Every year, tens of thousands of people across Pakistan participate in Ashura processions. In Karachi, the procession winds its way down one of the citys major boulevards and ends in the historical district of Kharadar, at the Imambargah Husainian Iranian. The neighborhood is a labyrinth of narrow, winding streets and buildings dating back to pre-Partition Pakistan. During the rest of the year these streets are choked with buses, cars, motorcycles and pushcarts, with many gullies barely wide enough to let a single car in. It is this vibrant, historical old neighborhood that the majority of the Shia population of Karachi descends on, on Ashura. The Imambargah can barely contain a fraction of this population, so the streets become no-traffic zones, with straw and plastic mats and worn carpets laid out from end to end for the worshippers. Vendors sell haleem and biryani from steaming pots, hawkers carry bright plastic replicas of swords, and families living above and around the Shia mosque resign themselves to being stranded in their apartments for days.
For the police and anti-terrorism forces of Karachi, this hallowed yearly commemoration is a security nightmare; both because of the high volume of participants and because the old neighborhoods where the Imambargah is located are nearly impossible to secure. In the barrack-like grid of the Defense Housing Authority in Karachi, the major Imambargah is simply cordoned off along the major artery, Khayaban-e-Shaheen, with police forces and volunteers present at all times. Karachi still lives under the shadow of the Ashura bombing the previous year: this year, the streets of the city were nearly empty for two days in anticipation of the kind of violence experienced the year before.
It is evident that much has been learnt over the last year. On November 11th, nearly a month before the Ashura processions, the Crime Investigation Department picked up six alleged Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militants and a large cache of ammunitions and weapons. Just a day before the procession, on December 15th, a news channel reported another militant, this time belonging to the Tehreek e Taliban Hafiz Saeed group, being picked up. In other parts of the country, terror plots were similarly foiled by security vigilance: a newspaper reported three suspects being picked up in Quetta on the 17th of December, while on the same day reports of militants being picked up in Lahore flashed across the news. Besides the attacks in Hangu and Orakzai, there were no major incidents of terrorist attacks reported.
At the very minimum, this marks the ability of the urban security forces in Pakistans major cities to maintain the calm during sensitive periods. The success was helped, no doubt, by the highly cautious behavior of the participants and their communities in Karachi, for example, people cooperated with the police at check posts and entry and exit points, with no incident of the cordons being breached.
It also marks the urgency with which security forces and perhaps the government, writ large are struggling to contain attacks on urban, civilian targets. For security analysts, this year would have been a crucial test of both militants ability to breach security cordons in urban areas, and also of the counter-terrorism forces to anticipate and contain such breaches. By most standards, the latter have emerged victorious, at least in this round.
What is somewhat unfortunate is the lack of attention given to this ongoing tussle, and more importantly instances of victory of the state, over militancy. For all its claims to intrepid honesty and accuracy, the Pakistani news media utterly failed to highlight the efforts of the police and security forces in safeguarding their cities during Ashura 2010. Is it that most news channels lack the ability to carry a story that does not include blood and gore? Can most reporters and talking heads on television sustain the interest of an audience without resorting to criticism, speculation and fear-mongering?
There is no guarantee that as life returns to normal in the following weeks there will not be attacks in urban centers. However, there is no telling how bad things could have become this Ashura, were it not for some changes in the modus operandi of the security forces. It would not hurt the print and television press to mention the ability of the police and investigations department to carry out their duties commendably this, more than anything, would be a true testament to the dozens who died last year in the tragic bombings.