Karachi does not reject dissent.
Karachi rejects caricature.
The viral graphic pushed by Karachi Tribune screaming “Karachi Rejects Tabish Hashmi” did not land as journalism. It landed as provocation. A monument-sized backdrop, a red cross, a simplified verdict on a city that does not speak in one voice.
And that is precisely where the problem begins.
Who Is Being Rejected, Exactly?
Tabish Hashmi is not a mayor.
He is not a policymaker.
He does not control budgets, police, land, or fire exits.
Yet the framing suggested otherwise—as if Karachi had conducted a referendum and reached consensus overnight.
That is not rejection.
That is editorial theatre.
Karachi has always argued loudly, disagreed publicly, and torn into its own. But it has also historically resisted being spoken for.
The Podcast That Lit the Match
The controversy traces back to The Pakistan Experience, hosted by Shehzad Ghias, where Hashmi’s remarks—made in the emotional aftermath of the January 2026 Gul Plaza fire—were discussed and defended.
Hashmi compared Karachi’s governance rot to failed state entities, invoking the language of privatization as metaphor. Not as policy. Not as a legal roadmap. As frustration.
For some, it was catharsis.
For others, heresy.
