Karachi unite

Seeing mostly men making fools out of themselves by hurling obscenities and getting into fisticuffs is a common sight in Karachi. These embarrassing displays are often the product of road rage and a range of other petty provocations. Furthermore, there is a strong under-current of ethno-chauvinism and prejudice behind these fights. I have seen cases where bystanders will take the side of the man who belongs to their ethnicity, regardless of who was in the wrong. In addition, it is common to listen to the people of this diverse city cursing this or that ethnicity for all the city’s problems. Few realize that this mode of thinking is the problem.

Like it or not, this is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious city and, thus, it cannot succeed unless all its different groups learn how to work with each other. And, for what it’s worth, we should spend less time shouting at each other when getting cut-off in traffic. We are all facing the same horrendous driving conditions. If we should be angry at anything, it should be that.

Faisal Ansar

Karachi