Around four months back, when the present government came into power, I got a phone call at midnight from an NED class fellow in California. "I hope you're safe," he said. "What's happening, have you heard something?" "Don't you know? Karachi's streets are full of mobs lynching people". This was when a news channel allied to Imran Khan's party had telecast news about the impending default and Pakistan going bankrupt. I had to tell him that it simply wasn't true, and that I and my family had just returned after having dinner at a restaurant.
This is one reason Pakistan has such a poor image. One overseas Pakistani hears that crimes in Karachi have increased, he tells another one, and ultimately the last one thinks that women are being raped and muggers are looting the people in Karachi.
I met some relatives who are originally from Karachi but now settled abroad. They were amazed that life was normal in the city and they could go out without being robbed. I told them that what they had believed about Karachi and Pakistan is not very different from what a common Pakistani believes about the U.S. "I wouldn't like to live there", I told them, "as I've heard that every day there are mass shootings in schools and malls due to guns being freely available". Of course they said I'm mistaken, it doesn't happen where they live, blah blah blah". Then they realized why they'd thought that Karachi is unsafe.
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