Strike shows dealing with the MQM in Karachi will be a challenge
Four factory workers were intercepted on the route from Korangi to Khokhrapar. Three were killed; one critically injured. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) claimed they were its “workers,” or “symphatisers,” and took their bodies to demonstrate outside the Chief Minister’s House. A strike was called the next day. Karachi was locked down once again. This is a timely reminder to the newly sworn Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the challenge that Karachi shall present to his government. Perhaps what shall stand to its advantage is that it is not aligned with any of the political parties considered part of the violence in Karach. Neither the MQM, nor the Awami National Party (ANP), nor the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), are aligned with the ruling party. It could mean an opportunity to sort out Karachi for everyone, since the PML-N has no direct stakes in the turf wars in Karachi, or, it could mean doing a very bad job at it. The cards are for the PML-N and the Sindh provincial government to play.
But before they step in, the MQM is playing its cards. After the recent ‘cleansing’ within the party, it is now all set to present its victim face. And what a good job it is doing. On Wednesday, MQM’s Haider Abbas Rizvi told a press conference that “terrorists of banned People’s Amn Committee” were responsible for the killings. He further claimed this was part of the “ethnic cleansing of Mohajirs.” Rizvi also shifted the blame of extortion, kidnapping for ransom, killing and detailing ‘innocent MQM workers’ away from the party. The most astonishing claim to come out is of “missing Mohajirs.” Farooq Sattar on Tuesday filed a petition in the Sindh High Court seeking the where about of nine “missing MQM party workers,” who had been kidnapped by the Rangers and police in the last four months. There is no doubt that such claims are serious and must be investigated with full integrity.
But these are also part of the MQM’s bargaining strategy. In asking Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take notice of the killings and protect the people of Karachi from gangsters, it is trying to create an environment to regroup, while keeping the city hostage through strikes. The PML-N premier should know well that any strike in Karachi, the country’s economic hub, inflicts huge economic losses. The MQM should have used the platform of the Sindh Assembly and National Assembly to voice its grievances and wait for redressal before turning to the street. Any responsible political party should not jump the gun. Moreover the appeals to Nawaz Sharif are unconstitutional. Law and order is a provincial subject and the MQM must speak to the Sindh government for redress. However, the accusations on the Rangers are a serious matter, and merit both a judicial inquiry and a clarification from the institution. More responsibility is needed to restore peace to Karachi.
