Last week, United States newspaper The Washington Times was distributed with a wrap demanding a \u2018Free Karachi\u2019. This follows a propaganda campaign that focused on the \u2018Free Balochistan\u2019 adverts on taxis and buses in London and Geneva. Pakistan\u2019s Ambassador to Washington Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry has condemned the latest episode, and authorities in the US have assured that they don\u2019t back any such campaign. However, they have also clarified that they cannot prevent such adverts as they are permissible under the freedom of speech laws.
\nRegardless of whether \u2018Free Karachi\u2019 and \u2018Free Balochistan\u2019 campaigns have been supported by any foreign government or agency, the best way for us to respond to such propaganda and to defeat the designs of those orchestrating it is to address the underlying issues.
\nThe \u2018Free Karachi\u2019 ads follow articles in the same US publication that compared Karachi\u2019s contributions to the Pakistani economy with the public resources spent on the city. Notwithstanding the fact that the article went overboard when it used the blanket phrase taxation without representation for this state of affairs, it is no hidden secret that Karachi has seen a lot of violence and conflict, and the division of power between the city, the province whose government it hosts, and the federation still remains a work in progress. The latest census has only added to the woes of Karachi\u2019s residents and their representatives. All these issues need to be the priority of the authorities. Once these are settled, the propaganda ads will be exposed for the empty rhetoric that they will be left with.
\nSimilarly, the government should aim to address the legitimate grievances of the Baloch. Our history has plenty of lessons on the harms done to the federation by those who shoved these grievances under the carpet. Those mistakes must not be repeated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week, United States newspaper The Washington Times was distributed with a wrap demanding a \u2018Free Karachi\u2019. This follows a propaganda campaign that focused on the \u2018Free Balochistan\u2019 adverts on taxis and buses in London and Geneva. Pakistan\u2019s Ambassador to Washington Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry has condemned the latest episode, and authorities in the US have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n