More bloodshed and mouring on the cards

The failure of the talks between the government and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has heightened tension in Karachi and there are chances of more bloodshed in the city in the days to come.
On Monday, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and MQM leaders sat together in Karachi to discuss the return of MQM to the government and to figure out a framework to curb the unabated targeted killings in the metropolis.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani especially arrived in Karachi to broker a deal with the estranged MQM leaders.
Every patriotic Pakistani in the country and abroad was of the opinion that both the leading parties and key stakeholders in Karachi would learn some lessons from the increasing killings and lawlessness in this mega city of the country and come up with a joint strategy to bury the hatchet.
But the nation was shocked to learn about the failure of the talks and the MQM’s call to observe a day of mourning on Tuesday.
The failure of talks indicates that both parties are still unwilling to show some flexibility within their ranks for the sake of national interest and giving preference to their political agendas.
Another stunning development that surfaced during the Sindh cabinet’s meeting (chaired by the prime minister) was the tirade of Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, who lambasted Interior Minister Rehman Malik for frequently rushing to Karachi for making futile efforts to end targeted killings in the city.
Dr Mirza was of the opinion that Malik always takes the MQM’s side whenever both parties hold talks to sort out differences.
In other words, Dr Mirza lost his temper (for which he is very popular) and conveyed a message to the interior minister that he (Malik) was interfering in the provincial government’s affairs and his repeated efforts to win the support of the MQM and restore long-lasting peace in the financial capital of country have failed.
PPP hawks like Dr Mirza have supported the viewpoint that police and Rangers must carry out a surgical operation in Karachi to restore peace and teach a bitter lesson to target killers and the people on whose instructions they are working.
PPP leaders, however, have ruled out the public demand of calling out the army in the city to carry out a ruthless operation.
As the gory spree of killings is going on in Karachi for the past many weeks, the business community, religious scholars and political leaders belonging to opposition parties have demanded that the government should deploy the army in the city for an “operation clean-up”.
Analysts believe that the army’s involvement in the operation is essential to bring an end to the killings and to revive peace in the mega city.
They believe that Dr Mirza and some other PPP leaders are patronising the gangsters of Lyari, Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi and Sunni Tehreek and using them against the MQM.
In the past few months, police and Rangers have miserably failed to end the bloodshed in the city as both the law enforcement agencies are yet to get a free hand to deal with the killers belonging to different parties.
Analysts and observers firmly believe that the PPP government would not allow law enforcers to act freely against the killers and its leaders could target the MQM to achieve their vested interests. Targeting MQM could prove very dangerous for the efforts to restore peace in the city.
Only the army can ensure an impartial operation against target killers, gangsters and the people on whose directives they are operating.
During the past few months, PPP leaders have completely disappointed the public in terms of restoring peace in Karachi.
A vast majority of businessmen, religious scholars and politicians have expressed serious concerns over the major blow to the economic business activities in the city in the wake of the never-ending killings, but the PPP government appears to be least bothered about it.
How long would the people suffer due to the incompetence, follies and the myopic political approach of PPP leaders? How long would PPP leaders continue to prove that they are neither serious, nor sincere, in their governance and keep pursuing their reconciliation policy owing to which hundreds of lives have been lost in the past few months?
These are the questions that are frequently surfacing in the minds of the people, who are either witnessing bloodshed in Karachi or learning about such reports every day.