Have not yet visited it personally but from newspapers it seems to be some where worth being with Sindh Rangers setting up a desert village and the fishermen cooperative society, a fishermen village. The festival sounds informative and fun showcasing the people, music, food, garments, decoration pieces and other traditional stuff from the interior Sindh.

The festival has free entry with a large number of police and rangers and satisfactory security arrangements made.

During 1992-1995 when Karachi was a city where a dead body could be found anywhere in sacks or in the bushes and ladies used to be worried when the males went to pray in the mosques, many families opted to move to the US.
Still, life in Karachi is as unpredictable as the supply of electricity in the city. Anything can happen in the middle of nowhere and life might come to a halt.
May12th , October 18th and not to forget the very recent December 28th, when Karachi seemed a ghost town.
Under circumstances when the Karachiites (many of them) think of migrating to some land where at least security is ensured and when very recently the city has gained so much “fame” someone from USA shows interest in migrating to the city along with children. A single person might be adventurous to do so but moving with a family in a city like Karachi??
It came to me as a shock when someone, an American born and raised (and not a Pakistani born in America) showed interest in moving to Karachi, Pakistan.

Since I was asked for opinion, I felt speechless. I did not know where to start from? The insecurity, load shedding, law enforcement agencies and the fear that runs down the spine on feel of a gun pointed on your forehead! Or a bunch of stupid people who would destroy the city by breaking the signals, igniting buses, tires and what ever come their way or a hand full of people who love the city and want to have a peaceful and healthy environment.
I knew and I said so that these were the problems faced by any big metropolitan, where as deep inside I knew the situation was worst. America sure has a crime rate with no match but as I was gathering excuses for other reasons I felt myself stuck at the point of explaining how police responds to a mishap and how “comforting” they could be.
Frankly speaking, I did not have the courage to speak the truth and I did not have the guts to let someone who trusted me, let come in the city and later curse me for misguiding.

So this is what I came up with: Public decision. Many of the readers are from USA but have their roots in Pakistan. They might be able to help me out of this situation by sharing their views.

This is about someone with two daughters, a converted Muslim who wants to come and settle in Karachi along with the kids and let them grow up and study here. Now: “How’s Karachi as a city to settle down what are the good and bad?”

There were opportunities for software engineers and network engineers and I thought about applying there, but a close friend of mine stopped me from doing so and told me a story about the company. This story was not new for me but it was never told from a mouth that I could trust.

No matter how inquisitive I was to know the truth I had no source to do so.

Only today when a colleague forwarded me an email and asked me to check it out. This was an article was published in the “Daily Ummat” and was forwarded by an email from a public group raising awareness among people.

Now that this article was printed in a news paper, I have the urge to know if there’s any fact in the software house “AXACT” doing porn business.

There are links in the article that show the name of the software house and the discussion forums from the employees

I’m still not very sure, but I would like to know if any of the readers have any experience with the company? My colleague, fresh graduate of NED University tells me that one of his class mates got an offer letter from the company but has refused to join because of the above mentioned reason

“Fire and bullets (the sound) and smoke is what I see all around. We are stuck fires on our back and fire in our front. This is the view from gulshan iqbals flyover.”
“mobile phone networks are jammed and I’m in car with a two year old kid who’s allergic to smoke and my mother and bhabi. When firing started I could sense the panic in the ceased cars.one of the pessangers in the bus stopped adjacent to our car recited Quranic verses.
Petrol pumps, eatouts and medical stores(time medico and murad) are closed.”
My niece by then was coughing badly as the smoke cloud was engulfing the cars that were at cease. The driver had turned off the cars engine to save fuel. We thought of walking on foot to the Hassan Square Appartments, which were just across the road, but then sounds of bullets firing in the vicinity were clear and we ought not to take the risk.

Leaving the car was also not a good idea as we could witness what was going on with the left ones.
There’s no u-turn on that road. The bike riders picked up the bikes and crossed the island whereas the Bus drivers asked the passangers to walk on foot.

