Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Manghopir
Manghopir
has the oldest Sufi shrines in Karachi, hot sulphur springs that are believed to have curative powers, and many crocodiles - believed locally to be the sacred disciples of Pir Mangho. Balochs often call this place as ‘Mangi’ or Garm-aap / Sard-aap (due to the presence of the hot & cold springs).
Sheedis and festivals
Manghopir is mostly inhabited by one of Pakistan's smallest ethnic communities, Sheedi. Sheedi are said to be the descendants of African slaves brought from Zanzibar and maintain their distinct African identity in the midst of the dominating South Asian cultures.
Presently, these African-Pakistanis live in various parts of Karachi. Most are found in Lyari, but they are also found in Malir, Moaach Goth, Manghopir, and further interior at Sindh and Balochistan. Due to Lyari's ethnic population, it is often called ‘Little Africa’. In Baghdadi, Lyari (an abode of such ethnicity) vicinities have names like Shedi Village and Nairobi. During the British rule or possible before, Baghdadi and many areas in Lyari functioned as a slave market where African slaves were brought and sold. Women from these black families worked as nannies for the children of Hindu traders. Later, these people amalgamated themselves with local Balochs and also adopted various Balochi and Islamic traditions, in addition maintaining their distinct African cultural heritage. For example, some African touch festivals like Gowaati, Layvaa (dancing over the fire), dhammal, beating Congo Drums and many forms of witch craft are still practiced. A prominent Urdu poet and Lyari citizen, Noon Meem Danish, proudly claims to be the great-great-grandchild of an African slave from Zanzibar. “Now after centuries of amalgamation, these peoples proudly call themselves as Baloch or Makrani."
Crocodiles
The crocodiles are an integral part of the shrine, chronicle of the saint, and are so tightly interwoven that it is almost impossible to judge between fact & fiction. There are many traditions about myth of crocodiles, as if it is believed that Baba Farid gifted the reptiles to Manghopir. The second myth is quite factious - during a visit of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (the celebrated saint of Sindh) in order to make the barren valley more inhabitable, he caused a hot spring to issue forth from the rock and a grove of date palms to spring up from the ground and the crocodiles were originally the lice of a saint, which he gifted to Pir Mango, to put them into the pond and then each turned into a crocodile. According to a third legend, the crocodiles were introduced in Manghopir by Mor Mubarak (also a saint), who brought them from a cave in Korangi, as a result, after the name of saint, the chief of crocodiles (the eldest one) came to be known as ‘Mor Sahib’.
According to scientific explanations, these crocodiles were carried through some heavy floods, during ancient times and later gathered or collected at this pond. Archaeological investigations have also suggested the existence of a bronze age settlement (2500-1700 BC) near Manghopir, who worshipped crocodiles and before the advent of Islam crocodiles were also thought sacred for Hindus. More to the point, certain signs of crocodile-myth in form of animal magic & witchcraft are also seen in the African countries like Guinea and Zaire. Certainly, these trends are because of the unique nature of the reptile, which is always quick and ruthless and one who maintains a cool behavior at the surface of water, while paddling like a devil underneath.
Mangopir festival
This unique crocodile festival is regularly celebrated every year during the month of Rabbiul-Awwal and runs almost a week. The colorful rituals of the Sheedi tribe also flavored this festival with a unique African touch. The festival attracts many people of all ethnic groups. People make their mannats (pledges) at the shrine of Pir Mangho through offering fresh meat (believed to be the sacrificial) to the crocodiles. Shedis believe that the creatures do not harm the saint's followers and because of this bury crocodiles with equal respect and formalities as they would give a human being. There is place reserved for burying dead crocodiles near the shrine.
The highlight of the Manghopir festival also called ‘Shedi Mela’ and a garlanding ceremony, during which the gaddi nasheen (the holy successor) puts a garland around the neck of the chief of the crocodiles (Mor Sahib). Success of this rite depends solely on the mood of old creature, but according to his keeper, he obliges most of the time and presents himself for the ritual, usually chunks of fresh meat help do the trick.
As with almost all such holy shrines, Manghopir's shrine is located on a small hill. The grave of the saint remains covered with an embroidered silk fabric in a small tomb while musicians with traditional instruments sing praises for the saint outside. During the festival, the tomb is washed with sandalwood and rose water. Outside the shrine, there are various stalls and mini-shops, selling knickknacks and items associated with the shrine.
Nearby is a crocodile pond, measuring about 400 feet long and 200 feet wide, which nourished by an underground stream, contains hundreds of crocodiles from six to seven feet in length. ‘Mor Sahib – the Chief of Crocodiles (the eldest one) is about 100 years old and over 12 feet in length. The flourishing breeding has made the pond too small for the expanding reptile population, which is naturally rough and tough and famous for its longevity. The crocodile population is under threat due to a water shortage in the pond, caused by established water pumping at the natural source of freshwater for the pond.
During the week-long Urs (crocodile festival), among Shedis, a large number of people descend on the shrine from all over Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. There is much fun as the caravans of devotees make their way to the shrine.
The Sindh Auqaf Department, Govt. of Pakistan regularly appoints official caretaker for such shrines and holy places. These caretaking jobs normally remain within the family, like son after father. This shrine has to have a caretaker to take care of the crocodiles and the shrine itself. But the Auqaf department is not paying his proper role and thanks to the large number of devotees, who flock to the shrine, the semi-aquatics get a regular supply of fresh meat. Anyone desirous of having his wish fulfilled, slaughters a goat or sheep and offers some meat to the crocodiles.
Hot springs and healing resort
There are hot and cold springs about a kilometer from the shrine. Warm water passing through the sulphur rocks is said to contain some medicinal qualities. Many people with skin diseases regularly come from long distances to have a bath to cure them. There are separate swimming pools and shower rooms for men and women. Scientific analysis has shown that this warm water is naturally saturated with carbon dioxide, besides containing some sulpher & other skin friendly nourishments, which are no doubt suitable for many skin-diseased patients
has the oldest Sufi shrines in Karachi, hot sulphur springs that are believed to have curative powers, and many crocodiles - believed locally to be the sacred disciples of Pir Mangho. Balochs often call this place as ‘Mangi’ or Garm-aap / Sard-aap (due to the presence of the hot & cold springs).
Sheedis and festivals
Manghopir is mostly inhabited by one of Pakistan's smallest ethnic communities, Sheedi. Sheedi are said to be the descendants of African slaves brought from Zanzibar and maintain their distinct African identity in the midst of the dominating South Asian cultures.
Presently, these African-Pakistanis live in various parts of Karachi. Most are found in Lyari, but they are also found in Malir, Moaach Goth, Manghopir, and further interior at Sindh and Balochistan. Due to Lyari's ethnic population, it is often called ‘Little Africa’. In Baghdadi, Lyari (an abode of such ethnicity) vicinities have names like Shedi Village and Nairobi. During the British rule or possible before, Baghdadi and many areas in Lyari functioned as a slave market where African slaves were brought and sold. Women from these black families worked as nannies for the children of Hindu traders. Later, these people amalgamated themselves with local Balochs and also adopted various Balochi and Islamic traditions, in addition maintaining their distinct African cultural heritage. For example, some African touch festivals like Gowaati, Layvaa (dancing over the fire), dhammal, beating Congo Drums and many forms of witch craft are still practiced. A prominent Urdu poet and Lyari citizen, Noon Meem Danish, proudly claims to be the great-great-grandchild of an African slave from Zanzibar. “Now after centuries of amalgamation, these peoples proudly call themselves as Baloch or Makrani."
Crocodiles
The crocodiles are an integral part of the shrine, chronicle of the saint, and are so tightly interwoven that it is almost impossible to judge between fact & fiction. There are many traditions about myth of crocodiles, as if it is believed that Baba Farid gifted the reptiles to Manghopir. The second myth is quite factious - during a visit of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (the celebrated saint of Sindh) in order to make the barren valley more inhabitable, he caused a hot spring to issue forth from the rock and a grove of date palms to spring up from the ground and the crocodiles were originally the lice of a saint, which he gifted to Pir Mango, to put them into the pond and then each turned into a crocodile. According to a third legend, the crocodiles were introduced in Manghopir by Mor Mubarak (also a saint), who brought them from a cave in Korangi, as a result, after the name of saint, the chief of crocodiles (the eldest one) came to be known as ‘Mor Sahib’.
According to scientific explanations, these crocodiles were carried through some heavy floods, during ancient times and later gathered or collected at this pond. Archaeological investigations have also suggested the existence of a bronze age settlement (2500-1700 BC) near Manghopir, who worshipped crocodiles and before the advent of Islam crocodiles were also thought sacred for Hindus. More to the point, certain signs of crocodile-myth in form of animal magic & witchcraft are also seen in the African countries like Guinea and Zaire. Certainly, these trends are because of the unique nature of the reptile, which is always quick and ruthless and one who maintains a cool behavior at the surface of water, while paddling like a devil underneath.
Mangopir festival
This unique crocodile festival is regularly celebrated every year during the month of Rabbiul-Awwal and runs almost a week. The colorful rituals of the Sheedi tribe also flavored this festival with a unique African touch. The festival attracts many people of all ethnic groups. People make their mannats (pledges) at the shrine of Pir Mangho through offering fresh meat (believed to be the sacrificial) to the crocodiles. Shedis believe that the creatures do not harm the saint's followers and because of this bury crocodiles with equal respect and formalities as they would give a human being. There is place reserved for burying dead crocodiles near the shrine.
The highlight of the Manghopir festival also called ‘Shedi Mela’ and a garlanding ceremony, during which the gaddi nasheen (the holy successor) puts a garland around the neck of the chief of the crocodiles (Mor Sahib). Success of this rite depends solely on the mood of old creature, but according to his keeper, he obliges most of the time and presents himself for the ritual, usually chunks of fresh meat help do the trick.
As with almost all such holy shrines, Manghopir's shrine is located on a small hill. The grave of the saint remains covered with an embroidered silk fabric in a small tomb while musicians with traditional instruments sing praises for the saint outside. During the festival, the tomb is washed with sandalwood and rose water. Outside the shrine, there are various stalls and mini-shops, selling knickknacks and items associated with the shrine.
