Sindh and Karachi are two completely different entities. More so now when demographics have changed a lot. Karachi is a province in itself with multiculturalism at its core. After decades of mass internal migration, this city is no more Sindhi at all, it never was actually. Karachi was a fishing village at the start of this century and started slowly transforming into a small city. It took a dramatic boost in terms of education, culture, business, and trade after the partition, when migrants from India called it their home. The local Sindhi population welcomed them and it was a great spectacle of tolerance and generosity. Then after couple of decades started influx of Pashtoons from the then Frontier province. People from all over the Pakistan started coming to Karachi due to its proximity to sea and ample opportunities for trade and employment. It truly became the jugular vein of Pakistan.
Despite of all the problems and issues, Karachi has become a cosmopolitan. We always hear that things are not good in Karachi and most of the news which comes out of Karachi is violent and bad. But even then the population is growing, the trade is growing and jobs are still there. Such is the vibrant and resilient nature of Karachi and its people. One of the major problem with the Karachi is that it is tagged with the Sindh, and so it doesn’t get the financial freedom which it deserves. This issue resonates in the Sindh assembly every now and then. Just yesterday hot words were exchanged between MPAs belonging to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F). MQM has been also raising these concerns for a long time now. Everybody understands that deep in their heart but they remain muted. No military or para military operation is going to bring the peace in Karachi. The only solution is to make Karachi a separate province or territory with in Pakistan.