Thousands of girlfriends and wives were arrested by paramilitary troops in a string operation this week to deweaponise the violence-hit city of Karachi.
Several hundred people have died in the recent unrest in the port city, and a law-enforcement operation was expected after Interior Minister Rehman Malik said girlfriends and wives were responsible for 70 percent of the killings. It is pertinent to mention here that love is a crime under the Pakistani common law.
Stocks plunged as share prices of mobile phone companies declined steeply after the government announced it would cleanse the city of girlfriends and wives.
Television business was also hurt by falling ratings of talk shows featuring Imran Khan. Several cooking shows were shut down. Approximately, one million women in Karachi are regular viewers of cooking shows, according to a recent report. About 73.4 percent of them host their own cooking show. Among them is an elderly mastermind made popular by SMS jokes. She is now on the government’s most wanted list.
Civil rights groups are furious. “It is unacceptable and irrational,” a women’s leader said in a press conference, “to have feelings of affection towards the male gender. These women deserve no mercy.”
Police reported no reaction from husbands over the weekend. But hundreds of men from all walks of life took to the streets early Monday to protest the arrests. They were holding placards and banners asking for breakfast.
Jail officials said the arrested women mostly slept or gossiped in their free time. Riots were reported after the new inmates declined to eat food that they said was not cooked according to their liking. Three inmates fought after one was irritated by others repeatedly asking how long she was going to take in the toilet. Backed with supporters among the inmates and some jail officials, they are now fighting over control of the toilets, kitchens and common areas. Jail officials said most of them refuse to clean their cells and a majority forces other inmates to clean for them. Accusations of stealing are rampant. Many women come out of their cells only when they have to eat. “We are very happy with these developments,” a jail official said on condition of anonymity. “It is a clear sign that these women are being rehabilitated and will come out of the prison ready to act like men.”
Religious groups hailed the move and went on to ask the government to end all soap operas, music shows and other obscene programmes on TV. “There should be more programmes on TV that feature our renowned and popular religious leaders,” they said in a statement sent to the press earlier this week. The government thanked the clerics for the support and announced it had accepted their demand. In a notification, TV channels were asked to give more air time to crime and terrorism.
Imran Khan agreed to support the operation after he was assured during a meeting with representatives of the establishment that his key supporters would not be categorised as women.
Representatives of his party met with other political leaders yesterday to announce support for the operation. “We will fight terror with terror,” a spokesman said. “We can negotiate with terrorists,” he said while elaborating Pakistan’s policy on dealing with violence, “but we will not negotiate with our wives and girlfriends.”
The writer is a media critic and the News Editor, The Friday Times. He may be contacted at harris@nyu.edu