The city of blights

With the exit of the MQM from the government, targeted killings in Karachi have increased by alarming proportions. As a result of the carnage, life in the metropolis has come to a standstill. In the latest attacks, passenger buses plying the city have been attacked and their hapless passengers killed in cold blood.

It is no secret that public transport in Karachi is largely run and controlled by the Pashtuns. Hence, apart from the hapless victims who are being massacred indiscriminately, it is quite obvious who the perpetrators are and which ethnic group is being targeted.

Karachi, for long, has been a killing field for different ethnic groups and mafias. While the MQM was in power during the past decade or so, violence was sporadic. However, in the last few months, there has been a steady increase in targeted killings.

The ethnic rivalry between the MQM and the ANP dates back to when they were coalition partners. The MQM’s anxiety to control the urban centres of Sindh come what may lies at the very root of the problem. Similarly, the Pashtuns who are in substantial numbers in Karachi are not willing to give in. Different terrorist groups living in their safe havens in the city are another complicating factor.

In this context, MQM being in coalition with the PPP at the federal level and Sindh was good for the stability of the province. President Zardari’s last ditch attempt, albeit half-hearted, to bring MQM back into the fold was bound to fail. His meeting with Dr Ishratul Ebad in Dubai was too little, too late to salvage the alliance.

Actually, the PPP had written off the MQM as a coalition partner long before the final parting of ways. The exit of Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, a close friend of the president, was a strategic move by the PPP in order to buy time to stabilise its position. For this very reason, an alliance with the PML(Q) was ironed out in undue haste.

The PPP drawing it support from rural Sindh and the MQM claiming its control on the cities, an MQM-PPP coalition was ideal for peace and stability in the province. But it’s easier said than done; the PPP is not willing to concede the cities to its erstwhile coalition partner. The ANP isn’t willing either to give a walkover to the MQM in the metropolis of Karachi.

The MQM that has in recent years changed its nomenclature from Mohajir Quami Movement to Mutahedda Quami Movement has not been able to outgrow its ethnic character. Its attempts to branch out in other provinces have been half-hearted and, hence, have not borne fruit.

Essentially, it remains an urban Sindh-based party which considers Karachi as a closed shop. For this very reason, it has opposed the emigration of Pashtuns to Karachi, even on a humanitarian basis, taking the plea that terrorists will enter under the garb of refugees affected by floods.

Not only to maintain its constituencies in the cities but also to appeal to its rural constituents, the PPP challenges the suzerainty of the MQM over urban Sindh. There have been allegations of large scale gerrymandering in the cities of Sindh in the past. If the PPP tinkers with these urban constituencies, the MQM is not going to take it lying down.

The Azad Kashmir elections by themselves were not a big enough reason for the MQM to quit the coalition. After enjoying the fruits of power under Musharraf and later with the PPP for an uninterrupted period of more than nine years, suddenly close to the general elections it has assumed the mantle of the opposition.

Mian Nawaz Sharif, in political isolation due to being at loggerheads with virtually every major political party including the MQM, saw this as a window of opportunity. The alliance with MQM is opportunistic politics at its best or rather at its worst.

If the violence in Karachi worsens, which it is bound to, it will cost the PML(N) votes not only in urban Sindh but in Punjab and KP as well. Till now, the Sharifs have not taken any position on the endemic violence afflicting Karachi. But sooner or later – in some form or the other – they will have to condemn the carnage, if they want to salvage their already dismal standing everywhere in the country (except in the central Punjab perhaps where they are relatively comfortable).

In order to control the situation in Karachi, fast reaching civil war proportions, the PPP government will have to take political as well as administrative measures. There is no harm in bringing all political parties on board, including the ANP and the MQM, to achieve at least a modicum of peace in Karachi.

Merely dispatching the government’s quintessential man on the spot, Rehman Malik, to the violence-torn city will not be enough. Mr Zardari should take the initiative by making changes in the weak and inept Sindh government.

There has been talk of replacing the incumbent with the maverick Dr Zulfiqar Mirza as Chief Minister of the province. This might not be a bad idea in itself but it could exacerbate matters in the present volatile situation. Perhaps, bringing Mirza back as home minister will deliver the much-needed tough message.

The Rangers and the Police have been given shoot at sight orders. Rehman Malik has spoken of targeted actions against the miscreants rather than a full fledged, across-the-board operation. However if the situation deteriorates further, such an operation will become inevitable despite all its appended risks and complications.

In the meanwhile, with Karachi virtually shutdown, the already fragile economy of the country will continue to suffer. The twin menace of ethnic violence and terrorism spinning out of control is perfectly capable of devouring the system.

Apart from those who have perennially prospered by getting a share of power under successive military rules, no mainstream party including the PML(N) would desire such an outcome. Nevertheless, the onus is on the government to salvage the country from a hopeless situation.

The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today.