Ch Nisar makes some sense
There was a lot of truth in Ch Nisar’s remarks about MQM at the Assembly on Monday. He implied, quite rightly, that Karachi’s political temperature would have been far less volatile if not for Altaf Hussain’s provocative remarks from London. He can also not be faulted for pointing out that “the situation has reached a point that even damage control would take a considerable amount of time”. And the piece of advice to Altaf’s deputies back home is also quite revealing. Since Karachi’s present situation is untenable, and all assemblies have passed resolutions against the party chief, perhaps it’s for the delegates to start making things right.
Nisar was also right that this July was probably the most peaceful month Karachi has seen in almost two decades. That means, of course, that despite the dissent the operation has restored a degree of calm to Karachi. But Ch Nisar did not seem spot on when he tried to defend the scope of the operation. So far, the claim that Rangers are out to cleanse the city of all militias, political and Taliban, leaves a little to be desired, especially on the political front. And everybody who knows who else should come under the axe has been waiting for the scope of justice to expand, which has yet to happen for some reason.
One reason, again, is MQM’s own habit of making a bad situation worse. With Altaf Hussain outdoing Asif Zardari in terms of ‘outbursts’, it is only natural for the establishment to focus more on his party. And it does not help MQM, of course, that hardly a week passes before more of its men with lengthy criminal records are nabbed. Yet it cannot be denied that the party connects very closely with a vast majority of the people. Therefore, the sooner this situation is handled with sanity and discipline, the sooner the operation will move on and ultimately come to its logical end.