Nearby is a crocodile pond, measuring about 400 feet long and 200 feet wide, which nourished by an underground stream, contains hundreds of crocodiles from six to seven feet in length. ‘Mor Sahib – the Chief of Crocodiles (the eldest one) is about 100 years old and over 12 feet in length. The flourishing breeding has made the pond too small for the expanding reptile population, which is naturally rough and tough and famous for its longevity. The crocodile population is under threat due to a water shortage in the pond, caused by established water pumping at the natural source of freshwater for the pond.
During the week-long Urs (crocodile festival), among Shedis, a large number of people descend on the shrine from all over Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. There is much fun as the caravans of devotees make their way to the shrine.
The Sindh Auqaf Department, Govt. of Pakistan regularly appoints official caretaker for such shrines and holy places. These caretaking jobs normally remain within the family, like son after father. This shrine has to have a caretaker to take care of the crocodiles and the shrine itself. But the Auqaf department is not paying his proper role and thanks to the large number of devotees, who flock to the shrine, the semi-aquatics get a regular supply of fresh meat. Anyone desirous of having his wish fulfilled, slaughters a goat or sheep and offers some meat to the crocodiles.
Hot springs and healing resort
There are hot and cold springs about a kilometer from the shrine. Warm water passing through the sulphur rocks is said to contain some medicinal qualities. Many people with skin diseases regularly come from long distances to have a bath to cure them. There are separate swimming pools and shower rooms for men and women. Scientific analysis has shown that this warm water is naturally saturated with carbon dioxide, besides containing some sulpher & other skin friendly nourishments, which are no doubt suitable for many skin-diseased patients
His Vision of Pakistan
It was, therefore, with a sense of supreme satisfaction at the fulfilment of his mission that Jinnah told the nation in his last message on 14 August, 1948:
"The foundations of your State have been laid and it is now for you to build and build as quickly and as well as you can".
He wanted us to work hard for Pakistan. Like he said to the students of Islamia College Peshawar:
" I want all of you to concentrate on your studies because it is you who has to shape the future of Pakistan."
He wanted us to be above all the sectarian differences, he wanted us to work for our homeland and to prove that when we said " We are a nation" we meant it.
Now lets have a look on what we have achieved so far?
Pakistan came into being in 1947 now this is not a big time period in the history of any nation. Today Pakistan plays an important role in world politics. Pakistan has several industries we are producing the world's best products in different feilds. Our work force is not only working in the country but it is also working around the world. Pakistanis are famous for their hard work and I think it was Quaid-e-Azam who taught us and ordered us to work hard. We are working on the guidelines he provided and we should always feel proud on our Identity and patriotism.
Political Struggle
So many leaders led their nations to get freedom from British rule. But Jinnah created a nation and then demanded a separate homeland for them. This part of his life is the toughest and caused changes in the geography, culture and every aspect of life in South Asia. In the year 1906 All India Muslim League was founded but Quaid e Azam joined league in the year 1913. The policies Congress carried out during Khilafat movement and no cooperation movement changed his minds. He observed that Gandhi is exploiting the religion and using the congress for political terrorism. He then concentrated on reorganizing of Muslim League. He established an structure of the party with hundreds of branches across the subcontinent. He organized Muslim league from streets to schools and colleges. He organized a women's wing of Muslim league and shaped Muslim league as one of the most well organized and powerful political parties in India. He pleaded with provincial Muslim leaders to sink their differences and make common cause with the League. He exhorted the Muslim masses to organize themselves and join the League. He gave coherence and direction to Muslim sentiments on the Government of India Act, 1935. He advocated that the Federal Scheme should be scrapped, as it was subversive of India's cherished goal of complete responsible Government, while the provincial scheme, which conceded provincial autonomy for the first time, should be worked for what it was worth, despite its certain objectionable features. He also formulated a viable League manifesto for the election scheduled for early 1937. He was, it seemed, struggling against time to make Muslim India a power to be reckoned with.Despite all the manifold odds stacked against it, the Muslim League won some 108 (about 23 per cent) seats out of a total of 485 Muslim seats in the various legislature. Though not very impressive in itself, the League's partial success assumed added significance in view of the fact that the League won the largest number of Muslim seats and that it was the only all-India party of the Muslims in the country. Thus, the elections represented the first milestone on the long road to putting Muslim India on the map of the subcontinent. Congress in Power With the year 1937 opened the most momentous decade in modern Indian history. In that year came into force the provincial part of the Government of India Act, 1935, granting autonomy to Indians for the first time, in the provinces. The Congress, having become the dominant party in Indian politics, came to power in seven provinces exclusively, spurning the League's offer of cooperation, turning its back finally on the coalition idea and excluding Muslims as a political entity from the portals of power. In that year, also, the Muslim League, under Jinnah's dynamic leadership, was reorganised de novo, transformed into a mass organisation, and made the spokesman of Indian Muslims as never before. Above all, in that momentous lyear were initiated certain trends in Indian politics, lthe crystallisation of which in subsequent years made the partition of the subcontinent inevitable. The practical manifestation of the policy of the Congress which took office in July, 1937, in seven out of eleven provinces, convinced Muslims that, in the Congress scheme of things, they could live only on sufferance of Hindus and as "second class" citizens. The Congress provincial governments, it may be remembered, had embarked upon a policy and launched a programme in which Muslims felt that their religion, language and culture were not safe. This blatantly aggressive Congress policy was seized upon by Jinnah to awaken the Muslims to a new consciousness, organize them on all-India platoform, and make them a power to be reckoned with. He also gave coherence, direction and articulation to their innermost, lyet vague, urges and aspirations. Above all, the filled them with his indomitable will, his own unflinching faith in their destiny.
Struggle for Pakistan
The attitude congress showed after the elections of 1935. Most Muslims felt that their future is not safe in united India. Congress not only refused to accept Muslim league's cooperation but also refused to protect muslim minorities by providing them legislative guard. As a result of Jinnah's ceaseless efforts, the Muslims awakened from what Professor Baker calls(their) "unreflective silence" (in which they had so complacently basked for long decades), and to "the spiritual essence of nationality" that had existed among them for a pretty long time. Roused by the imapct of successive Congress hammerings, the Muslims, as Ambedkar (principal author of independent India's Constitution) says, "searched their social consciousness in a desperate attempt to find coherent and meaningful articulation to their cherished yearnings. To their great relief, they discovered that their sentiments of nationality had flamed into nationalism". In addition, not only lhad they developed" the will to live as a "nation", had also endwoed them with a territory which they could occupy and make a State as well as a cultural home for the newly discovered nation. These two pre-requisites, as laid down by Renan, provided the Muslims with the intellectual justification for claiming a distinct nationalism (apart from Indian or Hindu nationalism) for themselves. So that when, after their long pause, the Muslims gave expression to their innermost yearnings, these turned out to be in favour of a separate Muslim nationhood and of a separate Muslim state.In March 1940 Jinnah presided over a Muslim League session at Lahore, where the first official demand was made for the partition of India and the creation of the state of Pakistan, in which Muslims would be a majority. During three decades of political life, Jinnah had believed in the possibility of Hindu-Muslim unity, and it was with the utmost reluctance that he came to the view that partition was essential."We are a nation with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of values and proportion, legal laws and moral code, customs and calandar, history and tradition, aptitudes and ambitions; in short, we have our own distinctive outlook on life and of life. By all canons of international law, we are a nation" Quaid-e-AzamAfter the historic day of 23rd March 1940, Quaid-e-Azam never looked back. Now the struggle was to get a piece of land for a newly invented nation and to get it from people who were not ready to accept Muslims of South Asia as a nation. He visited every part of sub continent to tell Muslims that why a separate homeland is demanded. The whole nation was with him. Like once he was presiding to a Muslim league meeting at Lahore some one asked the listeners "Can you understand what he is saying?" as Quaid was talking in English and some of the people in the room were unable to understand it. The guy replied "Yes I know what ever he is saying is good for us." He was the greatest Muslim leader sub continent ever had. People were behind him they knew that it is Jinnah who can lead them to their homeland. They were looking for freedom and Jinnah was fighting their fight. His tenacity through constitutional discussions between the league, the Congress, and the British government in 1942, 1945, and 1946 made partition certain.
So many leaders led their nations to get freedom from British rule. But Jinnah created a nation and then demanded a separate homeland for them. This part of his life is the toughest and caused changes in the geography, culture and every aspect of life in South Asia. In the year 1906 All India Muslim League was founded but Quaid e Azam joined league in the year 1913. The policies Congress carried out during Khilafat movement and no cooperation movement changed his minds. He observed that Gandhi is exploiting the religion and using the congress for political terrorism. He then concentrated on reorganizing of Muslim League. He established an structure of the party with hundreds of branches across the subcontinent. He organized Muslim league from streets to schools and colleges. He organized a women's wing of Muslim league and shaped Muslim league as one of the most well organized and powerful political parties in India. He pleaded with provincial Muslim leaders to sink their differences and make common cause with the League. He exhorted the Muslim masses to organize themselves and join the League. He gave coherence and direction to Muslim sentiments on the Government of India Act, 1935. He advocated that the Federal Scheme should be scrapped, as it was subversive of India's cherished goal of complete responsible Government, while the provincial scheme, which conceded provincial autonomy for the first time, should be worked for what it was worth, despite its certain objectionable features. He also formulated a viable League manifesto for the election scheduled for early 1937. He was, it seemed, struggling against time to make Muslim India a power to be reckoned with.Despite all the manifold odds stacked against it, the Muslim League won some 108 (about 23 per cent) seats out of a total of 485 Muslim seats in the various legislature. Though not very impressive in itself, the League's partial success assumed added significance in view of the fact that the League won the largest number of Muslim seats and that it was the only all-India party of the Muslims in the country. Thus, the elections represented the first milestone on the long road to putting Muslim India on the map of the subcontinent. Congress in Power With the year 1937 opened the most momentous decade in modern Indian history. In that year came into force the provincial part of the Government of India Act, 1935, granting autonomy to Indians for the first time, in the provinces. The Congress, having become the dominant party in Indian politics, came to power in seven provinces exclusively, spurning the League's offer of cooperation, turning its back finally on the coalition idea and excluding Muslims as a political entity from the portals of power. In that year, also, the Muslim League, under Jinnah's dynamic leadership, was reorganised de novo, transformed into a mass organisation, and made the spokesman of Indian Muslims as never before. Above all, in that momentous lyear were initiated certain trends in Indian politics, lthe crystallisation of which in subsequent years made the partition of the subcontinent inevitable. The practical manifestation of the policy of the Congress which took office in July, 1937, in seven out of eleven provinces, convinced Muslims that, in the Congress scheme of things, they could live only on sufferance of Hindus and as "second class" citizens. The Congress provincial governments, it may be remembered, had embarked upon a policy and launched a programme in which Muslims felt that their religion, language and culture were not safe. This blatantly aggressive Congress policy was seized upon by Jinnah to awaken the Muslims to a new consciousness, organize them on all-India platoform, and make them a power to be reckoned with. He also gave coherence, direction and articulation to their innermost, lyet vague, urges and aspirations. Above all, the filled them with his indomitable will, his own unflinching faith in their destiny.
