Fiction: Waleed trades a life of petty crime for something bigger by joining Karachi’s ruling party

“Karachi is safe – only if its people want to keep it safe.” The mayor of Shah Faisal Colony, the town adjacent to Korangi, addressed every question from the talk show host using the same tactic that had kept him in office for over two decades – shifting the blame on a voiceless third party. “Don’t go out if you don’t have to. Don’t travel alone if you don’t wish to get mugged. Simple as that.”

The talk show was called Burning Point Pakistan and was famous for projecting flames in the background, as if broadcasting live from hell. Its host, with his pompadour and beaklike nose, had made a career out of assailing scoundrels such as the mayor.

He followed, “Very inspiring, sir. And can you advise your constituents which places to avoid in Shah Faisal? Surely you’re not saying your whole town is a vice den, are you?”

The mayor, confused as to how he could apply his strategy to this question, had just cleared the knot in his throat to blither yet another vague, blame-shifting response when, like a scalding knife, the host cut him off, “ – because if you do know where street crimes are happening, what’s stopping you from...

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