The Complete Magazine for the Region DECEMBER 2019 www.southasia.com.pk Afghanistan Afg. 50 Australia A$ 6 Bangladesh Taka 100 Bhutan NU 50 Brazil BRL 20 Canada C$ 6 China RMB 30 France EUR 45 Hong Kong HK$ 30 India Rs. 100 Japan ¥ 500 Korea Won 3000 Malaysia RM 6 Maldives Rf 45 Myanmar MMK10 Nepal NcRs. 75 New Zealand NZ$ 7 Pakistan Rs. 200 Philippines P 75 Saudi Arabia SR 15 Singapore S$ 8 Sri Lanka Rs. 100 Thailand B 100 Turkey Lira. 2 UAE AED 10 UK £ 3 USA $ 5 WHO OWNS KARACHI? The capital of Sindh has no ownership. The provincial government, municipal bodies, the cantonments and the various development authorities squabble over responsibilities. Meanwhile, the city continues to be buried under garbage and chaos. PAKISTAN INDIA SRI LANKA IRAQ Dharna Questions Kashmir to Kartarpur Rajapaksa Returns Crisis Country CONTENTS 17 Cover Story Karachi – a city where chaos breeds non-stop. Islamabad Kabul Editor’s Desk 07 Dharna Questions 31 A Continuing Enigma 36 Readers’ Thoughts 08 Islamabad Colombo Filer or Non-Filer? 32 Power to the President 38 Who Said That! 10 Karachi Kathmandu Carry Trade Destination 33 Grapevine 11 Meddlesome Neighbour 39 Kartarpur News Buzz 12 Future Uncertain 35 Cover Story Going Nowhere 17 Dealing with Karachi’s Problems 19 27 Why Karachi Sucks 21 Jiyay Mohajir? 23 Region Mumbai Bonhomie of Convenience 26 New Delhi Silicon Valley of Terrorism 27 Lahore A Judicial and Political Murder 29 4 SOUTHASIA • DECEMBER 2019 Varavara Rao Sudhir Dhawale Rona Wilson 31 46 35 42 51 Award Art Stands Still 51 Zaffar Abbass 41 Lahore Invest to Earn 53 Neighbour 62 Kuala Lumpur Interview Standing His Ground 42 Dr. Farrukh Iqbal 55 Baghdad Tribute Crisis Country 43 Stephen Cohen 57 International Around Town London MAK and Young Fun 58 A Right Royal Conundrum 45 Another Susen Store 58 Ottawa Justin Trudeau 2.0 46 Reviews Feature Books Slavery, Suffering, Silence 59 Karachi India’s Habituation with the Bomb 60 Pakistan Navy’s New Clout 48 Theatre New Delhi Ali Baba Chalis Chor 61 Legacy of Oppression 50 Film Karachi Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 62 SOUTHASIA • DECEMBER 2019 5 Ad 3 EDITor’s DSLUGESK Dharna and After Things were pretty clear when Maulana good of the opportunity and drove the last nail in the coffin Fazlur Rehman, president of Jamiat by formally absorbing Jammu and Kashmir into direct federal Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), announced the control and splitting the Indian-occupied valley into two union Azadi March towards Islamabad to oust territories. This went unnoticed by the Maulana and he con- the government led by Imran Khan and tinued to pursue his vested interests. his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). True From plan A to B and C, at the time of writing the Maul- to his word, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, ana was still out to fulfill his agenda. Ordering his stalwart together with his die-hard JUI support- supporters to block main arteries across the country to call- ers and a new crop of young madrassah ing the opposition parties to build more pressure on the PTI students armed with lathi sticks, staged government by fair means or foul, the sky seemed to be almost a two-week Dharna (sit-in) at the Peshawar Mor in the limit for the Maulana’s pipe dream. The Government too the Capital. The Maulana said he had many a plan up his seemed to be doing everything wrong. Its economic perfor- sleeve to exert pressure on the ‘selected’ government, which mance was dismal. It time and again displayed an inability to he was confident about immediately toppling. He thought Im- tackle governance matters with any judiciousness. Both the ran Khan’s prime ministership was constitutionally illegitimate government and the Opposition seemed to be engaged in and that he had come to power, thanks to an engineered an effort to pull the rug from under each other’s feet. No one electoral mandate gifted by the powers that be. seemed to be really concerned about the everyday plight of Throughout the Dharna, the common man. The citizen Fazlur Rehman issued time- is now fed up with the on-go- bound warnings to the Prime ing political mud-slinging and Minister to quit and even made power game and finds himself threatening speeches against nowhere in the picture. the state and ‘institutions.’ who Bearing the brunt of a very were alleged to have been at low GDP growth rate, people the back of Imran Khan from have been trying to grapple day one. Opportunism has al- with the after-effects of the ways been the trademark of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s dis- consistent devaluation of the PKR, skyrocketing inflation and tinctive political brand and the driving force behind his po- an alarming rate of unemployment. Then there is the govern- litical career. The idiocy of his attention-grabbing plan was ment’s abject failure to control prices of essential food items publicly exposed when the timing of his self-styled Azadi and establish the writ of the state in general. It seems to be an March coincided with Pakistan’s on-going campaign against open house for all. From the price of tomatoes to the missing India’s moves to usurp the State of Jammu & Kashmir. The dog-bite vaccine and the dengue epidemic, no one seems to Maulana himself served as Chairman of the Kashmir Commit- be in charge whether at the federal or provincial level. Paki- tee of the National Assembly from September 2008 to May stan obviously does not need Dharna politics because this is 2018. Though nothing significant happened for the Kashmir not the route to stability and economic security. This is the cause during his ten-year tenure, the Maulana should have time to build the country and to enforce strict measures to been the first person to realize that Kashmir needed to be in achieve goals in that direction. The system is almost on the the continued focus of international media more than ever. verge of collapse and needs swift handling. Let the govern- The Maulana needed to raise a strong voice in face of the In- ment rise to the occasion. The politicians on both sides of the dian atrocities in the Valley, the non-stop curfew and the gen- aisle must choose a path that leads to economic develop- eral lockdown. But he simply forgot about all that and was ment and social security. People like Maulana Fazlur Rehman hell-bent on his ‘Azadi March’ against Imran Khan. He was must understand the gravity of the situation in the national not bothered about overshadowing the Kashmir cause. The context. For its part, the PTI, instead of grappling with the result was that the national and international media focused opposition’s vendetta-based politics, must take drastic mea- more on the Dharna than highlighting Kashmir. India made sures to provide immediate relief to the people. Syed Jawaid Iqbal President & Editor in Chief SOUTHASIA • DECEMBER 2019 7 Readers’ THOUGHTS Connection Lost DECEMBER 2019 VOL.23 ISSUE 12 his is related to last month’s cover PRESIDENT & EDITOR IN CHIEF Tstory on ‘Kashmir Kiska Hai?’. Kashmir Syed Jawaid Iqbal has been in total lockdown, after India EDITOR revoked Articles 370 and 35-A which gave Javed Ansari special status and guarantees to maintain CONTRIBUTING EDITOR the identity and autonomy of Jammu and S. G. Jilanee Kashmir. The Kashmiris are deprived of basic human rights and are facing a crippling curfew, ASSISTANT EDITORS Faizan Usmani telecommunication blackout, arrests of political Syeda Areeba Rasheed leaders and whatnot. Pakistan has time and again tried to talk to India regarding the matter CONTRIBUTORS Amjad Ali Siyal – Atif Shamim Syed – Ayaz Ahmed but they have turned a deaf ear. The Prime Dr. Ahmed Saeed Minhas – Dr. Moonis Ahmar Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, even spoke Faizan Usmani – Imran Jan at the UN General Assembly and urged the world to unite and help solve the Justice (r) M. Shaiq Usmani – Maheen Aziz Major General (r) Inam Ul Haque Kashmir issue. Keeping in view the atrocities in occupied Kashmir which is turning Muhammad Ali Ehsan – Nadya Chishty-Mujahid worst day by day, we must understand that it has become incumbent upon the S.G. Jilanee – S.M. Hali – Sehrish Fatima United Nations to exert maximum pressure on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sikander Taimoor – Siraj M. Shawa Syed Kamran Hashmi – Syeda Areeba Rasheed and his government to not only lift the curfew but also withdraw Indian troops from Syeda Dhanak Fatima Hashmi – Taha Kehar Kashmir. Taj Haider Maham Khan, Islamabad, Pakistan. GRAPHICS & LAYOUT Haroon Rasheed Kamran Ghulam Nabi Riaz Masih Fight for Freedom emphasised that the Kashmiris will not GENERAL MANAGER-MARKETING have any kind of dialogue with India for Syed Ovais Akhtar they have not made sacrifices for any CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION peacemaking formulas or purported Shehryar Zulfiqar confidence-building measures. They PRODUCTION & COORDINATION demand their right to self-determination Aqam-ud-Din Khan and will not accept anything less than a EDITORIAL & BUSINESS OFFICE fair plebiscite. 20-C, Lane 12, off Khayaban-e-Ittehad, Phase II Asad Kamal, Extension, DHA, Karachi - 75500, Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan. Phones: 92-21- 35313821-24 Fax: 92-21-35313832 outhAsia Magazine has always Website: www.southasia.com.pk Smanaged to deliver the best. The Email: [email protected] interview of Mushaal Hussein Mullick, Stripping MIDDLE EAST a freedom fighter and wife of detained REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik, is a living Pirana Advertising JLT Citizenship PO Box 486207, 1704, Level 17, HDS Tower, proof of the fact.