Struggle for Pakistan
The attitude congress showed after the elections of 1935. Most Muslims felt that their future is not safe in united India. Congress not only refused to accept Muslim league's cooperation but also refused to protect muslim minorities by providing them legislative guard. As a result of Jinnah's ceaseless efforts, the Muslims awakened from what Professor Baker calls(their) "unreflective silence" (in which they had so complacently basked for long decades), and to "the spiritual essence of nationality" that had existed among them for a pretty long time. Roused by the imapct of successive Congress hammerings, the Muslims, as Ambedkar (principal author of independent India's Constitution) says, "searched their social consciousness in a desperate attempt to find coherent and meaningful articulation to their cherished yearnings. To their great relief, they discovered that their sentiments of nationality had flamed into nationalism". In addition, not only lhad they developed" the will to live as a "nation", had also endwoed them with a territory which they could occupy and make a State as well as a cultural home for the newly discovered nation. These two pre-requisites, as laid down by Renan, provided the Muslims with the intellectual justification for claiming a distinct nationalism (apart from Indian or Hindu nationalism) for themselves. So that when, after their long pause, the Muslims gave expression to their innermost yearnings, these turned out to be in favour of a separate Muslim nationhood and of a separate Muslim state.In March 1940 Jinnah presided over a Muslim League session at Lahore, where the first official demand was made for the partition of India and the creation of the state of Pakistan, in which Muslims would be a majority. During three decades of political life, Jinnah had believed in the possibility of Hindu-Muslim unity, and it was with the utmost reluctance that he came to the view that partition was essential."We are a nation with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of values and proportion, legal laws and moral code, customs and calandar, history and tradition, aptitudes and ambitions; in short, we have our own distinctive outlook on life and of life. By all canons of international law, we are a nation" Quaid-e-AzamAfter the historic day of 23rd March 1940, Quaid-e-Azam never looked back. Now the struggle was to get a piece of land for a newly invented nation and to get it from people who were not ready to accept Muslims of South Asia as a nation. He visited every part of sub continent to tell Muslims that why a separate homeland is demanded. The whole nation was with him. Like once he was presiding to a Muslim league meeting at Lahore some one asked the listeners "Can you understand what he is saying?" as Quaid was talking in English and some of the people in the room were unable to understand it. The guy replied "Yes I know what ever he is saying is good for us." He was the greatest Muslim leader sub continent ever had. People were behind him they knew that it is Jinnah who can lead them to their homeland. They were looking for freedom and Jinnah was fighting their fight. His tenacity through constitutional discussions between the league, the Congress, and the British government in 1942, 1945, and 1946 made partition certain.
New Country
14 August 1947 was the day when we got our Homeland our country our Pakistan. It was his struggle and hard work and ablity to lead us that made a dream come true. In recognition of his signular contribution, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was nominated by the Muslim League as the Governor-General of Pakistan. He was governor general of a country with no resources and a burden of 8 million refugees coming from different corners of India to start their lives in their new country. Government had so many tasks to achieve above all was to help refugees to get settled in the new country. Then there was economy, the country had nothing in reserves and India was not showing any signs to give any thing from the resources British left behind. If all this was symptomatic of Pakistan's administrative and economic weakness, the Indian annexation, through military action in November 1947, of Junagadh (which had originally acceded to Pakistan) and the Kashmir war over the State's accession (October 1947-December 1948) exposed her military weakness. In the circumsances, therefore, it was nothing short of a miracle that Pakistan survived at all. That it survived and forged ahead was mainly due to one man-Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The nation desperately needed in the person of a charismatic leader at that critical juncture in the nation's history, and he fulfilled that need profoundly. After all, he was more than a mere Governor-General: he was the Quaid-i-Azam who had brought the State into being. In the ultimate analysis, his very presence at the helm of affairs was responsible for enabling the newly born nation to overcome the terrible crisis on the morrow of its cataclysmic birth. He mustered up the immense prestige and the unquestioning loyalty he commanded among the people to energize them, to raise their morale, land directed the profound feelings of patriotism that the freedom had generated, along constructive channels. Though tired and in poor health, Jinnah yet carried the heaviest part of the burden in that first crucial year. He laid down the policies of the new state, called attention to the immediate problems confronting the nation and told the members of the Constituent Assembly, the civil servants and the Armed Forces what to do and what the nation expected of them. He saw to it that law and order was maintained at all costs, despite the provocation that the large-scale riots in north India had provided. He moved from Karachi to Lahore for a while and supervised the immediate refugee problem in the Punjab. In a time of fierce excitement, he remained sober, cool and steady. He advised his excited audence in Lahore to concentrate on helping the refugees,to avoaid retaliation, exercise restraint and protect the minorities. He assured the minorities of a fair deal, assuaged their inured sentiments, and gave them hope and comfort. He toured the various provinces, attended to their particular problems and instilled in the people a sense ofbelonging. He reversed the British policy in the North-West Frontier and ordered the withdrawal of the troops from the tribal territory of Waziristan, thereby making the Pathans feel themselves an integral part of Pakistan's body-politics. He created a new Ministry of States and Frontier Regions, and assumed responsibility for ushering in a new era in Balochistan. He settled the controversial question of the states of Karachi, secured the accession of States, especially of Kalat which seemed problematical and carried on negotiations with Lord Mountbatten for the settlement of the Kashmir Issue.
Quaid-e-Azam Leaves us
In accomplishing the task he had taken upon himself on the morrow of Pakistan's birth, Jinnah had worked himself to death, but he had, to quote richard Symons, "contributed more than any other man to Pakistan's survivial". He died on 11 September, 1948. How true was Lord Pethick Lawrence, the former Secretary of State for India, when he said, "Gandhi died by the hands of an assassin; Jinnah died by his devotion to Pakistan".A man such as Jinnah, who had fought for the inherent rights of his people all through his life and who had taken up the somewhat unconventional and the largely mininterpreted cause of Pakistan, was bound to generate violent opposition and excite implacable hostility and was likely to be largely misunderstood. But what is most remarkable about Jinnah is that he was the recepient of some of the greatest tributes paid to any one in modern times, some of them even from those who held a diametrically opposed viewpoint.The Aga Khan considered him "the greatest man he ever met", Beverley Nichols, the author of `Verdict on India', called him "the most important man in Asia", and Dr. Kailashnath Katju, the West Bengal Governor in 1948, thought of him as "an outstanding figure of this century not only in India, but in the whole world". While Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League, called him "one of the greatest leaders in the Muslim world", the Grand Mufti of Palestine considered his death as a "great loss" to the entire world of Islam. It was, however, given to Surat Chandra Bose, leader of the Forward Bloc wing of the Indian National Congress, to sum up succinctly his personal and political achievements. "Mr Jinnah",he said on his death in 1948, "was great as a lawyer, once great as a Congressman, great as a leader of Muslims, great as a world politician and diplomat, and greatestof all as a man of action, By Mr. Jinnah's passing away, the world has lost one of the greatst statesmen and Pakistan its life-giver, philosopher and guide". Such was Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the man and his mission, such the range of his accomplishments and achievements
14 August 1947 was the day when we got our Homeland our country our Pakistan. It was his struggle and hard work and ablity to lead us that made a dream come true. In recognition of his signular contribution, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was nominated by the Muslim League as the Governor-General of Pakistan. He was governor general of a country with no resources and a burden of 8 million refugees coming from different corners of India to start their lives in their new country. Government had so many tasks to achieve above all was to help refugees to get settled in the new country. Then there was economy, the country had nothing in reserves and India was not showing any signs to give any thing from the resources British left behind. If all this was symptomatic of Pakistan's administrative and economic weakness, the Indian annexation, through military action in November 1947, of Junagadh (which had originally acceded to Pakistan) and the Kashmir war over the State's accession (October 1947-December 1948) exposed her military weakness. In the circumsances, therefore, it was nothing short of a miracle that Pakistan survived at all. That it survived and forged ahead was mainly due to one man-Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The nation desperately needed in the person of a charismatic leader at that critical juncture in the nation's history, and he fulfilled that need profoundly. After all, he was more than a mere Governor-General: he was the Quaid-i-Azam who had brought the State into being. In the ultimate analysis, his very presence at the helm of affairs was responsible for enabling the newly born nation to overcome the terrible crisis on the morrow of its cataclysmic birth. He mustered up the immense prestige and the unquestioning loyalty he commanded among the people to energize them, to raise their morale, land directed the profound feelings of patriotism that the freedom had generated, along constructive channels. Though tired and in poor health, Jinnah yet carried the heaviest part of the burden in that first crucial year. He laid down the policies of the new state, called attention to the immediate problems confronting the nation and told the members of the Constituent Assembly, the civil servants and the Armed Forces what to do and what the nation expected of them. He saw to it that law and order was maintained at all costs, despite the provocation that the large-scale riots in north India had provided. He moved from Karachi to Lahore for a while and supervised the immediate refugee problem in the Punjab. In a time of fierce excitement, he remained sober, cool and steady. He advised his excited audence in Lahore to concentrate on helping the refugees,to avoaid retaliation, exercise restraint and protect the minorities. He assured the minorities of a fair deal, assuaged their inured sentiments, and gave them hope and comfort. He toured the various provinces, attended to their particular problems and instilled in the people a sense ofbelonging. He reversed the British policy in the North-West Frontier and ordered the withdrawal of the troops from the tribal territory of Waziristan, thereby making the Pathans feel themselves an integral part of Pakistan's body-politics. He created a new Ministry of States and Frontier Regions, and assumed responsibility for ushering in a new era in Balochistan. He settled the controversial question of the states of Karachi, secured the accession of States, especially of Kalat which seemed problematical and carried on negotiations with Lord Mountbatten for the settlement of the Kashmir Issue.
