KARACHI: An operation in Karachi against those responsible for targeted killings makes sense, considering that the situation has reached the boiling point. And what makes the operation more interesting is the fact that it is “covert”, as described by the interior minister.
It is a separate debate how an operation could be covert when the minister is publicly making an announcement about it, but let us move on to the key questions. “Who are responsible for the killing spree in Karachi and which areas of the city would be targeted?”
The interior minister says the city is in the grip of the bhata (extortion), land grabbing and drug mafias. He’s got that right. But who are the people running these mafias? Maybe the following examples would help.
A resident of Lyari says gun-wielding men have made life for the residents of his forsaken town a living hell. They live in constant fear of the frequent gun battles that erupt between the area’s criminal gangs, who run every dirty business from selling drugs to running gambling dens in Lyari. Many houses in the area have holes in walls made by gunshots and rocket attacks.
Law enforcers prefer staying away when trouble arises. It’s not easy for an outsider to enter Lyari, especially at night, as chances are there that his dead body is found in some sewage drain the other day or if he is lucky, he might live, but still be deprived of all valuables. So there’s a start – Lyari, a virtually no-go area.
But let’s focus on another area in the city, the Abul Ispahani Road, where a row of high-rise apartments are divided into blocks. A resident of the area claims that one or two blocks have been taken over by an ethnic group affiliated with a political party, as its members have forcefully occupied the apartments.
In another part of the city, the Korangi Crossing area, a doctor, who runs a small clinic, has to pay Rs 500 every month to a political party belonging to another. The same goes for the roadside vendors near his clinic, who have to pay a lesser amount.
The ‘recovery men’ don’t call it extortion. Instead they use the term fitra (charity money). They even hand over a fitra receipt after they have collected the money. It is not only the political parties involved in this ‘charity’ business. Religious parties and groups want their share as well.
The owner of a famous bakery at MA Jinnah Road, located close to the spot where the dreadful Ashura day bombing occurred last year, was once seen arguing with a religious group’s representatives who were there to collect money for a ‘noble cause’. The bakery owner tried to convince them that the payment had already been made, but they didn’t leave until he handed them two red notes.
Except for some posh localities such as Clifton, Defence and the PECHS, extortion and land-grabbing are the order of the day everywhere in the city. Now amid all this, where do targeted killings come in? The case of a tailor who owns a shop in Malir City will help explain the phenomenon. Like others, he also has to pay a share of his earnings to the ‘fitra collectors’.
However, his problem is more complicated because his shop is located at a place that is somewhere between two areas dominated by separate political parties. He is visited by representatives of both parties for the monthly fitra. But the tailor who earns barely enough to make both ends meet can only afford to pay only one, and that’s where the roots of targeted killings lie.
In the areas where territorial domination is disputed, deadly clashes erupt. The murder of one party’s activist leads to several killings in revenge. Eventually, violence spreads throughout the city. Clashes also take place over land-grabbing an example of which is killings in the Kati Pahari area.
The interior minister can reiterate that PPP has nothing to do with Peace Committee of Lyari while Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Awami National Party can continue levelling as many allegations against each other as they like but the truth won’t change. The main political stakeholders will have to make hard choices to come up with a genuine solution to the predicament in the city.
