From Euphoria to Tragedy

                                                                       Majyd Aziz

The euphoria enveloping the Bohra community during the last week when Syedi Mufaddal Bhaisaheb Saifuddin, the designated successor of the present spiritual leader and Dai, Syedna Burhanuddin, evaporated into gloom and doom when desperados targeted this docile, primarily mercantile, and sensitive religious community through an IED bomb in a busy shopping center frequented by this community in Haidary, Karachi.

At this critical juncture in the history of Karachi, where target killings, extortion racket, high incidence of street crime and burglaries, kidnappings, strikes and rallies are vitiating the peace and security of this metropolitan city, the attack on a peaceful community by dastardly perpetrators of terrorism reflects the total shredding of the moral fiber of this country. The harrowing thought occurring in the minds of the other accommodating, amenable and business-oriented ethnic communities who have mega stakes in Karachi is whether the attack on Bohra community was an isolated incident or whether this was an harbinger of worse attacks on them in the future. The Memon, Ismaili, and Parsi communities are definitely scared and this calamity has further fortified their sense of insecurity that they have been feeling since the last few years. This episode, alongwith some high profile kidnappings and extortion threats, have compelled them to indulge in community-based strategic rethinking about living in Karachi or planning future investments. The much-talked about exodus of over 175 Memon families, primarily women and children, to UAE and Malaysia does not bode well for the nation's image and economy. Even the Chinioti community has openly voiced their concerns and is contemplating another substantial migration to Punjab from Karachi.

What is the solution to this mayhem and near anarchy in Karachi? How long would be the citizens, and more so the business community, continue to listen to hollow promises and assurances of people in the corridors of power? When people with wherewithal come to a point when they are ready to leave everything and move out of the country for a safe future for their children and their business, then that must be considered as the last straw. The deployment of the present lot of law enforcers has not given any tangible results. Now, no more spin doctoring, no more empty promises, and no more e.Coli would bring relief to the mercantile communities, especially those communities that are known for their passivity and adherence to the laws of the country.

Maybe the time has come when again the strict control and maintenance of law and order in the South City must be handed over to the Pakistan Army. Isn’t it the opportune time to place a total ban on strikes, rallies, and processions until situation improves? Even the political parties must refrain from their petty politics as this attitude of theirs has manifested into making Karachi a volatile volcano. The politicians, it seems, are shying away from addressing the real issues affecting the nation. They have relegated the economic and social issues as a low priority and are concentrating more on diverting the attention of the populace by cashing in on other matters that enable them to be in the public eye. Pakistan is not getting better. Tragedy has become the daily sustenance, tragically.

Kohinoor of the Dada family

Majyd Aziz

The Dada family has been rightly named as the Wal-Marts of Pakistan by Prof Iqbal Ismail in his book Footprints in the Sand. This Memon family was admired as royalty in Bantva and the paterfamilias of the clan, Hussain Kassam Dada, was the largest commodities trader in pre-partition India. After migrating to Karachi in 1947, he oversaw his huge business with the help of his sons. In fact, most of the multinationals that came to invest in Pakistan usually had one or two of the family as sponsoring Directors.

Aisha was Hussain’s first grandchild, eldest daughter of Haji Adam, and my paternal grandmother. I am the eldest of the fifth generation of the Dada family (I am 62, and on the Dada family tree, my “generation” still has many more years to complete). This lady was a very simple, pious, thrifty person. There was never a hint of arrogance or braggadocio, attributes that Dada progeny were perceived and even felt by those who came into contact with them. She was destined to be a devoted wife, a possessive mother, a loving mother-in-law, and a doting grandmother. The elders got her wedded to Omer Haji Muhammad, a scion of the Balagamwala family and someone who had an aristocratic lifestyle, who was erudite, and whose heart would melt behind a façade of strong temperament.

Aisha had given birth to three boys but destiny placed her in a position where she lost her eldest and youngest children, when they were very young, and then spent her whole life being the Guardian Angel to her surviving son, Abdul Aziz Haji Omer.

She saw her eight grandchildren grow and ensured that they were under her watchful eyes. She was our nanny, religious teacher, and the source of advice. Although uneducated nor an expert in psychology, her boudoir was the place where many relatives, mostly women, came for advise, guidance, monetary assistance, and parental affection. She always provided financial support quietly and those who were beneficiaries of her largesse used to leave her bungalow with no remorse or dejection. She would at times take one of her grand-daughters in the car to a poor relative and would instruct the driver to park the car far away and would walk towards the relative’s house. She did not want to show off that she came in her car to help them and would always sit on the floor with them. At times, she would go in a bus, just to demonstrate that she was an ordinary person, and not the wife and daughter of rich tycoons. Till her last days, she never missed Tahajud prayers and even had this habit of picking up her plate after eating and washing it herself.

