How does one deal with the problem that is Karachi? A debate that ensues every time the city is gripped by violence, as it is now, with more than 30 people dying within three days. It is usually a fruitless debate, with pundits espousing unworkable solutions on the one hand and hesitating to call a spade a spade on the other. A particular solution, too ugly to be articulated on public fora, is also doing the rounds. That only proportional violence from all sides will yield an end to target killings. What mafia experts call pax Mafiosi. It is a sad comment on the nature and capacity of our state if the only workable solution seems as if it is out of the pages of a cheap crime novel.
The target killing of a bright and dedicated young journalist highlights another aspect of the situation in Karachi. The narrative on the city from the mainstream media frames the debate overwhelmingly in favour of one political party and primarily against the other two that are present in Karachi. As every beat reporter worth his or her salt knows, you cant cultivate contacts within an organisation without giving it proper coverage. A journalist giving coverage to a particular political party is construed, maybe even correctly, to be a sympathiser and hence, a target. It is thought by a number of journalists that Wali Khan Baburs killing falls into that category. His death will restrict the already diminutive space the voices of dissent have within the reportage of the citys politics, apart from being a personal tragedy for his family and friends.
Though it is very easy to fault those who practice the politics of intimidation, blame can be squarely placed on the machinery of the state. Rogue political parties, not unlike the Taliban up north, will take up only as much space as ceded to them by the government. But if the law enforcing agencies are subservient to the federal tier of government, which will always enter into Faustian deals in exchange for peace in the countrys commercial capital, we have a depressingly vicious cycle on our hands.