The skies come down to the ground and are eventually devoured by the hungry ground. For centuries, wars were fought and partitions made over land. Lines were drawn in the name of creating borders over the land’s bosom; murders were committed; blood was spilt. Sometimes, it was spilt in the name of religion, nationality, region, ideology and thought. Occasionally, language, culture, colour and race became a reason for burying humanity alive; this has been the case over the centuries. As the homo sapien continues to increase his population, the land gets increasingly congested.

Previously, the sky came down to the ground; but now the land rises up towards the sky. Human greed will never subside. But the greed for usurping, confiscating and selling land has turned him into a monster. The land had once belonged to God; is now not His. The master of the land lives on it, while God merely stares at his creations who now own His land.

Since these mysterious men of God have gained ownership of the land and turned it into a lucrative business, it has begun to rise towards the heavens above. Originally, it was the British, who gave away lands they didn’t even own, in recognition of the services and loyalty provided by a desi. Local lands along with titles were given to loyal natives, which subsequently, came under the control of conquerors, martyrs and those who lost wars. These lands were constantly divided and re-divided. Everyone did whatever they wanted, whatever was in their power to do. The land was divided, confiscated and occupied by humans. If someone hit a sixer and won the match, then he became a zamindar. If someone helped protect the nation’s ‘ideological boundaries’, he too received the honour of becoming a zamindar.

Previously, the zamindars were only found in rural areas but now they are also found in the cities. People, who came out to shout slogans and struggle against feudalism, had themselves turned into urban waderas. A city-dweller must remain on cordial terms with the urban wadera and vice versa. If a villager has a problem, then s/he must go to the dera. Similarly, if a city-dweller has a problem, then s/he must go to the city’s dera. In any case, more than half of the city has become the Cantt area, while the rest is known as Defence. The remaining city is squeezed in between these two areas. As far as the eye can see, there is only just a heavy populous.

The population increases rapidly, while the available land keeps decreasing. The business that began in the name of Defence has progressed so rapidly that it has reached from politicians, the bureaucracy and the so-called guardians of religions to the judiciary.

Everyone wants land, in urban and other populated areas. It doesn’t matter whether the parties are political, religious, nationalist or progressive. Everything becomes a part of the business, no matter what slogans, ideology and manifestoes they promote. Everyone eyes the land, whether or not they are in power. They distribute and sell land if they are in power and if not, then they occupy by force.

Our unfortunate Karachi, once known as the ‘city of lights’, was a hub of peace and tranquillity, famous for its secular identity. In the past, it wasn’t divided along the lines of religion, nationality, sect and creed like it is now. It was a city where everyone had the right to live without any limitations of religious or nationalistic differences.

A brave daughter of this city, Parveen Rahman, spent her entire youth working for the betterment of this city’s underprivileged inhabitants. She lived only to serve the people; but she was killed a few days ago by the sons of the ‘city of lights’. These sons, who were once armed with a school curriculum now cradle arms and have plunged this city into darkness.