means that along with the positives, there are negatives/ ugliness in the city. The ugliness is shown on the city where target killing prevails and tens of people are ended up killed. The diverse culture creates a superiority complex among the ethnicities which is direct reason to the target killings. The politicians are like the master of puppets which pull the strings and people move. The society is way too politically motivated and will do anything which their respective leaders desire. The society is also very impatient, the results being the traffic accidents and jams.

That’s All.

Muhammad Raza Haidery                                                                                                                             0917152