Unfortunately, all political and establishment interest groups have their fingers in the pie.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, USA: George Fulton’s article of August 25, titled “More Mayor, less Malik”, raises some very good points but any analysis devoid of historical perspective generally leads to erroneous conclusions.
The main problem for Pakistan, including Karachi, is the free availability of firearms. Anyone who has lived in Karachi would know that there are no ammunition manufacturing facilities in the city or its surrounding areas.
So where are these guns coming from? Common sense would tell us that the only institution legally mandated to procure and distribute weapons are the military and the police. Another source is Afghanistan. Add to this, the complete failure of the state to provide basic amenities and you have a cocktail of complications. One doesn’t have to be a genius to know who is backing these groups, but the correct terminology is ‘smugglers’, ‘drug barons’ and ‘terrorists’.
The question that needs to be asked is: who is backing these people? Unfortunately, all political and establishment interest groups have their fingers in the pie. Therefore, we should not look for a messiah to lead us out of the woods, but pray and hope for a miracle.
Arif Qadri
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2011.
