In the aftermath of the 1971 war and from the results of 1970 elections, a fresh wave of displaced persons from East Pakistan, settled in Karachi, from the pains of which the city never recovered. The slide into the abyss of neglect and decay has been consistent and continuous.

The politics of ethnicity was always present; it kept simmering from mid-fifties, when finally it burst into open, the trigger was the death of a college student who was crushed, while crossing the road, under the wheels of a wagon, aptly called, “Yellow Devils”. Bushra Zaidi’s killing sparked ethnic riots in 1982-83.

Military dictator, Gen. Ziaul Haq, having hung the most popular leader ever in Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was seeking legitimacy to prolong his rule; he backed the creation of a student organisation/political party, which was purely on linguistic and ethnic grounds. This party later was to become a Frankenstein for the creators.

That party played hide-and-seek with the establishment between1988 to 1992, when action was brought against it. Karachi in the process was ruined. Despite its real or perceived power, the party did almost nothing either for education or health sectors, let alone the much-needed development of the social structure and communication apparatus, including roads, bridges and flyovers. Every aspect was neglected.

Karachi from “the city of lights” descended into the darkness of corruption that saw the emergence of crime in the form of drug and gun culture. A large part of Karachi........

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