Mazar-e-Quaid, Karachi, Pakistan – March 2008

Originally uploaded by Siberian Winter

There were a number of changes at the airport I had noticed. Firstly smoking had been banned in the main lounge and a new non-smoking section was set up. Strange thing was everyone was obeying it. Another change I noticed was that in the toilets air dryers were installed for the hands and glass sinks in the shape of a salad bowl.
Flying to Karachi was exciting as below we could see the vast Punjab plains and then the rugged hills of Sindh before descending on Karachi. From above Karachi just looked and is a sprawling metropolis. I met a friend for Biryani which the people in Karachi made very well and then made my way to Keamari, a residential area in Karachi. Keamari was not the best of places to live in fact it was quite filthy. However, it was safer than most other areas of Karachi.
After resting, the next day I made my way to the Mazar of the Quaid-i-Azam, the father of the nation, Mr Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The mausoleum is the national mausoleum in the country and centred in the heart of the city. It is made of white marble with curved Moorish arches and copper grills resting on an elevated 54 metre square platform. The cool inner sanctum contains a four-tiered chandelier gifted by China.

Spotlights at night light up the mausoleum and can be seen for miles. Liaqat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan and Fatima Jinnah, the Quaid’s sister are also buried here. It was an amazing structure indeed looking very pure. How it looked so clean must have been a miracle as Karachi’s pollution levels were higher than most areas.

And surprisingly enough the area was peaceful and clam even though it was in the very heart of one of the busiest cities in the world.

Next on the list was The National museum of Pakistan which had an absolutely fascinating and large collection of coins from different eras, sculptures, rare manuscripts of the Quran, items related to Pakistan’s cultural heritage, Islamic art, miniature paintings, an ethnographic gallery depicting different ethnicities within Pakistan and galleries displaying artefacts from Gandharan times, Mughal rule, British rule and even the Indus civilisation.

My trip had been delayed because of the political unrest following Ms Benazir Bhutto’s death and the growing numbers of Pakistanis who wanted the current President Mr Pervez Musharaf out. Ms Bhutto, the leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, had returned to Pakistan following a self-imposed exile. This prompted another leader Mr Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz to return after he had been deported by Musharaf.  Opposition to Musharaf and his tailor-made Muslim League Quaid Party was growing. It was all ignited by Musharraf’s attack on the judiciary which was resisted by the Chief Justice who then was arrested with other senior members. The lawyers and other judiciary workers protested resulting in harsh police crackdowns.  Musharaf was alienating his support within the middle classes.

There was an emergency declared by Musharaf to target extremists who were fighting the army in the north west regions and who had managed to take over some areas but in reality it was the lawyers movement that suffered the brunt of it.  The media was gagged too as their reporting was seen to be damaging to Musharaf and allies. They accused it of being biased and sensationalising the issues of the lawyer’s movement and terrorism. Ironically it was Musharaf who first encouraged media freedom.

The murder of Ms Bhutto delayed the much anticipated elections for about 6 weeks.  There were lots of dark clouds ? militancy and suicide bombing had become a routine matter, the potential of election rigging and also the wheat shortage, electricity shortage and rise in petrol prices were all making their mark on the public. The prospects did not look very good for the near future too.

The plane journey was the worst I had encountered. The food had made me sick and I vomited at least 5 times if not more.? Air Blue was making me feel Blue. Our stop to refuel in Trabzon in turkey was a welcome break. At dawn we circled over snow-capped peaks and a large expanse of water.  It was a surreal experience leaving the plane for a short break in crisp cold Trabzon as a winter dawn broke with the blue sea gently swishing in the background.

Relations visited and I went to the houses of those relations who had lost loves ones recently and the elderly who could not get out and about.

The next few days I spent getting used to the climate and shopping for things that I would need.

I had decided to fly to Karachi but near the airport one of the roads was blocked and I worried I would be late. I was flying by Shaheen Air and the ticket cost me 5600 Rupees single.