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Feature
Attack on PTV building in Islamabad
by PTI and PAT workers.
“Karachi’s violence is a
by-product of deep-seated
regional conflicts among its
migrant population”
Karachi’s poor seem to inhabit a different world to the
rich of the same city. Yet, says Sadiq Polak, the concept of
the gated community is being copied among lower-income
groups, even if they cannot afford the expensive location or
materials. If nothing else, both are united in their pursuit of
a better life. It has brought them to Karachi and holds them
there still , in spite of it all. By Neil Arun, Photos by Eyevine
with villagers who held those rights for centuries cut out of the
deal. Those who campaign on their behalf risk their lives. One
of the most prominent campaigners — Parveen Rahman of
the Orangi Pilot Project NGO — was shot dead in 2013.
There is, of course, more to Karachi’s population boom than
conflict. Pakistan’s rural poor have been coming to the city for
decades, as their livelihoods are thrown into turmoil by modern
farming practices or natural disasters.
Karachi is also a magnet for the country’s burgeoning middle-class,
as well as for Pakistanis from the diaspora in the Gulf,
Europe and the US. It has been a manufacturing hub since the
1950s, and now has a thriving service sector with opportunities
aplenty in banking, media and fashion. The wealthy have also
left their mark, Sadiq Polak says, building homes in gated communities
inspired by upscale developments in Dubai.
Karachi police attempt
to quell a violent protest.
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