This week 50 years ago: Renamed roads and Landhi-Korangi budget.

Byline: Peerzada Salman

POST-independence Karachi has been, especially ever since industries were set up here, a pretty volatile city. The volatility had a bit to do with the city getting more and more politically and demographically demanding. And the week's happenings described here got off to a not-so-peaceful start.

On May 25, 1970 the media published a disturbing piece of news: one person was killed and more than 10 were injured in a free-for-all in a textile mill in the SITE area the day before. The police rounded up more than a dozen persons for rioting and murder. The victim died from stab wounds. The clash was a result of a conflict between two rival groups.

To boot, a study on May 28 disclosed that 12 incidents of larceny and burglary had taken place in the city in the previous 24 hours. The thieves took away, in total, property worth Rs14,295 out of which Rs8,700 was recovered, and five thieves were nabbed by the police.

It seemed like a busy little phase for the law enforcers. On May 30, the police said they were looking for four Indian nationals who had allegedly gone underground. The suspects were staying in Pakistan illegally without getting extension of their visas from the authorities concerned. The y had arrived in Pakistan a year before for 10 days but did not report their arrival at the registration branch. And now they had disappeared.

The fact was that Karachi was changing at breakneck speed in every which way. On May 25, a meeting of the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) passed several resolutions following one of which it was decided to rename Nazimabad Road, from Lasbela to North Nazimabad bridge, as Shahrah-i-Nawab Hamidullah Khan. According to another resolution, Hardam Road Bath Island was renamed Suleman Qasim Road, Kashkani Street Kharadar was now Abdul Sattar Dadhi Street and Britto Road's new name was Khan Bahadur Naqi...

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