Things had begun to become worrisome in the Eastern wing of Pakistan. Political turbulence was making everyone think about the well-being of people on both sides of the country. The East Pakistanis who were living in Karachi were expressing grief and concern at the suffering of non-Bengalis living in the eastern wing and had said in an extraordinary meeting that their lives and property were no less valuable than those of Bengalis living in West Pakistan.

Still, the concern was unavoidable. So, on March 24, 1971 it was reported that a delegation of East Pakistani residents in the city had met with Additional I.G. Police M.Y. Orakzai. The IG told them that there was no cause for East Pakistanis residing in the city to worry because precautionary measures had already been taken by the Karachi Police. Pickets were set up and armed squads were patrolling all neighbourhoods where they were living.

By the way, in those days the police used to have a ‘rogues gallery’ (not sure if they still have it) in their offices. On March 25, it was revealed that there were 6,696 persons on the rogues’ gallery of the Sindh Police who had gone underground to evade arrests in various cases. The list included 1,821 absconders in different offences, 4,307 proclaimed offenders and 568 others.

The problems, though, weren’t confined to crime and punishment cases. Issues pertaining to lack of civic amenities were no less intense needing urgent attention. For example, on March 24, residents of Lyari had to go without water the whole day because a pipeline on Mirza Adam Khan Road had burst open. The 24-inch main line laid in 1958 could not withstand the pressure due to the recent additional supply of water released by the Karachi Development Authority (KDA). The worst affected were western and northern parts of the locality.

Obviously, such things couldn’t get the authorities’ attention the way they merited if the media didn’t do their job well. On March 25, the role of mass media — the press, radio, films and television — in popularising health education for the achievement of the desired health standards was discussed at a conference held in the Sindh capital. Eminent broadcaster Z.A. Bokhari, who presided over the last session of the moot, pointed out that mass communication media that devoted a lot of space and time for projecting various important issues should put emphasis on health education as a majority of the population was ignorant of even the basic principles of health and hygiene. He particularly dwelt on the role of the radio whose effort, despite a lot was being done, was ‘not directed properly’.

And with respect to art and culture, the most prominent facet of Karachi, on the night of March 26, France’s renowned 18-member Ballet Felix Blaska, that were on a tour of 11 countries, enthralled dance lovers with an 80-minute performance at a local hotel. The programme, sponsored by the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation and Alliance Francaise, consisted of six ballets in two parts, each lasting 45 and 35 minutes, respectively. Felix Blaska, the director of the troupe, was 29 years of age, the youngest director in contemporary ballet at the time and one of the most gifted choreographers of his generation.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2021