Quaid-e-Azam Leaves us
In accomplishing the task he had taken upon himself on the morrow of Pakistan's birth, Jinnah had worked himself to death, but he had, to quote richard Symons, "contributed more than any other man to Pakistan's survivial". He died on 11 September, 1948. How true was Lord Pethick Lawrence, the former Secretary of State for India, when he said, "Gandhi died by the hands of an assassin; Jinnah died by his devotion to Pakistan".A man such as Jinnah, who had fought for the inherent rights of his people all through his life and who had taken up the somewhat unconventional and the largely mininterpreted cause of Pakistan, was bound to generate violent opposition and excite implacable hostility and was likely to be largely misunderstood. But what is most remarkable about Jinnah is that he was the recepient of some of the greatest tributes paid to any one in modern times, some of them even from those who held a diametrically opposed viewpoint.The Aga Khan considered him "the greatest man he ever met", Beverley Nichols, the author of `Verdict on India', called him "the most important man in Asia", and Dr. Kailashnath Katju, the West Bengal Governor in 1948, thought of him as "an outstanding figure of this century not only in India, but in the whole world". While Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League, called him "one of the greatest leaders in the Muslim world", the Grand Mufti of Palestine considered his death as a "great loss" to the entire world of Islam. It was, however, given to Surat Chandra Bose, leader of the Forward Bloc wing of the Indian National Congress, to sum up succinctly his personal and political achievements. "Mr Jinnah",he said on his death in 1948, "was great as a lawyer, once great as a Congressman, great as a leader of Muslims, great as a world politician and diplomat, and greatestof all as a man of action, By Mr. Jinnah's passing away, the world has lost one of the greatst statesmen and Pakistan its life-giver, philosopher and guide". Such was Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the man and his mission, such the range of his accomplishments and achievements
Early life
He was born on 25th of December 1876 in Karachi. He opened his eyes in a mercantile family. His father Jinnah Ponja was a businessmen. Quaid's family was basically from Rajkot India they migrated towards Karachi to find better business opportunities. Mister Ponja was a prosperous merchant and he wanted his son to get the best education available.Muhammed Ali, started his education from Sindh Madrasatul Islam, then he went to Bombay for more education. After this he went to England where he studied law at lincoln's Inn. Quaid e Azam later told that he applied in Lincoln's Inn because he saw Holy Prphet Mohammed peace be upon him's name at the reception of the college. This shows the love Quaid e Azam had for Holy Prophet and Islam. Since the early days of his youth he was always a neat and clean boy. He was very well mannered, punctual and disciplined. He was a born leader and had all the essentials for a leader since his childhood.After completing his education he practiced law in Bombay and instantly became the most well known and reputed lawyer in Bombay. It was his commitment to his profession and his view of legal system. He always worked hard, that's why once he said in his address to Pakistanis " work, work and work. Work with honesty and responsibility for your country. "Quaid e Azam's first contact with politics was in 1906, when he acted as private secretary to Dadabhai Naoroji, president of the Indian National Congress. He joined Congress instead of Muslim league because of two reasons:1. Muslim league was new at that time.
2. Secondly he thought that the political power and secular agenda Congress has would be good enough for Muslims of south Asia. He was symbol of Hindu Muslim unity. But when he worked with Congress he found that Congress is neglecting the Muslim minority of the country. Specially the way Congress fought for Hindi instead of Persian and Urdu. Differences reached at the top when Congress started non-cooperation movement. Jinnah disagreed profoundly with the movement and resigned from the Congress. Jinnah advocated a moderate approach of cooperation with the British and gradual transfer of power.
Naat khawan ,Siddique Ismail,
Siddique Ismail:
In the new millennium Muslim world is facing many a challenges externally as well as from within the Muslim world. In the last few decades there has been an appreciable resurgence of Islamic thinking and efforts to revive traditional teachings. Muslims, particularly the youth have strived to discover their identities, origin, values, virtues & rituals. Naat Khawani is one of the field in which significant work has been done. Naat is a way of expressing love for the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H). Naat is an inner voice of heart & from the soul, which positively effects every Muslim. Naats have been written and performed in different languages of the world. In a way Naat is Ishq-e-Muhammad (PBUH) and a proven source of refreshing of soul.
Among the top most Naat Khawans that Pakistan has ever produced, the name of Haji Siddique Ismail occupies an eminent space. Siddique Ismail was born on 10th February 1954 in Karachi. He started his career in 1965 through children’s programme named Buchon ki dunya. Mr. Siddique holds the honor of being the first ever Naat Khawan on PTV. He has performed numerous Naats and is recognized at national and international levels. His valuable contribution in the field of Naat Khawani earned him many a national and international awards including the most prestigious, the Pride of Performance.KalPoint: We would like you to please tell us about the History of Naat Khawani?
S.Ismail: The history of Naat Khawani goes back a long time. If you go in the depth of its history, you can write hundreds of pages since the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is the most loveable person on this planet earth and he is being praised in every era. Even the Quran has stated the importance and praise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in so many ayaats. God has said, “Oh you who believe, My angels and I say Durood on the Holy Prophet and you should do the same too”. It is very difficult to trace the history of Naat Khawani since we cannot find authenticated record that when did it actually got initiated. One can say that on a more regularized basis Hazrat Hassan started this great work. He was also known as Shair-e-Darbaan-e-Risalat even before accepting Islam. He was a poet, but after embracing Islam he gave a new turn to his poetry and started writing Naats in honor of the Prophet. Therefore Hazrat Hassan is known as the first “Sana Khawaan” of that time. After that many a poets followed this trend and we find big names who infact totally dedicated themselves for writing Naats. Naat Khawani has always maintained its heights. Even non-Muslims poets have also said Naats in the Prophet’s honor, like Sikhs, Hindus and Christians. This trend is still persisting and inshallah will continue forever.KalPoint: When, how and why did you take up Naat Khawani as a career?
S.Ismail: Well it all depends on ones environment to which he belongs. When I was a kid, there used to live an elder person Mr. Haji Mohammad Yusuf Ashrafi near my house who used to perform Naats. Along with my family, I used to hear him too. I was much impressed by his personality and his devotion for the Naats and got inspired by him. I started practicing it & since the very beginning, I had this thing in my mind that whatever field I would take up, I will definitely excel in it as I would be able to give it with novelty. Keeping this thing in my mind I devoted myself for Naat Khawani and never thought of doing something else. I started off from Radio Pakistan through a children program in 1967. In 1969 television was introduced in Karachi and I was the first ever Naat Khawan on PTV. Since then, I have been performing Naats regularly and it is still continuing. KalPoint: How does it feel when one performs a Naat and how much a Naat Khawaan needs to be emotionally stable while performing a Naat?
S.Ismail: We feel a lot of pride and immense pleasure that we are presenting words of praise to our Holy Prophet who has been praised by Almighty Allah Himself so many times in the Holy Quran. We feel we are expressing the holy prophet a sense of belonging and Ishq to the most beloved prophet of the Almighty Allah. Therefore one can understand that how we feel when we perform a Naat. To be very honest, I cannot exactly explain these feelings since there are no words for such feelings which can support me to describe them but they definitely ooze out from the bottom of the heart. As far as the question of emotional stability is concerned, I would like to say that in performing Naat the feeling of Ishq-e- Rasool gets automatically involved. The Naat Khawan gets emotionally involved while performing a Naat & it creates a deep impact on the listeners as well. You must have seen that many a times, the Naat Khawaans do not succeed in stopping the tears to fall at the time of delivering Naat but still are able to control their pitch & rhythm. I must say that this is all the mercy of Almighty Allah. If a Naat Khawan feels that he is being watched and heard by the holy prophet during his act of performing Naat, his voice will definitely reach the Holy Prophet in his roza mubarak, then it all happens that the tears start to fall and thus the emotions get involved to a great extent. But I must say that it does not happen every time. So, the answer to your question is that emotions are of course a part of the Naat Khawani since we praise the highest human kind on this entire universe, the one and the only for the Almighty Allah and for whom this whole world is created. So of course the emotions get involved that gives a high degree of religious stability to the body and souls. KalPoint: Do you compose your Naats your self?
S.Ismail: Yes I compose my Naats myself. I started Naat Kahwaani since my childhood and when I joined Radio Pakistan, I got a chance to meet some music directors there. Since Naat Khawani also needs rhym and the rhythm, so I decided to get myself trained. Not that because I wanted to join the music field but since Naat Khawani also needs a good composition it was necessary. So I received proper training from Mr. Qudrat ullah Khan who was one of the leading music director of his time, and thus I was able to compose my Naats myself. KalPoint: Many of the Naat Khawans especially these days compose Naats on song tunes; do you think that it is a good trend?
S.Ismail: Yes you are right. But I would like to say one thing in this regard that such kind of copy work is being done by the Naat Khawans who are not trained and they don’t want to put their original efforts in the work that they are doing. If you hand over to me some non-composed Naat, I will try my level best to compose it making use of what I know and what I have learned. I will never go for listening to a song and copy its composition. In my view, a Naat should not be a copy of some already performed Naat; it should not match the composition of any song. But this requires a lot of hard work and proper allocation of time. It is very easy to re perform a Naat or to copy the tune or composition of some old Naat or song, but, very sorry to say, it never creates a long lasting impression. Although, how well the copied Naat is performed, when you listen to it, your mind always goes to that song or Naat on which it is based which I think does not reflect the right approach. I admit that many of the senior Naat Khawans are also following the same practice which is certainly not good and due caution is required in this connection. I feel very sorry for those Naat Khawans who have introduced and are practicing this trend. KalPoint: There are hundreds of good Naats but the question is that are they in the form of audio, video and books? Have you composed any book yourself?
S.Ismail: Well to be very true all the good Naats are being preserved mostly in the form of books. Lots of books are being published these days. I have also contributed in this regard. I have composed a Book by the name of “Anwar-e-Haramain”. Gen. Zia Ul Haq got this work done by me. He told me to arrange all my popular Naats at that time in the form of a book. I selected almost 215 Naats for this book. I have already released 3000 copies of this book. I was honored as Gen. Zia Ul Haq also gave his personal message in the same book. His remarks were:
“Yeh Mere Khwahish Ki Takmeel Kay Taur Par Kaam Hua Hai”.
