Karachi Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has described ethnic Pashtoons as a "threat", saying they are plotting to take over the city. "These Pashtoon means like fundamentalist - religiously fundamentalist, religiously extremist," Kamal told the American NPR radio in an interview.
"They are coming in. When it comes to ethnicity, when it comes to Islam they all are the same." The Nazim said he is convinced that Pashtoon are planning the locations of the illegal housing settlements, adding they are choosing strategic spots that block his own plans for the city.
"It's a very strategic location, you see?" Kamal asks. "The Super Highway is there. They can control the whole highway. ... They had a master plan before me. And they definitely have a master plan." Speaking with several residents of the city's new settlements, it's clear that not all are Pashtoon. And they seemed to have no master plan beyond their next meal, the radio said.
It reported that the mayor gives a tour of the area, driving past squatter neighbourhoods and Islamic schools. He passes the area where the journalist Daniel Pearl was found slain. And he points out the window at a bearded man. "The man who's coming in front of you ... look at him, look at his face," Kamal said.
LPR reported that Karachi is one of the world's most populous cities and getting more crowded all the time. "New neighborhoods are being built as quickly as people can pour the concrete".
The illegal housing system in Karachi has its defenders. A leading urban planner says millions of poor people who otherwise might be homeless find shelter this way. Still, the new settlements have caused some anxiety. Many of Karachi's new arrivals have come from the north - from the area bordering Afghanistan, a region that supports the Taliban.
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