The view of Karachi as the “City of Lights” has been long gone. In the past few decades, while other cities developed their infrastructure and sustainability; the mega city has fallen from being the “City of Lights” to the “City of Crimes” having nothing in straight at all. Karachi is not only the largest city in the country geographically but holds the highest amount of population of 14,910,352 (according to the 2017 census report) and is ranked as the 7th largest city in the world. As per the official statistics, Karachi alone contributes about 42% of the total GDP, 70% of the income tax revenue, and 62% of the sales tax revenue of the country.
According to a report, in 2019 Karachi alone contributed $164 billion in GDP which is half of the total amount collect by FBR and continues to stay the backbone of the country’s economy. Unfortunately, the city remains abandoned, neglected, and ignored when it comes to development, progress, security, education, health, environment, and other basic rights that should be made sure for its progress and facilitation of its citizens. The towns of Karachi are considered to be among the least developed towns of any capital of the province.
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What went wrong with Karachi?
There has been no progress has been made in the past few decades and the city collapsed under bad politics and worse administration. The current rapidly changing political dynamics have once again made the people of Karachi choose sides that will become their fate in the coming years. But questions remain the same, how fruitful will be the results with the possibilities present for them? And will their issues be addressed in real or will it hit their trust again as it did in the past?
The actual population of Karachi is a combination of people belonging to different ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. The city also holds a considerable amount of representative population of all provinces of the country and is home for many refugees. There was time when the K-town had its open market with everything available at quite low prices and the people from every corner of the country loved to visit it without any fear. Though, it’s heart-wrenching to say that the lively city witnessed a 360-degree extreme turn with fear, anxiety, hostility, and aggression finding their way into the lives of the residents of Karachi.
We can take a glimpse back at the pages of the history of Karachi to see the ground realities which turned the city falling into a crisis. People of Karachi are struggling with these difficulties and dispossession for a long time now and are in frantic require of alter in the course of their fate.
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In case to be close-up in one word, it is peace all they want.
The much growing problem of security and law & order situation is the most troublesome and major issue for the city and its people. From extortion to sacked corpses, from snatching to target killing, from bomb blast to kidnapping, and from land grabbing to political victimization; the people of Karachi never lost hope and stay determined for the better days to come and for peace to find its way back. This is inevitable because the people of this city have faced a lot, tolerated so much, and sacrificed a huge deal of psychological damage, loss of relations, and unhealable mental and social peace.
The recent suicide assault in one of the foremost active instructive institute reminded once more the nearby of the ‘90s when educational institutes confronted aggression and hostility due to a political upsurge, This would cause long-lasting effects on individuals, though current incidents in Karachi has evoked the terror in hearts of the citizens and recalled the past dread. Will the history rehash itself within the most noticeably awful of its frame? Is any hope still left to rely upon?
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It is high time that people should stand and fight for their rights, understand their responsibility, and act accordingly, instead of relying on someone else or hoping for change; they should raise their voices together to become an echo. The struggle has to begin and the revolution is certain. It has been wisely saying Change comes from within ourselves”.
The writer is an MPhil Sociology student at Quaid I Azam University, Islamabad. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.