Gen. Zia Ul Haq sent five copies of this book to every Embassy of Pakistan abroad with special instructions. The banks were also asked to buy this book and also to distribute amongst their people. I published three editions of this book and within 6 months, 9000 copies were sold. Two years back I wrote another book by the name of “Rang-e-Raza”. Almost 450 Kalams have been presented in this book. It was greatly appreciated by the people and is available in market. Kalams have 10 to 15 stanzas but I have shortened the Kalam to 7 or 8 stanzas for the convenience of the new “Naat Khawans”. On the other end, Naats are also being preserved in the form of audio and videos. Lot of work has been done in the past and is being done in this connection. Naat Khawans are now releasing cassettes and CDs, which is a way to preserve of what they are doing. It is certainly a treasure and it is preserved for our youth and the coming generation as well Alhamdullillah. KalPoint: Presently it has become a trend that loud speakers are used for Naat Khawanee Mehfils and it is done till late at night. Do you think that it is a healthy tradition?
S.Ismail: (Laughingly) A very interesting question. The same question is never put up when a Musical Programme is going on but when a mehfil is going on, every body has an objection. Secondly it is true that the Mehfils should be held at places where there is no chance of the people or residents getting disturbed. But it’s also a fact that “Zikr-e-Rasool” is the cure of every ailment whether it is psychological or physical. A person can feel automatically cure of the illness, tensions or depression if he or she gets truly involved what is being delivered. So people should not mind these things but of course if somebody is sick or there is some other issue, then special care should be taken. KalPoint: Are you satisfied by the way some videos like Tala ul badru Alaina and Qaseeda Burda Shareef are being made? Do you think that these videos should have been made the same way?
S.Ismail: Yes you are very right, these videos are not impressive at all and should have been made keeping all the ethical & ritual values of performing a Naat. I am not satisfied by such videos at all. Such videos depict disrespect to the reciting of Naats and naazo-billah to our holy prophet as well. We, the senior Naat Khawans in spite of wanting to do something cannot do such thing, although his has now become a desire of a certain class of our viewers. They want glamour in all the things they do and see. We ourselves are against the making of such videos but we can’t say much about it because the television focuses on the needs and interests of its viewers. So we can just be patient and pray that such videos should focus on paying homage and respect to our Holy Prophet (PBUH) rather than showing glamour and acting. KalPoint: Do you think that Naat Mehfils are still held the same way in which they were during the times of the Holy Prophet?
S.Ismail: Yes I think the concept is more or less the same as it was during the times of Prophet (PBUH). I would like to narrate a related incident about Hazrat Sheik Sa’adi. When Hazrat Shaikh Sadi wrote a famous Naat, he had only written 3 verses of it when he fell asleep. While sleeping he dreamt he was in a Na’at Mehfil where the Holy Prophet was there amongst various companions. The Prophet prompted to wards Sheikh Sa’adi and said this is my guest from Shiraz and told him to recite his incomplete poem. When he did, one of the Prophets companions spontaneously completed the last misra of the stanza. Thus what I m saying is that even at that time a similar kind of Mehfil must have been held and people would have recited in the same manner as today. KalPoint: Do the Naat Khawans have to give any audition to appear on Radio and TV like the Actors or Singers do? How one can approach media as a Naat Khawan?
S.Ismail: Yes of course on PTV and Radio Pakistan, one has to give audition as per its policy but as far as the private channels are concerned, they don’t have such standards. KalPoint: What is the ratio of luck and hard work in one’s life?
S. Ismail: It’s a very vast topic itself. Every body wishes for better luck, there is luck involved in one’s life but he shouldn’t give up the struggle. I will give you an example. If you have to go abroad and you are all prepared from passport making to visa confirmation but when you get to the Airport, you come to know that the flight is not going. It’s your luck. You have done your struggle for going abroad but if the flight is not going, you can’t help it. So hard work is very important in one’s life along with luck. Kalpoint: Thank you very much that you came here Sir. We are very honored and happy to have you with us today and we have learnt a lot a lot from you. Incidentally Mah-e-Ramzan is just few days away & it is God’s blessing that such a topic & a personality will be on the Inter-net through KalPoint.com for the benefit of millions of Netizens. Thank you very much & may Allah bless us with all the success in promoting such
Among the top most Naat Khawans that Pakistan has ever produced, the name of Haji Siddique Ismail occupies an eminent space. Siddique Ismail was born on 10th February 1954 in Karachi. He started his career in 1965 through children’s programme named Buchon ki dunya. Mr. Siddique holds the honor of being the first ever Naat Khawan on PTV. He has performed numerous Naats and is recognized at national and international levels. His valuable contribution in the field of Naat Khawani earned him many a national and international awards including the most prestigious, the Pride of Performance.KalPoint: We would like you to please tell us about the History of Naat Khawani?
S.Ismail: The history of Naat Khawani goes back a long time. If you go in the depth of its history, you can write hundreds of pages since the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is the most loveable person on this planet earth and he is being praised in every era. Even the Quran has stated the importance and praise of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in so many ayaats. God has said, “Oh you who believe, My angels and I say Durood on the Holy Prophet and you should do the same too”. It is very difficult to trace the history of Naat Khawani since we cannot find authenticated record that when did it actually got initiated. One can say that on a more regularized basis Hazrat Hassan started this great work. He was also known as Shair-e-Darbaan-e-Risalat even before accepting Islam. He was a poet, but after embracing Islam he gave a new turn to his poetry and started writing Naats in honor of the Prophet. Therefore Hazrat Hassan is known as the first “Sana Khawaan” of that time. After that many a poets followed this trend and we find big names who infact totally dedicated themselves for writing Naats. Naat Khawani has always maintained its heights. Even non-Muslims poets have also said Naats in the Prophet’s honor, like Sikhs, Hindus and Christians. This trend is still persisting and inshallah will continue forever.KalPoint: When, how and why did you take up Naat Khawani as a career?
S.Ismail: Well it all depends on ones environment to which he belongs. When I was a kid, there used to live an elder person Mr. Haji Mohammad Yusuf Ashrafi near my house who used to perform Naats. Along with my family, I used to hear him too. I was much impressed by his personality and his devotion for the Naats and got inspired by him. I started practicing it & since the very beginning, I had this thing in my mind that whatever field I would take up, I will definitely excel in it as I would be able to give it with novelty. Keeping this thing in my mind I devoted myself for Naat Khawani and never thought of doing something else. I started off from Radio Pakistan through a children program in 1967. In 1969 television was introduced in Karachi and I was the first ever Naat Khawan on PTV. Since then, I have been performing Naats regularly and it is still continuing. KalPoint: How does it feel when one performs a Naat and how much a Naat Khawaan needs to be emotionally stable while performing a Naat?
S.Ismail: We feel a lot of pride and immense pleasure that we are presenting words of praise to our Holy Prophet who has been praised by Almighty Allah Himself so many times in the Holy Quran. We feel we are expressing the holy prophet a sense of belonging and Ishq to the most beloved prophet of the Almighty Allah. Therefore one can understand that how we feel when we perform a Naat. To be very honest, I cannot exactly explain these feelings since there are no words for such feelings which can support me to describe them but they definitely ooze out from the bottom of the heart. As far as the question of emotional stability is concerned, I would like to say that in performing Naat the feeling of Ishq-e- Rasool gets automatically involved. The Naat Khawan gets emotionally involved while performing a Naat & it creates a deep impact on the listeners as well. You must have seen that many a times, the Naat Khawaans do not succeed in stopping the tears to fall at the time of delivering Naat but still are able to control their pitch & rhythm. I must say that this is all the mercy of Almighty Allah. If a Naat Khawan feels that he is being watched and heard by the holy prophet during his act of performing Naat, his voice will definitely reach the Holy Prophet in his roza mubarak, then it all happens that the tears start to fall and thus the emotions get involved to a great extent. But I must say that it does not happen every time. So, the answer to your question is that emotions are of course a part of the Naat Khawani since we praise the highest human kind on this entire universe, the one and the only for the Almighty Allah and for whom this whole world is created. So of course the emotions get involved that gives a high degree of religious stability to the body and souls. KalPoint: Do you compose your Naats your self?
S.Ismail: Yes I compose my Naats myself. I started Naat Kahwaani since my childhood and when I joined Radio Pakistan, I got a chance to meet some music directors there. Since Naat Khawani also needs rhym and the rhythm, so I decided to get myself trained. Not that because I wanted to join the music field but since Naat Khawani also needs a good composition it was necessary. So I received proper training from Mr. Qudrat ullah Khan who was one of the leading music director of his time, and thus I was able to compose my Naats myself. KalPoint: Many of the Naat Khawans especially these days compose Naats on song tunes; do you think that it is a good trend?
S.Ismail: Yes you are right. But I would like to say one thing in this regard that such kind of copy work is being done by the Naat Khawans who are not trained and they don’t want to put their original efforts in the work that they are doing. If you hand over to me some non-composed Naat, I will try my level best to compose it making use of what I know and what I have learned. I will never go for listening to a song and copy its composition. In my view, a Naat should not be a copy of some already performed Naat; it should not match the composition of any song. But this requires a lot of hard work and proper allocation of time. It is very easy to re perform a Naat or to copy the tune or composition of some old Naat or song, but, very sorry to say, it never creates a long lasting impression. Although, how well the copied Naat is performed, when you listen to it, your mind always goes to that song or Naat on which it is based which I think does not reflect the right approach. I admit that many of the senior Naat Khawans are also following the same practice which is certainly not good and due caution is required in this connection. I feel very sorry for those Naat Khawans who have introduced and are practicing this trend. KalPoint: There are hundreds of good Naats but the question is that are they in the form of audio, video and books? Have you composed any book yourself?
S.Ismail: Well to be very true all the good Naats are being preserved mostly in the form of books. Lots of books are being published these days. I have also contributed in this regard. I have composed a Book by the name of “Anwar-e-Haramain”. Gen. Zia Ul Haq got this work done by me. He told me to arrange all my popular Naats at that time in the form of a book. I selected almost 215 Naats for this book. I have already released 3000 copies of this book. I was honored as Gen. Zia Ul Haq also gave his personal message in the same book. His remarks were:
“Yeh Mere Khwahish Ki Takmeel Kay Taur Par Kaam Hua Hai”.
