In pictures: Karachi's political graffiti

In Pakistan's largest city, political parties use banners and street art to display their control of neighbourhoods.

The MQM is the dominant political party in the city. This sign shows Altaf Hussain, the party\(***)s founder and leader, welcoming people to the party\(***)s headquarters and Hussain\(***)s old residence, named "Nine-Zero" after the house\(***)s old telephone number.

Karachi, Pakistan - In this city, the largest in the country, politics is heavily infused with issues of ethnicity and geography: in a city where almost everyone is a migrant, on some level, it is significant to assert not just where party supporters are from, but what parts of the city they now occupy.

Political parties will use graffiti, flags and banners, then, to do everything from simply spreading their slogans to challenging the hold of a rival party over an area.

Pictures of Altaf Hussain, who has been living in exile in London for two decades, dot areas of Karachi under the MQM\(***)s control. Hussain is respected with almost saint-like reverence by MQM activists.

Local MQM sector offices will often paint the party\(***)s colours near the entrances and exits of their areas of influence.

The Awami National Party (ANP), a Pashtun nationalist party, holds much support in Pashtun-dominated areas of the city. They have decked this bridge with their traditional red, and slogans supporting the party\(***)s Karachi leadership.

Large bridges and intersections often serve as interfaces for rival parties\(***) graffiti. Here, one can see the ANP\(***)s columns challenged by the Jamaat-e-Islami\(***)s beam above them.

Large bridges and intersections often serve as interfaces for rival parties\(***) graffiti.

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) was once the dominant party in Karachi, but has since lost much of its political votebank to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). This piece of graffiti, on the walls of Islamia College, shows the party\(***)s logo.