Internet is divided since after comedian and TV host Tabish Hashmi’s interview with Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab on the former’s comedy show Hasna Mana Hai.

 

In the episode, uploaded to YouTube on Sunday, Wahab was grilled over Karachi’s crumbling infrastructure, piles of garbage and poor road conditions, in response to which the mayor kept blaming external factors such as the lack of accurate census data at the hands of the federal government.

 

Wahab said he would “always present the city’s case before the authorities and citizens”, to which Tabish reminded him that former Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar used to give the “exact same line”.

 

“Your work is not to present the case, but to execute,” Tabish said.

 

With Mayor Wahab continuing to exact blame at centre, and host Tabish poking fun while questioning the performance of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) during its own term in the federal government, clips from the interview went viral on social media, leaving netizens divided.

 

While some called Wahab out for “playing the blame game”, some praised him for raising long-ignored challenges facing the port city.

 

“When the mayor of our Pakistan's largest city @murtazawahab1 holds the federal government responsible for every issue, he is not actually defending our Karachi; rather, as a state official, he is exposing his own incompetence or the powerless position he holds. Leadership and politics are not the art of blame-shifting; they are the responsibility of presenting solutions to problems,” one of the users wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

 

Highlighting the tough question that the host posed to the guest, another wrote, “Tabish Hashmi performed a surgical strike on Murtaza Wahab.”

 

“Couldn't agree more. Shifting blame rather than taking responsibility is a disservice to the people of Karachi. Mayors should prioritise finding solutions and advocating for their city, not making excuses,” said one user.

 

“It was disappointing to see our mayor just deflecting the questions and blaming the federal [government] for everything,” opined another.

 

According to one user, Wahab gave “good and substantiated responses” but others were being “stubborn” and “couldn’t understand his response”.

 

“He is the one and only @murtazawahab1 who is delivering in whole of Pakistan, opponents can't digest. Simple and clear [sic],” wrote another.