anything happens to him, it will have far-reaching effects on the party.”
Both Patel and Fernandes were convinced that Karachi and Mumbai were alike, but former was more violent. “We have not that kind of violence which is rampant in Karachi”, Patel said. They even claimed that the underworld in the Indian port city of Mumbai driven by Muslim gangsters had been wiped out in the 1990s.
Similarly, according to Lambert, anti-Semitic thoughts are causing a major problem in the big cities of Europe vis-à-vis security.
She said young Muslims, in reaction to happenings in Gaza, were attacking Jews. She said the Europeans had the same perception about the Muslims as they considered all Muslims extremists and terrorists, which was wrong. Such thoughts also existed in the UK, but the authorities handled them very well, she said. Naqvi said there was an enormous influx of migrants into Karachi after Partition. That was why it kept growing. She said the city of 18 to 20 million people always thrived on wars and its prosperity came from the fact that it was a supply city during the British-Afghan war. She also talked about her recent novel - A Matter of Detail - about the Jewish community of Karachi.
Earlier, during his opening remarks, Ahmed highlighted different aspects which forced people to migrate to big cities. The high-level migration, he said, caused chaos, crime and violence which ultimately created gangs. Yet, he added, the romance for big cities went on as the big cities didn’t die.
Talking to The News after the gathering, Gayer said land grabbing, electoral politics, extortion and ethnic issues had caused a major blow to the City of Lights.
Lambert, talking to The News, said a strong local government system, good governance and an improved revenue system would help Pakistan maintain law and order in Karachi.
Talking about her first visit to Lahore, the member of the EU Parliament said: “I was feeling a bit scary before being into Lahore, but now I’m happy that things went very well here.”