Restore peace urgently
Three days of uninterrupted violence in Karachi, adding 72 more dead to the tally, bring the out and out inefficacy of the provincial government in the spotlight. Earlier, only individuals were being targeted. On Saturday, there were reports of the ‘unknown’ killers cordoning off an area, indulging in indiscriminate firing, then breaking into houses and torturing and shooting the inmates of a community.
President Zardari hopes that with the MQM joining the government, the bloodshed would stop. Over the last three years, the MQM has left the coalition for short periods, returning only after extracting a price for cooperation. This time the party wants home and local government ministries in Sindh. The PPP is apparently willingness to accede to the demand and has instead offered the MQM ministries in AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan. The MQM also wants Zardari to disown the FIA and IB reports regarding the party’s role in violence. This would amount to rushing into an area where angels fear to tread. The talks have thus remained paralysed. While the war of nerves continues, there is no respite to the killings in Karachi. Meanwhile, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry(KCCI) has demanded the induction of the military to restore order in the city. A similar call has been repeatedly made by the ANP. As things stand, neither the federal nor the provincial government is willing to concede. Mian Nawaz Sharif has suggested another solution to end the bloodshed. Security agencies, according to him should submit intelligence reports, analyses and recommendations before parliament. The elected representatives should then evolve a strategy for Karachi.
The federal government has to realise that it has little time at its disposal to bring peace to the industrial hub of the country and unless it is able to deliver urgently, the initiative may not remain in its hands. As Karachi’s descent into anarchy could destabilise the entire country, the matter would finally land up in the hands of the ultimate guarantors of peace. The government would do well to take the matter to the NA, arrange briefings by the security agencies and evolve a consensus solution before it is too late.