Our car was in the right most lane and the first car that I saw being ignited was infront of Civic Centre, the road that goes towards Askari Park, the old Sabzi mandi. It was a group of four to five young men. After liting the car one of the guys picked up the klashenkov. (Some of the guys witnessing the scene with me exclaimed klashenkov, and hence I came to know the gun’s name) It was a small car Mehran or Charade or maybe Khyber that had immunition. I don’t remember the colour.

I managed to take some pictures from my PDA which are not very clear.

Finally necessity is the mother if invention the men tried to break the island and when in vain, bricks (envicrete) were kept on both ends and cars were pushed over it by people’s help.
I met this guy helping the stuck cars, who used to be at my university and was an active APMSO worker.Who told me that the ”fellow members” were there to help people!
I felt good for them (not to Mention, this is the first time I’m heard of praising them but good deed is good done by whoever).

We made it to my my mom’s house safely in 15 minutes from there. However my brother got stuck in DHA and reached home @ 2:30 in the protocol of police mobile!
One of ex-servants walked from Gulstane-jauhar and reached our place late.
That was the worst I have seen in last 12 years in Karachi. 12th may was there and 18th October, but Karachi never seemed so haunted.

May the country and country men learn to control grief and anger and may we all be safe. Amen.

Today while going through the city news of “The News”, I came across this article that says about the red light districts in Karachi and talks about what and how are these FSW’s (Female sex workers) encouraged to do so.

Unfortunately as Karachi developed economicaly so did the market for prostitution and now has become one of the major marketsfor commercial sex in the country, where girls as young as 14 can be purchased from as low as 100 rupees depending upon the client, the service demanded, the location, and the girl’s physical attributes.

A wide variety of girls from all over the country (and different nations) can be found in Karachi’s commercial sex market. There was a time when Russian women were very much “in” the market. Now Afghani and Bengali women are into this business.

Just like other professions there’s a market and the business fluctuates with time on the basis of demand and supply and is almost (yes, not completely) down during Ramzan.

The pimps are the ones who protect supply girls and apart from providing business to the FSW’s give them protection and security from the police. Need not to mention the high class influential people involved in this business.
In some cases girls are rented out by their poor families to pimps for a time period (usually quarterly basis) on a handsome amount. But in most cases girls adopt this business to provide bread and butter to the families where no one else can take the responsibility.
Cell phones have provided ease to this business. The lady “brokers” who usually own a car (who provide girls in the posh localities) start getting calls on the cell phones in evening and then they go on the mission of dropping girls on the address provided. This is done through contacts. The “better” network you have better girl will be provided. Rates are off course not a big issue for the people who contact such pimps.
Alcohol and drugs are used on a large scale by these workers.
Unfortunately, we live in a place where any thing can be sold, depending on the price paid for it.

Stocks market affected, foreigners pulling out money from the local market, the international fund slowing down and then for the first time in the history of the country, a ban on media in Sindh High Court, Karachi which means the cases in court and the proceedings are no more public.

There were times (when the PM Nawaz Shariff was accused of hijacking the Colombo to Khi flight of PIA with Pervaiz Musharraf on board and on the hearing of the May 12 massacre cases) but never been a complete ban.

News Source :Daily Times

The superstition of fire breaking in the city on Sundays is becoming somehow true when a fire broke out at the Radio Pakistan, MA Jinnah Road yesterday with no casualities reported but reports of the years old furniture being damaged. However the centuries old records were fortunately not harmed.

“A table and chair set that was reportedly used by the first prime minister of Pakistan and two pianos that are supposed to have been used to compose Pakistan’s national anthem are feared burnt among the property destroyed.”
The fire destroyed assets worth millions.

Credit: Daily Times

The plan is also known as “Karachi Strategic development Plan 2020″.This is the sixth Master Plan of the city. The first was prepared in 1923, second in 1945, third in 1952, fourth in 1994 and fifth in 2000.

“The News” stated that the Master Plan 2020 documents are on the fact that there will be a manifold increase in Karachi by 2020, that is, 270 million and at present, the city needs 600MGD water. By 2020, this will go up to 1200 MGD.

According to the officials the festival has been postponed “as a mark of respect for the over 130 people who lost their lives in an act of brutal terrorism in Karachi on Thursday night.”

“The rescheduled dates of the Festival will be announced after consultation with all those involved and once the political and security situation is clearer. ”

Source: KARA official website.