Dear Karachi

I hope this letter finds you in best of health and spirits. Yes I know some parts of you are still burning after that harrowing of episodes of suicide bombing and arsonists setting places on fire. This is to give you company and to keep spirits high that you have to go on! trust me, I am from Peshawar and my city has seen umpteen numbers of suicide bombings but every time Peshawarites pick themselves up and go on with their lives.

You have been my host for the past 6 years. On my arrival I was greeted with Tasman Spirit lying on her side spilling hundreds of tonnes of crude oil on your shores but your citizens did well to clean you up - congrats to them. I have had my share of other 'interesting times' with you. Like I was stuck for 4 hours on a single spot on Shahra e Faisal on one hell-rainy afternoon couple of years back. I endeared the 2 day blackout with you when power lines tripped rendering major part of you without electricity. I have been without water for quite a number of times in Defence area when the water tanker for one reason or the other did not arrive on time and I had to buy water to bathe.

Cities around the world face security situations, lots of incidents of law and order occur but its peculiar to Karachi only that the 'incident' does not matter that much, what is more important is what happens afterwards! Take example of my city Peshawar. Whenever a suicide bombing takes place, the usual activities take place - law enforcement agencies, medics, hospitals, common people - all doing their effort to help normalize the situation. In Karachi, whenever something gos wrong, arsonists take to street! When Ashoora procession was struck by suicide bomber, simultaneously, arsonists had broken the locks of shops, poured chemical in them and set them on fire! The historical M. A. Jinnah road with all the majestic buildings bore the brunt and that core business hub of Boulton Market was reduced to ashes with losses running into estimated billions.

This did not happen for the first time. May 12th incident or the 27th December 2007 incident when BB died - cars, shops, banks, malls - no one is safe. Everything is burnt! Really but what the hell! though I hate it but I have to agree with the term used for ashoora suicide bombing - 'distraction' they said and it is totally correct! The incident proved to be a distraction when compared to what happened afterwards. When I set out for office around noon there was no public transport and I was constantly clocking over 100 kph on Shahra e Faisal and there was this nagging fear in my head that something might happen. It is a very bad feeling trust me my dear Karachi.

Karachi, I feel that your rulers, leaders and administrators do not take care of you. I mean no one does anyway in Pakistan but in your case, they seem to become party to the crime. I do not understand but why were the arsonists not stopped? After the suicide bombing the Law enforcement agencies are everywhere! The Rangers, the police - no one did anything to stop it. Frankly, I find Rangers to be extremely inept. When 12th May 2007 incident occurred, people were killed right in front of their Head Quarters near Malir Halt! They are only good at flaunting! (with due respects to the jawan of Rangers who lost his life stopping the suicide bomber) If you have been a commuter of Shahra e Faisal in morning rush hours, there is/was a commandant of Rangers who came to Rangers head Quarters at Jinnah Courts building. The protocol and escort were totally abusive towards other motorist literally shoving them off the road. You felt like hiring a suicide bomber! Morons!

Anyways, this is to tell you that I am totally with you regarding getting on with life and picking up strength when it matters the most. You are a very colourful city. I drove all the way from Peshawar in my car to you as a destination, I hope my future generations will adopt the same route and they enjoy same as their forefather did. Be there. You are important to us.

May God keep you coloured (not blood red) and bright (not lighted). Take care.

Yours truly.
-PostMan-