Disgusting conspiracy

The attack on Mufti Taqi Usmani as part of the sinister designs of the enemy to trigger chaos across the country

Karachi is flammable, given a diverse mix of its population that features various ethnic and sectarian communities. The mini-Pakistan — as the city is referred to because of this diverse demographic profile — is the engine of national economy too. Hence, a peaceful Karachi means a prosperous Pakistan — something that is well known by the country’s enemies too. It’s no surprise then that the megapolis has witnessed almost all forms of violence during much of its existence post-Partition. There have been bombings for political purposes and suicide attacks in the name of religion, besides crimes like targeted killing, murder, robbery, extortion and kidnapping.

While Karachi had been hit the worst in the nineties and the noughts, it has seen a relative calm during much of the ongoing decade, thanks really to an operation against outlaws carried out by law-enforcement agencies. Violence and crime in Karachi has fallen sharply since the crackdown, led by Pakistan Rangers, began in the year 2013. The city is, however, still a victim of sporadic violence that threatens efforts to restore its long lost glory that earned it the name of the ‘city of lights’.

The Friday’s attack on Mufti Taqi Usmani, a towering religious scholar of the country grouped among world’s top 500 most influential Muslim personalities, came as part of the same sinister designs of the enemy to disrupt the city’s peace and trigger chaos across the country. Prime Minister Imran Khan rightly called it a ‘deep and disgusting conspiracy’ while according to the police chief in Karachi, the motive behind the attack on the scholar and his family — which was heading to a mosque in two cars to perform Friday prayers — appears to be bigger than sectarianism or terrorism. Mufti Usmani survived the attempt on life and his family remained safe too, but a police guard and the driver of one of the cars lost their lives. Time for us to stay united and not to fall for the enemy’s tricks!

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2019.

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