Mr. Billor's children come to life with the sound of a gun...

When will Mr. Billor teach his children to respect the rule of law not a gun?

When a baby is born to a Muslim it is The Prophet's (PBH) tradition to say "Azan" call for prayer in the new born's ear. Mr. Billor says when a baby is born in their tribe they let him hear not "Azan" but the sound of shots from a gun. That is Mr. Billor. He can't help it. From the comfort of his home in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa he spews venom on Karachiites along with other ANP leaders.

Mr. Billor from Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and Mr. Shahi Syed the KPK, ANP leader of Sind always talk of using guns for all solutions and it seems they do. "Hathyar hamar zevar hai" weapons are his adornment says Shahi Syed while making a new born kid listen to the sound of guns is their creed says Mr. Billor the Federal Minister for Railways in a press conference. This is how they raise their young they claim. And earlier Mr. Shahi Syed had read out from a written statement that "a Pathan never forgets to take revenge even after 100".

This is not the first time the Pakhtoon leaders have spoken of racism and disrupting law and order by use of force. Their utterances have caused divisions among people otherwise living peacefully together. The killings never seem to cease. It has been going on for well over an year now. Do we have an end in sight? Doesn't seem so. When we think things are OK then we hear an MPA is shot dead, then we hear people from gangs, underworld and land mafia have killed so many here and there.

When we think the worse is over then we hear pillion rider rule is relaxed and we have Sher Shah people murder with gay abandon in broad day light. They are never caught and brought to justice. How long will this go on? The Pakhtoons come from very far. They do not go to nearby Islamabad or Lahore and Punjab where they have been successfully stopped from entering and settling. I am shocked to hear they claim "Karachi hamara hai - ANP" the chalking is every where. Yes hamara hai, thumhara hai, sab ka hai. Yes it is our but is not Pakistan for all? Kya Pakistan hamara nahi hai?

There has never been a problem with Pathans or Pakhtoons. They have lived ever so peacefully with other Pakistanis in Karachi. The problem is with the uneducated and short sighted ANP leadership sitting in Pakhtoonkhwa and fomenting hatred far away in Karachi. You must listen to Haji Adeel and co. My God, what ideas. They love their people to earn in Karachi, as they cannot provide employment back home due to the lawlessness mind set, but exhort them not to own it. They do not encourage them to mix with the population and build bridges but keep aloof so that they vote for ANP. Hence their contribution to peace and development is nil in Karachi.

If only these people had developed Pakhtoonkhwah the poor people from there would never have needed to leave home and travel as far as Karachi for a living. Now that they have, for God's sake let them live in peace and give peace to their neighbors.

My biggest anguish is when my children have to miss school or the school is closed ever so often because of the conditions of the city. So many children have had problems in the O level and A level exams too. The papers come from abroad and they do not change and there is no re-test. The KPK visitors to Karachi, now settling down don't seem to have this problem.

Bad governance leads to such problems...

The problem was coming for an year why did they not plan it?

The way things were going for an year now,  it was quite expected that we had to act. And the way they were armed they were not going to go down tamely.  They had already terrorised the populations and subdued them by killings and murders and blowing up over 300 schools and police stations. Not to forecast events and take precautionary measures is the height of mismanagement and poor governance.

The State Government had to be dismissed for bad governance, Governor's rule promulgated, emergency declared and forces moved in quickly under cover of darkness and people secured well in advance. The mass movement was expected. Contingency plans demanded alternative residences to be created in advance. The way it was done smacks of apathy at the state of affairs in the affected areas. If we had a more imaginative administration there was no way this catastrophe would have taken place.

Instead of making contingency plans they were wasting their time in negotiating with the devil who was not at all representative of the people. Who do you make peace with? With shadows weilding sophisticated weapons defying all laws? Why was so much luxury afforded to the terrorists? On top of it the powerless Sufi Mohammed addresses people and declares every thing illegal, even our constitution. Precious time was lost which is the main cause of todays tragedy afflicting three million people.

Develop FATA and NWFP to help Karachi from exploding and bursting at the seams...

Mr. Haider Khan Hoti who failed to govern in NWFP yeilded to the terrorists instead of defeating them and made a deal with the devil, he ought to have resigned but didn't. They must develop their own areas to help Karachi not becoming another Ilaqa Ghair.

