This week 50 years ago: Commercialisation of Lyari and mob attack.

Byline: Peerzada Salman

HERE'S a measure of how benevolent as well as volatile Karachi has been in its post-independence days, particularly, as has been highlighted before, after the population of the city began to burst at the seams.

On June 15, vice chancellor of the University of Karachi Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi accepted demands of the Blind Students Union of Karachi following a meeting with a delegation of the union led by its president Mohammad Bashir Husain. The first demand was about the extra time for the visually impaired examinees of the university. The second was that the students should be provided with 'writers in the examination hall' as was practised in other parts of the country.

And on June 16, it was announced that the central government had made a block allocation of Rs10 million to the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) for the industrial labour housing scheme in the city. The allocation was made out of an ad-hoc provision of Rs100m made by the government in the current year's budget under the head 'social welfare'. Orders for the grant were issued recently and funds were to be transferred to the KDA before the end of the financial year (June 30) so that the budget provision did not lapse.

But here comes the non-benevolent part. The issue of water scarcity in those days was getting increasingly painful. On June 17, a deputation of the Karachi National Awami Party (Wali Khan group) called on the city commissioner and told him about water shortage in several areas, including Mohajir Camp, Baldia Colony, Shershah and Patel Para.

As if that wasn't enough to disturb the citizens, the next day, June 18, more than a dozen persons were rounded up in connection with a mob attack on the residents of KDA filter plant COD Hills at midnight on June 17. The frenzied rioters used firearms and hurled stones, causing damage to property and injuring 19 persons. According to police sources, some women in the locality were having a casual...