KARACHI: Mayor Karachi WaseemAkhtar addressed via online communication in International Media Conference in a reception held in their honor by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation in Gulshan-e-Jinnah (old Polo Ground).
Mayor Karachi welcoming the guests, said it was great pleasure and satisfaction for him and the people of the city that journalists from all over the world were participating in this conference and were staying in the city.
He said Karachi is the biggest city and economic hub of Pakistan and provincial capital of Sindh Province. Its population is presently crossing 20 million and according to United Nations, it has a status of mega city. The second important feature of the city is its diversity in people and walks of life. People belonging to different religions, sects, ethnicities and racial background are the part of its social life.
Akhtar said different classes are also playing their role in promoting its economy through business and service sector activities. Like all the other megacities, it was also under unrest for few decades but now after the operation clean-up, it is a peaceful city again as its had a tradition in the past but now by the grace of Allah, the city is peaceful and calm.
He said Karachi has an interesting history. It has been developed as a mercantile city by the British government in 19th century. At the time of creation of Pakistan, it was a small city of population of four hundred thousand. This city was named as the capital of the newly created state of Pakistan by the founding fathers. So a number of issues surfaced after the creation of Pakistan. The first one was the pressure of population due to the migration of Muslims from the Muslim minority provinces of India. As a result its population increased rapidly and touched the figure of one million in the census of 1951. After the start of industrialization, a flow of working class and manpower started from all over the country. Now it is touching a figure of 20 million as mentioned earlier. said Mayor
Akhtar also said this city has many places of archeological importance. “I wish you to visit these places during your stay in our city. Building of Metropolitan Corporation, Frere Hall, Merry Weather Tower, NJV School, Impress Market and Mausoleum of Father of Nation Quaid-e-AzamMohammad Ali Jinnah are worth seeing places.
The provincial assembly of Sindh, which adopted the resolution for Pakistan during the British Raj is also situated in Karachi. It is also a worth seeing building.
DMC Central Chairman RehanHashmi in his address expressed hope that the participants of the IMC would take with them valuable and impressive memories of this city and their visit would prove to be quite beneficial for them.
Chairperson Media Management SabheenGhori, RahimullahYousufzai, Amin Yousuf, Jim BJoumelha, Agha M. Sleh, ZainulAbedin, Chin Sung Chew, Stephen Ouma and other journalists also spoke on this occasion whereas the participants of IMC thanked KMC for arranging the reception for them. In the end, participants of IMC were presented with shields from KMC whereas PMDF presented a shield to Mayor Karachi WasimAkhtar.