ON April 7, 1975 Karachi Television Station (KTV) went off the air when a fire broke out in its design store and rehearsal room at 8:10pm. The fire grew into a blaze as it caught the dry stores used for making sets. A fleet of fire tenders reached the building within 15 minutes and controlled the situation by 8:40pm. The blaze and its smoke were seen by people in PECHS and adjoining areas. Many of them made frantic telephone calls to the station as soon as its telecast was abruptly suspended first, for about half an hour; and then for 10 minutes.

Provincial ministers Jam Sadiq Ali and Mir Ata Husain Talpur were among those who visited the TV station immediately and supervised operations. A KTV official said fire broke out in two rooms closest to the studios and the air-conditioning plant, both of which were safe.

However, the damage to the property was considerable. KTV General Manager Burhanuddin Ahmed ordered an inquiry into the incident, ruling out the possibility ofsabotage. According to him, the fire was spotted at 8:10pm; the dry stores and the strong breeze made it worse.

Another disturbing piece of news came on April 9: Vice-Chancellor of the University of Karachi (KU), Dr Mahmud Husain passed away.

On April 10, he was laid to rest under the shadow of Jamia Millia Mosque in Malir, an educational institution that he had founded. One of the leading educationists of the country and a respected scholar, Dr Husain was admitted to hospital on April 5 and died while still in deep coma.

Blood clotting in his brain and cardiac abnormalities were the cause of his death.

On April 11, the students, teachers and other members of staff at the University of Karachi at a condolence meeting passed a resolution urging the Sindh government to institute a chair of history in the name of Dr Husain.

The resolution demanded the holding of Dr Mahmud Husain Memorial extension lectures annually, inviting scholars from around the world to speak on history and international relations. Themeeting paid glowing tributes to the scholar for his selfless services to the cause of education in general and Karachi University in particular.

Dr Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, acting vice-chancellor of the university, who presided over the meeting, recounted his close association with Dr Husain saying that the vacuum created by his death would be hard to fill.

Two more meetings made the headlines that week. On April 9 the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ)expressed concern atthe increase in prices of wheat, sugar and vegetable ghee, arguing that journalists and other newspaper workers were the worst hit by it.

An on April 11, keeping with the tradition of Karachi`s pluralistic character, Malik Mohammad Jaffer, the Minister for State for Minority Affairs and Tourism, chaired a meeting in the city during which the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) agreed to provide a piece of land in Clifton free of cost for building a Buddhist temple. The minister said the appointment of a foreign architect for the purpose was being considered.