Having declared a ‘red alert’ security in the violence-hit city, the PPP-led coalition government in Sindh on Monday hinted that it would not accommodate thousands of helpless internally displaced persons (IDPs) who are forced to leave their abodes in the wake of military operation the federal government has launched in North Waziristan from Sunday.
The PPP-dominated Sindh Assembly, however, was unanimous in saying yes to a resolution jointly tabled by the PPP and the MQM lawmakers to ‘strongly support’ the use of force, Zarb-e-Azb, in the militants-infested tribal region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The day saw this commercial hub of the country giving a garrison look when vehicles and personnel belonging to Pakistan Army, Sindh Rangers and police were seen patrolling and moving on the city’s major thoroughfares to what Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said guard all sensitive installations against any reactionary terrorist act.
While small traders put their weight behind the much-anticipated and “indispensable” military offensive, the investors on Karachi stocks market remained risk-averse. Consequently, the KSE 100-share index shed 80 points to close at 29,651.04 points.
Total 129 million stakes were traded on the day, depicting a dip of 81 million shares against Friday’s session. Of 346 scrips traded a majority, 229, lost value pushing overall trading value down by Rs 1.6 billion to Rs 6.8 billion.
“Stocks battered amid thin trade at KSE on concerns for outcome of Pak Army military operation against foreign and local terrorists,” viewed equity analyst Ahsan Mehanti of Arif Habib Corp.
Samar Iqbal, assistant vice president at Topline Securities, said the start of military operation forced the market participants to stay cautious. The Sindh Assembly, which gathered Monday to hold general discussion on the proposed budget for FY15, adopted a resolution to back “Zarb-e-Azb” and wish the country’s “valiant armed forces every success to eliminate terrorists”.
“Despite all efforts for peace dialogue, the enemies of Pakistan have continued to challenge the writ of the state resulting in loss of innocent human lives and destruction of property,” reads the resolution undersigned by PPP’s Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sikandar Mandhro.
Another draft, authored by MQM legislator Irum Azeem Farooqui, dubbed the operation as a welcome step towards eliminating the terrorists who “had perpetually terrorised the entire peace loving and patriotic local population”.
The terrorists, the Assembly apprehended, could sneak into the country’s urban cities after the start up of operation “where they can carry out small attacks in cities in retaliation and to divert army’s attention”.
This also concerns traders and industrialists who, terming the ongoing Karachi operation a failure, demanded of the federal government to launch a full-fledged military operation in the crime and terrorism-infested metropolis.
“Pakistan Army must be deployed in every area of the city as lawlessness is not just limited to sensitive areas,” said President Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Zaki.
Responding to the federal government’s decision to deploy army in Islamabad and some sensitive areas of Karachi, the industrialist said troops should be deployed across the city. “Strategies adopted by the federal and Sindh governments since September 2013 to restore peace in Karachi proved futile which left no other option for the business community but to demand intervention of Pakistan Army,” explained Zaki.
All Karachi Tajir Ittehad Chairman Atiq Mir said increasing terrorism incidents in the country had made the use of force against anti-Pakistan elements “indispensable”.
He said trade centers in Karachi must top the government’s priority list as the city had appeared as one of the most sensitive places after military operations in the past.
If Information Minister Sharjeel Memon’s statement outside the Sindh Assembly is any criteria, the Sindh government seems not to be in high spirit this time to accommodate the influx of thousands of Pashto-speaking IDPs from North Waziristan.
“We would try to accommodate the affectees of operation (IDPs) in other provinces instead of Sindh,” the PPP minister told reporters. Punjab, he said, was big enough a province to provide shelter to the homeless people.
Sindh, he said, itself was coping up with terrorists and could, therefore, not keep IDPs. “An operation is underway against terrorists and extremists in Sindh. Therefore, we would request the federal government to shelter the IDPs in other provinces,” said the minister who deemed military action as a “last chance” to rid the country of the menace of terrorism.
The inter-provincial movement of IDPs has long been in question with the PPP and MQM in the past suspecting that terrorists were sneaking into Sindh in the guise of displaced persons.
However, final decision about the fate of IDPs, Memon said, would be taken in a high-level meeting due later in the day at Sindh Chief Minister House under the joint chairmanship of CM Qaim Ali Shah and Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan.
IDPs on top of its agenda, the meeting was seized with strategizing the overall security situation in the province post commencement of “Zarb-e-Azb” and was going on till the filing of this report.
About security measures taken in the city, the information minister said the chief minister had declared “red alert” with security forces having been deployed at all important buildings and sensitive installations in the city.
