The situation of the metropolitan is no different than that of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KPK) and Balochistan where almost all the political parties may fail to launch effective election campaigns due to the fear of Taliban, who had warned all political leaders to suspend their political activities in the metropolis or face dire consequences.
It is common knowledge that some political parties feared launching election campaign due to their ongoing rivalries and existence of no-go areas in the city. To add up to the prevalent fear and confusion, the two major stakeholders of the metropolitan, namely Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP), believed that someone was playing a “dirty game” from behind the curtains. The existence of Taliban in the financial hub of the country has also achieved something for the ANP and MQM i.e bringing the two arch-rivals on the same page regarding terrorism, as both the parties have agreed to fight the menace as a united front.
“We have been issued warning by Taliban to suspend political activities in the Pukhtun-dominated areas,” ANP leader Rana Gul Afridi told Pakistan Today. “A few days back, our leader from Ittehad Town, Baldia was gunned down because he did not comply with the orders of Taliban, who had earlier warned him to suspend political activities in the town,” Afridi added.
“The ANP nominated candidates are receiving constant threats from these extremist elements, due to which we (ANP) have failed to launch an effective election campaign,” Afridi claimed. “We have been informing the law enforcement agencies about these threats but no action has been taken against them as yet,” Afridi alleged.
“Unfortunately, some of the extremists travelled to the metropolitan during the time when army operation was launched in KPK, and settled in Pukhtun areas of the city and later engaged in criminal activities by using the name of ANP,” Afridi accepted. He further said that the Taliban established their network in the metropolis as time elapsed and stopped using ANP’s name after they had gained roots.
“Now they have exposed their real face and are threatening us to suspend our political activities from Pukhtun dominated areas of the city,” Afridi said, adding that they uprooted party flags and banners from the area and threatened the Pukhtun population with dire consequences if anyone tried to work for the ANP.
“The sudden emergence of Taliban in the city is a clear indication that those who produce Taliban in the country have made their move to steal elections in the metropolitan,” he accused. “You must have heard a famous quote that is ‘When the cat is away, the mice will play’ and this is exactly what has been happening with the ANP,” he claimed. “The secret agencies are trying to bring in a new stakeholder in the metropolitan to influence the upcoming general elections,” he accused.
Meanwhile, MQM leader Faisal Sabzwari, while commenting about the presence of Taliban in the city, said, “MQM has been giving loud calls related to the presence of Taliban in the financial hub since the last many years, but no action was taken by the authorities concerned that helped Taliban to establish their network in almost all parts of the city.” Taliban had issued a warning to the party and were threatening the public to keep away from MQM public gatherings and congregations during elections, Sabzwari added.
“It is not a level-playing field in the metropolitan and someone is playing a dirty game somewhere,” he believed. “We have not decided as yet whether we will hold public gatherings and congregations during elections, but the fear factor definitely matters as far as MQM election campaign is concerned,” Sabzwari noted
“If the law enforcement agencies had fulfilled their responsibilities and initiated timely action against Taliban on calls of the MQM, then the situation would have been entirely different in the city,” Sabzwari observed. “Now, they (Taliban) have penetrated in all parts of the metropolis due to the inaction of law enforcers,” Sabzwari alleged. “We believe that it is not only negligence but a criminal negligence of the law enforcement agencies for not being able to initiate action against Taliban despite proves of their presence in the city,” he said.
The Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqeeqi (MQM-H) Vice Chairman Shamshad Ghauri said that “Like ANP and MQM, MQM-H is also facing problems in launching its election campaign in the city due to existence of no-go areas.” Raising an accusing finger towards the city’s dominant political party, Ghauri said that “Our nominated candidates cannot go to their constituencies to run election campaign due to fear of our arch-rivals.”
“If the law enforcement agencies claim that there are no ‘no-go areas’ in the city, then they should ensure MQM-H that their nominated candidates can visit their constituencies to run election campaign without any fear of anyone,” Ghauri stressed. “The gravity of the situation could be gauged from the fact that our workers could not move freely in the city and nominated candidates are receiving threats from our rival party to withdraw from their seats,” he alleged.
“The city is territorially divided between two political parties in the metropolitan, that has resulted in the creation of no-go areas,” said Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Chief Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui. Barriers have been installed in all parts of the metropolis and these were under the control of mafia, the JI Karachi chief alleged, adding that if these barriers were not removed from the city then it would be difficult for some political parties to run their election campaign properly.”