Ilaqa Ghair - The ungoverned area

Mass movement of population within the country it stretches resources creating tensions...

The City is bursting at the seams...

See how lawlessness creates problems for people...

When you ignore issues forever that affect people, the issues then confront you when you no longer can solve them. What is happening in Karachi now is the result of decades of ignoring the issues in FATA and NWFP. Government ignored law and order there for decades. It is called "Ilaqa Ghair"!. The result was there was no development in those areas with disastrous consequences for Karachi over a thousand miles away.

When resources are the same how do you cope with the influx of population...

There is joblessness in those ungoverned areas. What do the people do? They move out. Where do they go? Not to Islamabad or Lahore or Punjab nor to Quetta but straight to Karachi. Now if any city takes people at the rate of 10,000 to 100,000 (estimates vary) per day how can it cope with the resources? It is the same water, gas, electricity, sewage, road network, police and above all food. Water, electricity, roads, sewage, police is not increasing to cope with the influx of people from upcountry. The Federal Government and The Provincial Governments have lent a blind eye to this problem.

Infrasturcture does not increase with increase in population...

What happens when the infrastructure is remaining the same while population has exploded at

an alarming rate? The city bursts at the seams. Medical facilities, schools and other

infrastructure remain the same. What remains is canibalisation. There is a limit to the extent a city can take people. Something has to be done. Now.

Where is the extra electricity, water, sewage its...

Imagine how many police can you depute per 50,000 citizens for

law and order say. How do you give law and order? How do you provide for extra water? Already it is tankers that are providing drinking water in Karachi. You already know about the acute electricity problem. How can we cope for the extra electricity when there is already a huge problem. What about the roads? They get clogged that does not bode well from our economy.

Karachi is free for all they say while Punjab is for Punjabis and Sindhi for Sindhis, Baluchistan for Baluchis and NWFP for Pakhtoons...

And if these people come armed to the teeth what will be the feeling of those people already living in that area. Obviously they resent it. I have heard many times that they are not allowed to settle down in Punjab or Baluchistan but when it comes to Karachi it seems it is free for all. I was shocked to hear on TV yesterday that in Punjab there is no problem as all are Punjabis and similarly in Baluchistan and interior Sindh and the same person goes on to say that Karachi is different. It belongs to every one. Now that was very interesting because nobody does anything for Karachi. There was a complete draught of development untill recently.

Islamabad must stop un-necessary movement of population within Pakistan...

When outsiders settle down in any place in such large numbers they create tensions. Talibanisation or no Talibanisation the outsiders who have stormed into Karachi have created problems. Most dangerous is that they are all armed. How can citizens of any area take it when they are swarmed by people not exactly friendly and armed. I think Islamabad must ensure that people do not just swarm into Karachi to save our most important city in the Country unless you want to create one more Ilaqa Ghair. They will bring the same ideas and with arms.

Develop FATA and NWFP so that they go back home...

We are all Pakistanis and want to and must and do live with love and affection with our co-citizens. There are issues but the problems are not unsurmountable. The solution lies in having development plans for FATA, NWFP and all those places from where people are storming into other areas particularly Karachi. Give them industries and employment. For that law and order is the corner stone othewise who will invest? Start with excellent law and order.

Fight the ideology that has made matters so bad...

For law and order it is an ideology that has to be fought. That is the ideology of The Taliban which is again derived from The Wahabi doctrine of Najd. Fight the deology so that it does not muddle minds of our young minds. I see people shirk from recognising this issue and keep beating about the bush.

Government must act when there is mass movement of population from any area... lest it create econmic and social problems...

While Pakistan is for all citizens, it can create economic and social problems when there is mass movement from one area to another. Governements must immediately take notice and recognise why people are moving. The best example is when Taliban enter an area people start moving out as it happened in Swat and Buner. They moved because there was a problem. The moment Taliban move in, people move out. Government must immediately remove the cause of movement whatever it is. If the Government does not act in time it creates problems for future generations.

Police department is so stretched that ordinary peoples issues are totally neglected... Why should PPP have unfair advantage?
This no one talks about. Where are the champions of freedom of press or are they champions of the opposition particularly PPP? If a citizen has a problem and needs redressel from police it is always an exuse so and so political leader is showing up and they are not available. Now it has crossed all limits.