A FORMER president of Pakistan, Field Marshal Mohammed Ayub Khan, died on April 19, 1974. More than a month later, on May 29, 1974, the Sindh Assembly passed a condolence resolution expressing its sense of sorrow at Gen Ayub Khan`s death. The resolution was put forward in the assembly by Bostan Ali Hoti (Council Muslim League) and was allowed to be presented on the floor of the house after the members` consent. It read: `This house expresses its deep sense of sorrow over the sad demise of the former President of Pakistan, Field Marshal Mohammed Ayub Khan. His patriotism and loyalty to the country will be long remembered.` The Provincial Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Abdul Waheed Katpar, objected to the second sentence after which, on a voice vote, the sentence was deleted.

Another Bostan was in the news on June 2 when it was reported that an auto-rickshaw driver hadA FORMER president of Pakistan, Field Marshal Mohammed Ayub Khan, died on April 19, 1974. More than a month later, on May 29, 1974, the Sindh Assembly passed a condolence resolution expressing its sense of sorrow at Gen Ayub Khan`s death. The resolution was put forward in the assembly by Bostan Ali Hoti (Council Muslim League) and was allowed to be presented on the floor of the house after the members` consent. It read: `This house expresses its deep sense of sorrow over the sad demise of the former President of Pakistan, Field Marshal Mohammed Ayub Khan. His patriotism and loyalty to the country will be long remembered.` The Provincial Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Abdul Waheed Katpar, objected to the second sentence after which, on a voice vote, the sentence was deleted.

Another Bostan was in the news on June 2 when it was reported that an auto-rickshaw driver hadappealed to the Sindh Chief Minister, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, to help him recover his rickshaw taken away by the traffic police. The driver, Bostan, said on May 25 the mobile court of the SDM Harbour fined him Rs150 on account of over-speeding. Since he had no money at the time, he was locked up and his vehicle was detained. Later in the day, one of his friends paid the fine and got him released. As he came out of the lock-up, he was shocked to see that his rickshaw was missing. He inquired about it at the police station and was told that the vehicle was with the traffic police. Subsequently, he went again to the SHO of the station and the inspector assured he would trace the rickshaw but it could not be recovered.

Remonstration of a different kind happened in the world of literature on May 29. The General Secretary of the Anjuman Adabi Rasail, Sahba Lakhnavi, in a statement, protested against the cancellation of newsprint quota of the literary magazine Funoon published by the well-known writer and poet Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi,arguing it had created a grave situation for such magazines. He appealed to Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Maulana Kausar Niazi to immediately order restoration of the quota and issue advertisements to the magazines as promised by him.

Dissatisfaction could not just be seen in political and literary circles; the masses, too, were in a state of agitation that week. On May 28, residents of Orangabad and Jamhoria Colony staged a rally in front of one of the offices of the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) in Nazimabad to protest against the shortage of water in their locality. They had earlier taken out a procession raising slogans against the corporation. Later, they mobbed the KMC`s complaint centre in Altafnagar and pelted stones at it. The incident took place after the residents found out that one of the two tankers of the KMC which were meant to supply water to Orangabad were supplying water to a bakery while another was giving it to a private nursery. When the KMC staff saw the angry crowd approaching their office they put a lock on it and ran away.