Aisha performed Haj three times. In 1949, in 1953, and her last Haj was in 1965 with me and my mother. It was really a miracle for us to get the P-Form approved by State Bank of Pakistan on the morning of the last Haj flight and before the afternoon was over, we were on our way to Jeddah. On 7 Muharram, I was in my first floor hotel room in Makkah with my mother when I heard her shouting from the road, “Majyd, Ka’abo khuli vio aai, jaldi Haram Sharif bhug.” (Majyd, the Ka’aba is open, run fast to the Haram Sharif). I only 15 years old ran and managed to get inside the Holy edifice. On Ashur’a day, three days later, there was an action replay. Again she came running, yelled, and again I ran and again managed to get into the Holy Ka’aba. More importantly, I was also one of the lucky ones to get on the roof of the Holy Ka’aba and I waved to her when I saw her in the Mata’af. I would have never got this unique honor of being in the Holy Ka’aba had it not been for her who obviously ran from the Haram Sharif to convey the news twice.

She would also hold her great-grandchildren in her lap while their hairs were cut for the first time during their Aqiqa. She was always given this honor and there would be a twinkle in her marble-blue eyes whenever she held her great-grandchildren. She never discriminated against any one of them nor would she scold them. For her, they were the source of strength in her last decade. She was fortunate to see and hold twenty of her twenty-two great-grandchildren. She was very much in love with my youngest sister Hafsa and would even make it a point to drop her off to school.

Aisha lived for others. Even if her siblings (all strong-headed) were at times at loggerheads with one another, she would never take sides but always tried to conciliate and even make sure that she would be punctual at family functions. The only time she felt resentment was when her brother, Siddiq Dada, married an Englishwoman. She never accepted her new sister-in-law and till the end she was solidly behind her Bhabi Zubaida.

Aisha was taken sick in November 1988, and rushed to Aga Khan Hospital. As fate would have it, this prestigious hospital did not have a spare ventilator. I remember running from hospital to hospital and finally was able to get her into OMI Hospital thanks to then Sindh Governor. The next day, she left for her Heavenly Abode. Sadly, nine years later, on Eid ul Azha, this scenario was repeated and my father also died in exactly the same manner. Aisha was nearly eighty when she died. She was never called Dadi but Hajiani Ma (I used to call her by this title when I was just few years old). This formidable devotee of Ghaus al Azam, this very religious woman, this downright honest and sincere lady, was truly the Kohinoor of the Dada Family.

SITE Inferno

Majyd Aziz

The Pakistani industrialists, mostly in small and medium sector, usually do not give intense consideration to issues of Occupational Safety of workers as well as the working place. This reflects a myopic approach that substantially puts the working environment in a damaging position. Moreover, the lack of proper layout of machinery, work stations, and movement logistics has generally created a difficult situation in the operations of an industrial unit. The SITE Inferno is a disturbing manifestation of what has been stated above.

Although the responsibility lies with the management, it is pertinent to mention that this particular unit was victim of goods pilferage by workers, of threats by extortionists, and the reliance on overtime due to time constraints (primarily due to power and gas shortages and off-days).

However, this does not absolve the management from the tragedy. A professional security expert would have planned a workable security system that would have been exclusive for that unit. Unfortunately, industrialists tend to ignore such investments and also tend to cut corners in achieving their production targets.

Karachi has seven industrial estates where about 10,000 industries are based. Moreover there are atleast 50,000 cottage and small industries in the informal sector that are based in residential areas too. Many factories are like a cauldron waiting for its contents to overflow.

It is also important to state that corruption, lax conformation of safety rules and regulations, ill-planning of units, usage of shoddy material such as electric wires, switches, gas cylinders etc are prime as well as disturbing reasons for such incidents.

The various government agencies whose role is to inspect the units, advise on the conditionalities of the rules, regulations, and statutory laws, and ensure strict compliance have used these to browbeat and pressurize the industrialists. The Civil Defence officials were least concerned with the fire safety measures and equipment installed in the industries and, instead, more keen to promote the sales of such equipment peddled by their own companies or supplied by companies that offer commissions to these officers. The labor inspectors would usually sit in the Director's room, insert casual "warnings" over innocuous violations, have tea and biscuits, collect their pound of flesh and vanish to prey on the next victim. In SITE, the name of the game is money. For the officials of SITE Ltd, a quasi-governmental organization, it’s the "money makes the world go round" syndrome. In SITE Ltd, every task has a prescribed "price". One has to pay for every legal, illegal, and not-so-legal activity.

The calamity may impact negatively on Pakistan's image in the global export market. There would be clarion calls from Western buyers for an immediate revisit of safety systems in units that supply goods to them. A lot of damage control would be required immediately by TDAP, FPCCI, and more importantly from Prime Minister so that one incident does not block the existing exports.

Meantime, business associations as well as community based organizations must create a fund and a plan to address the present and future requirements of the families of the over 300 victims. Overall, citizens and workers have to play a decisive role in ensuring that sanity prevails in work places. Everyone is equally responsible.