Note: Following reflections are by a resident of Karachi after the Karachi flooding, who is currently holed up at home because of submerged roads and no electricity. This brief piece provides some historical perspective, transparency, and rationale to the pain, suffering as an of the Karachi flooding and destruction of its infrastructure.
The city of Karachi came under the planning and administrative control of General Zia ul Haq’s martial law army in 1977 when PPP was almost dismantled and its leaders and members were killed or jailed and the rest went underground. At the time Karachi’s population was less than a quarter of what it is today. When martial law took place, Karachi was a small city. I still remember in school in 1969 when it rained like it did today and the city managed although the teen Hutti and lyari river killed many dues to Karachi flooding.
General Zia’s army gave control of the city’s planning and control to KDA’s planning department and the equivalent of SCBA and the administration to the most corrupt administrators some or most of whom belonged to other provinces. The military administration planned and ruled Karachi and SINDH with the help of the most corrupt of the KDA. The son of the then KDA chief Mr. Nizami’s son later went to my University in the US. He owned a Rolls Royce that his father had bought him and a palatial house when we were all students.
This was phase 1 of the rape of Karachi that lasted 11 years of General Zia ul Haq – a hated military dictator ( and loved and now forgotten by some). Towards the 8th year of his rule, General Zia ul Haq’s political engineers created MQM and under a maniac by the name of Altaf Hussain. The army handed over Karachi for another 10 years to MQM which kept on plundering and destroying Karachi under the watch of its creators.
MQM was later driven out of power and it went underground during BB / PPP’s second govt. After a few years, General Musharraf came to power and revived MQM and gave it unfettered powers of Karachi’s planning construction of Infrastructure, and administration. This started phase 2 of the rape if Karachi’s infrastructure.
General Musharraf’s regime also partnered and protected MQM and this mqm became yet another dictator’s blue-eyed boys. ( read the Prisoner by Shahid Hamid if u have not ready)
During the 30 years of expansion of Karachi ( after its Clifton area was already destroyed by the Cantonment t boards managed by you know who ) General Zia’s KDA and later General Musharraf’s political partner, MQM built high rises over drain nullas. Criminally rezoned old areas that had zero capacity for expansion of sewage. New localities were built without a single stormwater drain. High rises were built on parks, graveyards, sports grounds, etc. PPP only got Karachi after its Infrastructure was built up and destroyed. Yes. It did little to reverse it and contributed to more of it in the 30% of Karachi that is shared with what was left of MQM.
However to call for the lynching of PPP selectively without reading its history and pointing out as to who started and nearly completed the destruction of Karachi and who had a major share in its destruction is neither fair nor constructive criticism.
Another point that people and media chose to forget (or are afraid to point out for fear of being called a traitor and being picked up or disappeared) is that even though the Sindh govt cannot be absolved of their share of responsibility. BUT only 30% of Karachi is managed by the SINDH govt. the Remaining 70% is owned and managed by the Federal authorities aka the 4 Cantonment boards and DHA namely.
1. Malir cantonment board
2. Faisal Cantonment board
3. Clifton Cantonment board
4. Saddar Cantonment Board managed by Log Area
5. DHA
Additionally CAA, PNSC and KPT areas are not under SINDH govt. How have these mostly military controlled agencies planned, built and maintained their areas? So. Let’s have a constructive and transparent way to express our anger and pain.