Gen. Zia Ul Haq sent five copies of this book to every Embassy of Pakistan abroad with special instructions. The banks were also asked to buy this book and also to distribute amongst their people. I published three editions of this book and within 6 months, 9000 copies were sold. Two years back I wrote another book by the name of “Rang-e-Raza”. Almost 450 Kalams have been presented in this book. It was greatly appreciated by the people and is available in market. Kalams have 10 to 15 stanzas but I have shortened the Kalam to 7 or 8 stanzas for the convenience of the new “Naat Khawans”. On the other end, Naats are also being preserved in the form of audio and videos. Lot of work has been done in the past and is being done in this connection. Naat Khawans are now releasing cassettes and CDs, which is a way to preserve of what they are doing. It is certainly a treasure and it is preserved for our youth and the coming generation as well Alhamdullillah. KalPoint: Presently it has become a trend that loud speakers are used for Naat Khawanee Mehfils and it is done till late at night. Do you think that it is a healthy tradition?
S.Ismail: (Laughingly) A very interesting question. The same question is never put up when a Musical Programme is going on but when a mehfil is going on, every body has an objection. Secondly it is true that the Mehfils should be held at places where there is no chance of the people or residents getting disturbed. But it’s also a fact that “Zikr-e-Rasool” is the cure of every ailment whether it is psychological or physical. A person can feel automatically cure of the illness, tensions or depression if he or she gets truly involved what is being delivered. So people should not mind these things but of course if somebody is sick or there is some other issue, then special care should be taken. KalPoint: Are you satisfied by the way some videos like Tala ul badru Alaina and Qaseeda Burda Shareef are being made? Do you think that these videos should have been made the same way?
S.Ismail: Yes you are very right, these videos are not impressive at all and should have been made keeping all the ethical & ritual values of performing a Naat. I am not satisfied by such videos at all. Such videos depict disrespect to the reciting of Naats and naazo-billah to our holy prophet as well. We, the senior Naat Khawans in spite of wanting to do something cannot do such thing, although his has now become a desire of a certain class of our viewers. They want glamour in all the things they do and see. We ourselves are against the making of such videos but we can’t say much about it because the television focuses on the needs and interests of its viewers. So we can just be patient and pray that such videos should focus on paying homage and respect to our Holy Prophet (PBUH) rather than showing glamour and acting. KalPoint: Do you think that Naat Mehfils are still held the same way in which they were during the times of the Holy Prophet?
S.Ismail: Yes I think the concept is more or less the same as it was during the times of Prophet (PBUH). I would like to narrate a related incident about Hazrat Sheik Sa’adi. When Hazrat Shaikh Sadi wrote a famous Naat, he had only written 3 verses of it when he fell asleep. While sleeping he dreamt he was in a Na’at Mehfil where the Holy Prophet was there amongst various companions. The Prophet prompted to wards Sheikh Sa’adi and said this is my guest from Shiraz and told him to recite his incomplete poem. When he did, one of the Prophets companions spontaneously completed the last misra of the stanza. Thus what I m saying is that even at that time a similar kind of Mehfil must have been held and people would have recited in the same manner as today. KalPoint: Do the Naat Khawans have to give any audition to appear on Radio and TV like the Actors or Singers do? How one can approach media as a Naat Khawan?
S.Ismail: Yes of course on PTV and Radio Pakistan, one has to give audition as per its policy but as far as the private channels are concerned, they don’t have such standards. KalPoint: What is the ratio of luck and hard work in one’s life?
S. Ismail: It’s a very vast topic itself. Every body wishes for better luck, there is luck involved in one’s life but he shouldn’t give up the struggle. I will give you an example. If you have to go abroad and you are all prepared from passport making to visa confirmation but when you get to the Airport, you come to know that the flight is not going. It’s your luck. You have done your struggle for going abroad but if the flight is not going, you can’t help it. So hard work is very important in one’s life along with luck. Kalpoint: Thank you very much that you came here Sir. We are very honored and happy to have you with us today and we have learnt a lot a lot from you. Incidentally Mah-e-Ramzan is just few days away & it is God’s blessing that such a topic & a personality will be on the Inter-net through KalPoint.com for the benefit of millions of Netizens. Thank you very much & may Allah bless us with all the success in promoting such
ABDULLAH SHAH GHAZI
Abdullah Shah Ghazi
Abdullah Shah Ghazi (Arabic: عبد الله شاه غازى ) is considered to be patron saint of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The dargah of Abdullah Shah Ghazi is located in Clifton neighborhood of Saddar Town in Karachi.
History
Abdullah Shah Ghazi was the great grandson of the Prophet Muhammad from the linage of Hasan Ibne Ali Ibne Abu Talib[citation needed], making him a member of the Ahl al-Bayt.
The growing popularity of Abdullah Shah caused concern amongst the Ummayyad dynasty who dispatched an army to Sindh. The Ummayyads, and their successors the Abbasids, were known for their hatred of the Banu Hashim (the tribe of Prophet Muhammad and Hadrat Ali ibn Abu Talib) and mercilessly tracked and killed thousands of members of this tribe.
Abdullah Shah was on a hunt in what is now present day Karachi, when the Ummayyad army intercepted his party. Out numbered, Abdullah Shah still chose to fight rather than submit to the Umayyad army. It is because of his display of valor in the face of the Ummayyad army that Abdullah Shah was given the honorable title of "Ghazi" meaning "victorious".
His shrine in Karachi is dated back to 1400 years ago, his brother, Misry Shah, who is also buried along the coastline in Karachi, is also remembered as a saint.
Many people claim to have been granted their wishes at the shrine and it is the center for people who throng the shrine all year round. Every year marks the Urs (festival) at the shrine for 3 days (dates: 20-22 Dhu al-Hijjah - 12th month of the Islamic calendar), marking the anniversery of Abdullah Shah Ghazi.
Abdullah Shah Ghazi is revered by both Sunni and Shia alike, however his blood line gives him a special status in the Shia community.
History
Abdullah Shah Ghazi was the great grandson of the Prophet Muhammad from the linage of Hasan Ibne Ali Ibne Abu Talib[citation needed], making him a member of the Ahl al-Bayt.
The growing popularity of Abdullah Shah caused concern amongst the Ummayyad dynasty who dispatched an army to Sindh. The Ummayyads, and their successors the Abbasids, were known for their hatred of the Banu Hashim (the tribe of Prophet Muhammad and Hadrat Ali ibn Abu Talib) and mercilessly tracked and killed thousands of members of this tribe.
Abdullah Shah was on a hunt in what is now present day Karachi, when the Ummayyad army intercepted his party. Out numbered, Abdullah Shah still chose to fight rather than submit to the Umayyad army. It is because of his display of valor in the face of the Ummayyad army that Abdullah Shah was given the honorable title of "Ghazi" meaning "victorious".
His shrine in Karachi is dated back to 1400 years ago, his brother, Misry Shah, who is also buried along the coastline in Karachi, is also remembered as a saint.
Many people claim to have been granted their wishes at the shrine and it is the center for people who throng the shrine all year round. Every year marks the Urs (festival) at the shrine for 3 days (dates: 20-22 Dhu al-Hijjah - 12th month of the Islamic calendar), marking the anniversery of Abdullah Shah Ghazi.
Abdullah Shah Ghazi is revered by both Sunni and Shia alike, however his blood line gives him a special status in the Shia community.
Shopping
ShoppingKarachi is scattered with a lot of big and small shopping areas all over the city. Karachiites are avid shoppers which can be seen from the crowds of people these markets attract every evening. Tariq Road and Zamzama are the most famous shopping areas in the city. You can find all sorts of clothing, garments, and beautiful fabrics over here apart from a number of other items. The Saddar area in downtown Karachi is also home to countless large and small markets dealing from everyday household items to clothing and fabrics to electronics. The Empress Market is a large Victorian era market, which is home to wholesellers of spices and other items.
Karachi also has a number of large modern malls, of which the Park Towers, The Forum, Millenium mall and Dolmen Mall are notable. More large and modern malls are currently under construction and completion whih include the Atrium Mall and the Dolmen City Mall.
ProblemsIn 1960s Karachi was seen as a model of economic development around the world, and there was much praise for the way its economy was progressing, But now Being one of the most rapidly growing cities in the world, Karachi faces problems that are central to many developing metropolises including overpopulation, overcrowding, traffic, terrorism and crime.Karachi faces a very severe problem of excessive traffic. According to official statistics, on an average annually 550 people are killed in road traffic accidents. The number of cars far outstrips the roads that they need to ply on. This makes driving considerably dangerous and causes loss of time due to traffic congestion. Currently, President Musharraf has launched the Tameer-e-Karachi (Build Karachi) program that included construction of a lot of bridges, flyovers, and bypasses, as well as other major projects to correct the city's infrastructure problems. The outgoing City government had signed a memorandum in the year 2005 with a foreign company to construct a 14 kilometers long track of magnetic train.Karachi is a city with a cool breeze because of its location close to the Arabian Sea, which is why the pollution levels in the city are not very high.
Karachi also has a number of large modern malls, of which the Park Towers, The Forum, Millenium mall and Dolmen Mall are notable. More large and modern malls are currently under construction and completion whih include the Atrium Mall and the Dolmen City Mall.
ProblemsIn 1960s Karachi was seen as a model of economic development around the world, and there was much praise for the way its economy was progressing, But now Being one of the most rapidly growing cities in the world, Karachi faces problems that are central to many developing metropolises including overpopulation, overcrowding, traffic, terrorism and crime.Karachi faces a very severe problem of excessive traffic. According to official statistics, on an average annually 550 people are killed in road traffic accidents. The number of cars far outstrips the roads that they need to ply on. This makes driving considerably dangerous and causes loss of time due to traffic congestion. Currently, President Musharraf has launched the Tameer-e-Karachi (Build Karachi) program that included construction of a lot of bridges, flyovers, and bypasses, as well as other major projects to correct the city's infrastructure problems. The outgoing City government had signed a memorandum in the year 2005 with a foreign company to construct a 14 kilometers long track of magnetic train.Karachi is a city with a cool breeze because of its location close to the Arabian Sea, which is why the pollution levels in the city are not very high.
