In 1950, there was only 1 million population in Karachi. In 2010, it grew to 13 Million and now in 2022, Karachi’s population is almost 15 million. But the question is the problems in this city are also rising with its growing population?
Unfortunately, yes! Karachi is not an easy city. It has history, it has stories, it has problems, and it carries the burial of hundred, thousands of people who gave their lives to maintain the peace of this city. Despite all this what keeps Karachi going is its potential to survive amidst the challenges. But for how long?
There’s indeed no doubt that Karachi is at the mercy of its people and charitable NGOs in Pakistan but without responsible authorities how far can people take this city?
The book Instant City is also written to draw attention to the burgeoning problems in the megacity. It’s written by American author Steve Inskeep who’s also the host of NPR’s Morning Edition. In his program, he usually talks about the cities that made progress over the years, the problems in the world and also the best ways to tackle them. Instant City is his first book which is an excellent introduction to our city. But unfortunately, the side it reflects is the violence in Karachi and how it has devastated the generations and the city’s most beautiful and revenue-generation spots.
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The book consists of four parts; Jinnah Road, Landmarks, New Karachi, Renew Karachi. The book starts from the early days of this city when the population was around four hundred thousand only. How did it develop with time? How the city of migrants become so diversified that people were actually happy living here and working for its progress. But later the Shia killings in the bombing in 2009 lead the city to further terrorism and it starts losing its strength.
The book also touches the incredible stories of the people like Abdul Sattar Edhi, Perween Rehman; director of Orangi Pilot Project Research and Training Institute. Inskeep also shares how the former mayor of Karachi Mustafa Kamal came into power. The best thing about this book is that you’ll get to know stories of ordinary people that you haven’t heard before. One of them is Tony Tufail who came to Karachi to build the city’s biggest casino to facilitate foreigners in Karachi but despite his strong efforts, his dream never came to reality because of extremists and religious groups.
The way Steve shapes the problems, ethnic violence, and destruction of this city is worth applauding for. While you read this book, you’ll get to know a few businessmen who had great plans to renew this city but later got hopeless because of bombing, target killings in the presence of MQM, and an unsafe environment.
A businessman once told the author:
“Pakistan isn’t a poor country, it’s a poorly managed country.”.
This puts the blame on the higher authorities of Pakistan which is however true as if anyone tries to step up for progressive projects the city’s challenges like poor infrastructure, poor sewerage system, inability to respond to the problems, put them down. The cherry on the cake is the mobs who find every project against the Islamic laws and find it best to start bombing or burning the city.
In the last part of Instant City, the author also shares how can this city become the next New York if we become tolerant of other religions, views, and projects. Diversification is the key to the progress of any place but to be honest, diversification in Karachi can cost you death. And if this problem remains then Karachi has no future.
I prefer books and diaries more than phones and Facebook. Soulfully connected to Pakistan. And I passionately believe that I can change the world through blogging.
