The city of Karachi, once known as the city of Lights has been living in shadows now for a very long time. For the past few decades, It portrayed to be a city of the dead, where those alive were no better than the dead. Their right to liberty, expression of thought, and other basic rights were all dictated from Edgware Road, London.

The city streets were once washed on everyday basis, unfortunately, for the past three decades or so they have only witnessed blood spilled all over them, and no one to clean . This metropolis which accommodates more than 20 million people is home to people from different religions and ethnic groups. Until late 1970’s all lived in peace and harmony; then things started to change and gradually got worse until they reached the point that they could get no more worse. This day where the Karachiites decided that they have had enough is the day of 12th May 2013. They realized that everyday 10 -12 of them are cut to pieces and parceled in “Bori’s” on the orders of none but One. They realized that their turn to die would soon come and it would be for no reason.

I personally attended the Teen Talwar protest and feel proud to be a part of it. This was for the very first time that I participated in any walk or protest. I saw the media, label it as a protest by PTI’ians, but I participated there as a Karachiite demanding my rights, which are dependent on re-election. Without a free and fair election, the “THAPPA Mafia” would continue to rule us and deprive us of our rights. For the first time ever these kids had gathered up, whom Mr. Babar Ghouri labels as “MOM POP Kids” to demand their rights. Whether they were taken up by the election fever or something else is hard to say, what is for sure is that they did manage to send tremor shocks all the way to London. For information of the media that this was not a PTI event, there were many examples such as that of the “WanaBee” politician and Mr. Greedy for cheap publicity (the stag candidate from NA-250).

This was the first time in my life ever that I was witnessing the people of Karachi; raise their voice against the mafia of Altaf. In previous many years there have been instances where powerful politicians and individuals have dared to speak the truth against Altaf. After the famous 12th May (2006) Killings in Karachi, Mr. Imran Khan of PTI, vowed and promised to bring him to justice and put an end to the atrocities being inflicted upon people of Karachi. A few years, later Mr. Zulfiqar Mirza of PPP followed the footsteps of Mr. Khan and condemned the terrorist activities of MQM. There are various other examples of people from other political parties such as Shahi Syed of ANP, Mr. Nawaz Sharif of PML-N etc. But for a very long time, it seemed that nothing could shake Altaf, he considered himself the “King of Karachi” and ruled from his residence at Edgware. His mistaken believe that these bloody civilians of Karachi, could never challenge his kingdom over the city, came to an end. He now Knows that he is “Bhagwan (God)” only to a very few disrespectful people who bluntly justify his anti-state statements.

The gathering up of few thousand people at TeenTalwar was seen as a threat to the city. We were expressly threatened on live television that upon orders of Altaf MQM activists would chop us by “swords”. We were threatened that if we dared to rise against the rule of Altaf Mafia, Karachi would be separated from Pakistan. None of this had any effect on us, indeed it made us stronger, so some goons of MQM came around and did aerial firing. By then, the general sentiment that prevailed amongst each one of us was: “Altaf if you are ready to Kill, we are ready to Die”. My fellow citizens of Karachi, present there, who are always criticized for being fragile and sensitive to heat, proved everyone wrong that day. They had no fear in their eyes, only someone true and who has a just cause can be so fearless. It made me realize that so many educated, civilized people cannot be wrong. We together will prove to be the saviour of our city. Mr. Khan was absolutely write when he said : “Tabdeeli aa nahi rahee – Tabdeeli aa Chukki hai”

On 11th May, I voted for Mr. Naimatullah Khan Niazi (JI) for his excellent “PAST” performance as Mayor of Karachi. On 19th May I will vote for Mr. Arif Alvi, because future is more important than past.

Follow me on Twitter at @MinalSoomro

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