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