Food
Food
Zamzama Avenue
Boat Basin has the most trendy restaurants in Karachi
Lal Qila (Red fort), Shahrah-e-Faisal
Kbees, Behind Lal Qila
Majestic Ship, Sea View
Village, Sea View
The Revolving Restaurant, Caesars tower, Shahrah-e-Faisal
Kbees behind Lal qila restaurant
Lee Broast, Model Colony
China town, Clifton
Thai Sea food, Old Sunset Boulevard
Burns Road[12]
Food Street
Many other places like Clifton, DHA, Shahrah-e-Faisal, North Nazimabad, Karimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, etc.
Zamzama Avenue
Boat Basin has the most trendy restaurants in Karachi
Lal Qila (Red fort), Shahrah-e-Faisal
Kbees, Behind Lal Qila
Majestic Ship, Sea View
Village, Sea View
The Revolving Restaurant, Caesars tower, Shahrah-e-Faisal
Kbees behind Lal qila restaurant
Lee Broast, Model Colony
China town, Clifton
Thai Sea food, Old Sunset Boulevard
Burns Road[12]
Food Street
Many other places like Clifton, DHA, Shahrah-e-Faisal, North Nazimabad, Karimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, etc.
KARACHI PICNC POINTS
Mazar-e-Quaid
(Mausoleum of the founder of Pakistan- Muhammad Ali Jinnah) >> Koocha-e-Saqafat (National Arts Council) >> Mohatta Palace Seaside and Beaches >> Clifton Sea View seafront >
> Hawkesbay Beach(breeding ground for endangered turtles) >> Paradise Point (a rock promontory in the sea with a natural arch) >
> Sandspit Beach >> French Beach >> Russian Beach >> Fishing and Crabbing on Keamari and Manora >> Creek Club Karachi (offers boating in the creek areas) >> Clifton Pavilion and the Kothari Parade >> Clifton Aquarium >> Defence Golf Club >> Park Towers Shopping Mall >> Zamzama Commercial Area (famous for its designer outlets) >> World Wildlife Centre >> Wetland Centre at Sandspit >> Ibn-e-Qasim Park >> Masjid-e-Touba (The largest domed structure of its kind) >> Three Swords Monument Museums >> Mazar-e-Quaid Museum >> Mohatta Palace Museum >> Pakistan Air Force Museum >> Pakistan Maritime Museum >> National Museum of Pakistan >> Karachi Expo Centre Colonial Buildings >> Mereweather Tower >> Frere Hall >> Governor's House >> St. Patrick's Cathedral >> St. Anthony's Church >> Trinity Church >> Sindh High Court >> Former Victoria Museum (later used by the Supreme Court) >> Karachi Gymkhana >> Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Building >> Hindu Gymkhana (now NAPA) >> Empress Market >> D.J. College Islands >> Clifton Oyster Rocks >> Manora Island >> Bundle Island >> Bhit Shah >> Shah Bandar >> Churna Island (Naval gunnery site, as well as Pakistan's only coral reefs) Amusement Parks >> PIA Planetariam >> Alladin Park >> Sindbad >> Hill Park >> Safari Park >> Karachi Zoo >> Cosy Water Park >> Samzu Park >> Fun Land >> Play Land >> Fiesta park
The Clifton beach in Karachi is one of the longest city beaches in the world. Althought it suffered a recent oil spill disaster, the beach has been cleaned and has floodlights installed for night-time visitors. There are also a lot of other excellent beaches near the city such as Sandspit, Hawke's Bay, the French Beach, Russian beach and Paradise Point (a sandstone rock promotory with a natural arch) that are frequented by flocks of visitors every day.
The Clifton beach in Karachi is one of the longest city beaches in the world. Althought it suffered a recent oil spill disaster, the beach has been cleaned and has floodlights installed for night-time visitors. There are also a lot of other excellent beaches near the city such as Sandspit, Hawke's Bay, the French Beach, Russian beach and Paradise Point (a sandstone rock promotory with a natural arch) that are frequented by flocks of visitors every day.
Educational Institutions
Karachi
has the highest literacy rate, and the highest number of universities and colleges, of any of Pakistan's other cities. The city is well-known for its young student population, who flock from all parts of Pakistan and different parts of the world. Most universities of Karachi are considered to be the premier educational institutions of Pakistan and the World, and hence the admission process is intensely competitive with only the brightest and talented making their way into:>> Aga Khan University>> University of Karachi>> Institute of Business Administration (IBA)>> Bahria University>> Textile Institute Of Pakistan>> Mohammad Ali Jinnah University>> Dow University of Health Sciences>> N.E.D. University>> Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology>> Hamdard University>> H.E.J Research Institute of Chemistry>> Applied Economics Research Centre (AERC)>> Institute of Business and Management (IBM)>> Jinnah University for Women>> Dawood College of Engineering.
Transportation
The city has a modern international airport called the Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, the premier portal and Pakistan's busiest airport. The city's old airport terminals are now used for Hajj flights, cargo facilities, and ceremonial visits from heads of state. U.S. Coalition forces used the old terminals for their logistic supply operations as well. Apart from this, the city also has two other airstrips used primarily by the armed forces.Karachi also has the current largest shipping port in Pakistan. This sea-port has modern facilities and not only handles trade for Pakistan, but also serves as a port for Afghanistan and the land-locked Central Asian countries. Karachi port is not used for passenger traffic as a regular service.Karachi is linked via railway to the rest of the country. The Karachi City Station and Karachi Cantt Station are the city's two major railway stations. This railway system handles a large amount of freight to and from the Karachi port apart from providing passenger services to people travelling up country. Karachi also has a circular railway system that is planned to be extended to play a part in the city's mass transit.Currently, commuter traffic is handled primarily by motorists and minibuses, but there are plans to construct a light-rail based mass transit system in the city to decongest the roads and provide quick service to commuters
Economy
Karachi is the financial capital of Pakistan. It accounts for the lion's share of Pakistan's GDP and generates 65 percent of the national revenues. Most of the public and private banks have their head offices in Karachi, and agglomerated on I.I.Chundrigar Road and Shahra-e-Faisal. Besides banking and the financial sector, Karachi also hosts central offices of foreign multinational corporations as well as corporations based in Pakistan. It is home to the largest stock exchange of Pakistan: the Karachi Stock Exchange. Karachi Stock Exchange achieved the milestone of the best performing stock market of the world in early 2005. This financial boom helped Pakistan to achieve its ambitious goal of over 8 percent GDP growth which is highest in Asia after China during fiscal year 2004-05.The recent trend of ICT (information and communications technology), electronic media and call centers are become significant part of Karachi business hierarchy. Call Centers for foreign companies are increasing by leaps and bound. The government has reduced tax by as much as 80 percent (compared to India and China) to lure foreign investments in the IT sector. Every year atleast 2000 IT students graduate from the NED University of Engineering and Technology, NUST FAST, and Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, the best IT institutions in Karachi.Karachi also has a huge industrial base. There are large industrial estates on most of the fringes of the main city. The main industries are textiles, pharmaceuticals, steel, and automobiles. Apart from these, there are many cottage industries in the city as well. Karachi is also known as software outsourcing hub of Pakistan. It also has a rapidly flourishing Free Zone having growth rate of nearly 15 percent per annum. An expo center has also been set up in Karachi and is now available to host many regional and International exhibitions. Currently, the Karachi Port is the only large port in Pakistan, and is central to all shipping in Pakistan. The airport of Karachi, Quaid-e-Azam International Airport is also the largest airport in Pakistan. For years it served as the gateway to Asia and significant route to Mid East and Central Asia. The airport is considered potential to act as the major logistic centre for the sub-continent.Karachi is the nerve centre of Pakistan's economy. The economic stagnation due to political anarchy, ethnic strife and resulted military operation during late 80s and 90s led to efflux of industry from Karachi. Despite this severe shock, Karachi claims highest per capita income in South Asia.During 1960s, Karachi was seen as an economic role model around the developing world, and there was much praise for the way its economy was progressing. Many countries sought to emulate Pakistan's economic planning strategy and one of them, South Korea, copied its Second Five Year Plan, 1960-65, not just that, World financial center in Seoul was designed and modelled after Karachi. And while in the early 1960s the per capita income of Pakistan was more or equal to Korea, the latter ended up among the more developed of the developing countries, with a GDP per capita greater than $8,000 today.
Demographics
The population and demographic distribution of Karachi during last 150 years have greatly changed.
Historical populations
Censusyear
Population
1856
56,875
1872
56,753
1881
73,560
1891
105,199
1901
136,297
1911
186,771
1921
244,162
1931
300,799
1941
435,887
1951
1,068,459
1961
1,912,598
1972
3,426,310
1981
5,208,132
1998
9,269,265
2005
(estimated) 14 mn.
Non governmental and international sources report that Karachi's current population is estimated to be 14 to 15 million — a thirty-seven-fold increase over its population in 1947 (400,000). The city's population is currently growing at about 5% per year (mainly on account of rural-urban internal migration). Currently, Karachi is counted as one of the largest megacities of the world.Karachi has been bearing over one million Aghan refugees since Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. On the other hand, hundred of thousands of illegal Bengali immigrants are also settled in Karachi. They form a significant part of slum areas in Karachi.The breakup of Karachi's population is as follows: Males form 53.7% of Karachiites. 37.6% of which are under the age of 15. 4.4% are older than 50. 22.1% of the city's population are migrants from other places.According to 1998 census the linguistic breakup of the city is as follows. Urdu 48.52%; Punjabi 13.94%; Sindhi 7.22%; Pushto 11.42%; Balochi 4.34%; Seraiki 2.11%; Others 12.4%. The others include Gujarati, Memon, Brahui, Makrani, Khowar, Burushaski Irani and Bengali.According to the census the religious breakup of the city is as follows. Muslim 96.49%; Christian 2.35%; Hindu 0.83%; Ahmadi 0.17%; Others 0.13%. The others include Parsi, Zikri and Buddhist
Historical populations
Censusyear
Population
1856
56,875
1872
56,753
1881
73,560
1891
105,199
1901
136,297
1911
186,771
1921
244,162
1931
300,799
1941
435,887
1951
1,068,459
1961
1,912,598
1972
3,426,310
1981
5,208,132
1998
9,269,265
2005
(estimated) 14 mn.
Non governmental and international sources report that Karachi's current population is estimated to be 14 to 15 million — a thirty-seven-fold increase over its population in 1947 (400,000). The city's population is currently growing at about 5% per year (mainly on account of rural-urban internal migration). Currently, Karachi is counted as one of the largest megacities of the world.Karachi has been bearing over one million Aghan refugees since Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. On the other hand, hundred of thousands of illegal Bengali immigrants are also settled in Karachi. They form a significant part of slum areas in Karachi.The breakup of Karachi's population is as follows: Males form 53.7% of Karachiites. 37.6% of which are under the age of 15. 4.4% are older than 50. 22.1% of the city's population are migrants from other places.According to 1998 census the linguistic breakup of the city is as follows. Urdu 48.52%; Punjabi 13.94%; Sindhi 7.22%; Pushto 11.42%; Balochi 4.34%; Seraiki 2.11%; Others 12.4%. The others include Gujarati, Memon, Brahui, Makrani, Khowar, Burushaski Irani and Bengali.According to the census the religious breakup of the city is as follows. Muslim 96.49%; Christian 2.35%; Hindu 0.83%; Ahmadi 0.17%; Others 0.13%. The others include Parsi, Zikri and Buddhist
Government and Administrative Division
In order to decentralize the political, administrative and financial resources and responsibilities, the government of Pakistan designed a new devolution plan in 2000. The Local Government Plan 2000 and the Local Government Ordinance 2001 provided the legal roadmap to the aforesaid system that allow public participation in decision-making up to the grass-root level.According to this plan, Karachi has a three-tier federated system, formed by:>> City District Government (CDG) >> Town Municipal Administration >> Union Council Administration The CDG of Karachi is divided into 18 zones or towns. These towns are governed by the town municipal administration. Each town administration is responsible for infrastructure and spatial planning, development facilitation, and municipal services (water, sanitation, solid waste, repairing roads, parks, street lights, and traffic engineering) in a town, except those functions which are retained within the CDG.Eighteen towns of CDG Karachi are sub-divided into 178 stratum that form the union council administration. A union council (UC) is the core element of the local government system. Each UC is a body of 13 directly elected members, consisting of the UC Nazism (mayor), UC Naib Nazism (deputy mayor), labour and minority councilors. The UC Nazim heads the union administration and is responsible for facilitating the CDG to plan and execute municipal services, as well as for informing higher authorities about public concerns and complaints.In the local body elections of 2005, Syed Mustafa Kamal (backed by the MQM) was elected City Nazim of Karachi. He succeeds Naimatullah Khan (of the Jamaat-e-Islami). He took oath on October 17, 2005 at Bagh-e-Jinnah, Karachi. Mustafa Kamal was the provincial minister for information technology in Sindh before assuming office as the city's mayor. His predecessor, Naimatullah Khan was chosen as one of the best mayors of 2004-05 in Asia.
List of Towns in CDG Karachi
BaldiaBin QasimCliftonDHAGadapGulberg
Gulshan Jamshed KDAKemari KorangiLandhi
LiaquatabadLyari MalirNew Karachi NazimabadNorth Nazimabad
PECHSOrangi SaddarShah Faisal SITE
List of Towns in CDG Karachi
BaldiaBin QasimCliftonDHAGadapGulberg
Gulshan Jamshed KDAKemari KorangiLandhi
LiaquatabadLyari MalirNew Karachi NazimabadNorth Nazimabad
PECHSOrangi SaddarShah Faisal SITE
History
History
The area that now consists of Karachi was originally a group of small villages including Kalachi-jo-Kun, or just Kolachi, and the fort of Manora. Any history of Karachi prior to the 19th century is sketchy. It is said that the city called Krokola from which one of Alexander the Great's admirals sailed at the end of his conquests was the same as Karachi. When Muhammad bin Qasim came to India in the year 712 he captured the city of Debul. It has been said that Debal was the ancestral village of present day Karachi. However, this has neither been proven or disprove.
It was in 1729 that Kolachi-jo-Goth was transformed from a fishing village to a trading post when it was selected as a port for trade with Muscat and Bahrain. In the following years a fort was built and cannons brought in from Muscat were mounted on it. The fort had two doorways, one facing the sea called the Khara Dar or Brackish Gate and one facing the River Lyari called the Meetha Dar or Sweet Gate. Currently, the site of those gates corresponds to the location of the neighbourhoods of Kharadar and Meethadar. In 1795 the city passed from the Khan of Kalat to the Talpur rulers of Sindh.
Karachi gained in position as port which led to its importance being recognized by the British, and consequently led to the conquering of the town on the 3rd of February 1839. Three years later, it was annexed into British India as a district. The British recognized the importance of Karachi as a natural harbor and port for the produce of the Indus basin, and the city was rapidly developed into a bustling port city. A famous quote about Karachi attributed to Charles Napier is Would that I could come again to see you in your grandeur!. Napier's quote proved almost prophetic as it was under the British raj that Karachi would grow rapidly as its harbor was developed. When the Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar declared the War of Independence in 1857, the 21st Native Infantry stationed in Karachi declared allegiance to the Emperor and joined the cause of the War on the 10th of September 1857. The uprising though, was defeated by the British who were able to quickly reassert their control over Karachi.
In 1876, the founder of Pakistan Muhammed Ali Jinnah was born in the city, and he would later be buried there.
By this time Karachi was a developed city with railroads, churches, paved streets, courts and many commercial centers as well as a magnificent harbor built by the British. Many of the buildings were built in classical British colonial style, contrasting significantly with the "Mughal Gothic" of Lahore. Many of these old buildings exist today and provide interesting destinations for visitors.Karachi continued to grow in size as well as importance due to its position as a major port. A railroad connected Karachi to the rest of British India in the 1880s. Population grew from 73,500 (1881), to 105,199 (1891), to 115,407 (1901) (Britannica 1911 ed.). In 1899 Karachi was said to be the largest wheat exporting port in the East (Feldman 1970:57). In 1911 when the capital was shifted to Delhi, Karachi became closer to being a Gateway to India. Karachi was declared the capital of the newly formed Sindh province in 1936, chosen over the traditional capital of Hyderabad.
In 1947, Karachi was made the capital of the new nation of Pakistan. At that time Karachi was a city of only 400,000 people, and its growth accelerated as a result of its new status. Being the capital, Karachi became a focal point for the new nation and this added to its status as a cultural centre in this part of the world. Although the capital later moved to Rawalpindi and then Islamabad, Karachi remains the economic centre of Pakistan, accounting for a large portion of the GDP of the country and a large chunk of the nation's white collar workers. In the 1990s, Karachi was wracked with sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni of madrassas. Besides this, SINDHI experienced strife with Punjabi and Pathan comuninities in 80s and late 90s. Military administration was imposed to rescue the city from the throes of civil war. Thousands of people were killed during 1992 military operation, and as result soco-economic activities gravely suffered.
In the last 20 years, Karachi has continued to grow, passing the ten million mark. The current economic boom in Pakistan has created a sudden growth spurt in Karachi as jobs and infrastructure projects are increasing with time
It was in 1729 that Kolachi-jo-Goth was transformed from a fishing village to a trading post when it was selected as a port for trade with Muscat and Bahrain. In the following years a fort was built and cannons brought in from Muscat were mounted on it. The fort had two doorways, one facing the sea called the Khara Dar or Brackish Gate and one facing the River Lyari called the Meetha Dar or Sweet Gate. Currently, the site of those gates corresponds to the location of the neighbourhoods of Kharadar and Meethadar. In 1795 the city passed from the Khan of Kalat to the Talpur rulers of Sindh.
Karachi gained in position as port which led to its importance being recognized by the British, and consequently led to the conquering of the town on the 3rd of February 1839. Three years later, it was annexed into British India as a district. The British recognized the importance of Karachi as a natural harbor and port for the produce of the Indus basin, and the city was rapidly developed into a bustling port city. A famous quote about Karachi attributed to Charles Napier is Would that I could come again to see you in your grandeur!. Napier's quote proved almost prophetic as it was under the British raj that Karachi would grow rapidly as its harbor was developed. When the Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar declared the War of Independence in 1857, the 21st Native Infantry stationed in Karachi declared allegiance to the Emperor and joined the cause of the War on the 10th of September 1857. The uprising though, was defeated by the British who were able to quickly reassert their control over Karachi.
In 1876, the founder of Pakistan Muhammed Ali Jinnah was born in the city, and he would later be buried there.
By this time Karachi was a developed city with railroads, churches, paved streets, courts and many commercial centers as well as a magnificent harbor built by the British. Many of the buildings were built in classical British colonial style, contrasting significantly with the "Mughal Gothic" of Lahore. Many of these old buildings exist today and provide interesting destinations for visitors.Karachi continued to grow in size as well as importance due to its position as a major port. A railroad connected Karachi to the rest of British India in the 1880s. Population grew from 73,500 (1881), to 105,199 (1891), to 115,407 (1901) (Britannica 1911 ed.). In 1899 Karachi was said to be the largest wheat exporting port in the East (Feldman 1970:57). In 1911 when the capital was shifted to Delhi, Karachi became closer to being a Gateway to India. Karachi was declared the capital of the newly formed Sindh province in 1936, chosen over the traditional capital of Hyderabad.
In 1947, Karachi was made the capital of the new nation of Pakistan. At that time Karachi was a city of only 400,000 people, and its growth accelerated as a result of its new status. Being the capital, Karachi became a focal point for the new nation and this added to its status as a cultural centre in this part of the world. Although the capital later moved to Rawalpindi and then Islamabad, Karachi remains the economic centre of Pakistan, accounting for a large portion of the GDP of the country and a large chunk of the nation's white collar workers. In the 1990s, Karachi was wracked with sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni of madrassas. Besides this, SINDHI experienced strife with Punjabi and Pathan comuninities in 80s and late 90s. Military administration was imposed to rescue the city from the throes of civil war. Thousands of people were killed during 1992 military operation, and as result soco-economic activities gravely suffered.
In the last 20 years, Karachi has continued to grow, passing the ten million mark. The current economic boom in Pakistan has created a sudden growth spurt in Karachi as jobs and infrastructure projects are increasing with time
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