Language of exclusion

The numbers signifying the death toll in Karachi have lost their sanctity. Those dead, unless associated with a political party, die faceless, nameless with their only mention being as a number in the death count. The term ‘target killing’ is hopelessly imprecise. It seems to suggest a meticulously planned murder with a clearly identified victim, which is certainly not the case with most of the murders committed in Karachi. It is unquestionably random killing, with only vague notions of appearance and manner of speech dictating who dies next. The term target killing is almost as absurd as using the innocuous term ‘missing persons’ for those abducted, tortured and murdered in Balochistan. The violence in Parachinar and the rest of Kurram Agency is conveniently described as ‘sectarian strife’, instead of the systematic killing of the Shia by the ISI-backed Haqqani network.

The recent and to some extent ongoing spasm of violence in Karachi was ostensibly provided impetus to by the statements of Dr Zulfiqar Mirza. Dr Mirza very deliberately attempts to be a loose cannon, and in the present episode made statements which were hurtful, provocative and downright stupid. However, the significant question is, does the making of a stupid statement directly lead to or justify a body count in the triple figures? The statements made by all three stakeholders, namely the PPP, the MQM and the ANP, stressed that their workers show restraint. The tacit and dangerous implication of these apparently noble calls is the admission that their workers are, in the first place, to some extent responsible for the mayhem. The killings of a legislator from the MQM also lead to similar proportions of violence.

The distinguishing mark of Karachi politics has gradually become the casualness with which violence is brought up in public discourse. One would remember the call by Altaf Hussain last year to “patriotic generals” to take over and hang the corrupt politicians from the nearest trees. In similar vein, Abdul Sattar Edhi has recently appealed to General Kayani to take over and exterminate all politicians. While Mr Edhi may be forgiven due to old age and a stellar career in philanthropy, politicians being intimately aware of the piousness of army generals should not be forgiven. Deweaponisation of Karachi is imperative, yet it is reductionist to expect this to be a panacea, or even be possible in the present circumstances. One question that party leaders and loyalists conveniently ignore is why political parties are armed in the first place. Does not an order by a party leader to cease violence which results in the actual stoppage of killing, suggest that he has a semblance of control over it?

In my opinion, George Orwell’s best essay is “Politics and the English Language”. In the essay, Orwell contends that the use of particular terms ultimately has political and economic causes. He continues to argue that an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. The term ‘muhajir’ is a case in point. The literal meaning of the term ‘muhajir’ is simply one who is a migrant. In Islamic traditions it conjures up images of the grand hijrat from the persecution of the heathens. However, the meaning of the term in the context of Karachi is settled now, in so far as it refers to the Urdu-speaking emigrants from India who decided to come to Karachi in 1947. It is common practice and completely acceptable to have blanket terms to describe communal groups. However, the political ramifications of this particular usage are problematic on many levels. Firstly, those who actually did migrate from India should by all means use the label, but the majority of the Urdu-speaking population in Pakistan today was born in Pakistan, and hence would not fit neatly in this category. Secondly, the MQM leadership lamenting the inflow of Pashtun migrants into Karachi has a very pugnacious sense of irony to it. The term used for those displaced in the Swat operation was not ‘muhajir’, but rather the cold acronym IDP (internally displaced persons). IDP does not evoke the historical grandeur of ‘muhajir’ which also presumes the presence of an ‘ansar’. Of all the political parties, one would have expected the MQM to be sympathetic to the plight of the muhajirs and welcome them with open arms.

Karachi, it seems, has become a city of stereotypes. The Pashtuns and the ANP are associated with terrorism frighteningly causally. This, of course, is deliberate ignorance. The role of the ANP and its sacrifices in the war on terror dwarf those of any other political party. Coming back to Orwell, the exclusionary usage of the term ‘muhajir’ and the claim to dominion over Karachi may have historically and politically justified reasons, yet it perpetuates an alienation which makes it impossible for a meaningful dialogue. Most significantly, it is unfair to the proud Pakistani Urdu-speaking populace, who contribute the single major share to the national economy.

The manifest racism in Dr Mirza’s statement represents the horrifying intolerance now creeping into Karachi politics. Similarly, MQM legislators routinely make remarks containing the insinuation that Pashtuns are terrorists. ANP leaders easily refer to the elected representatives of the Urdu-speaking people as a criminal organisation. Deweaponisation will not be possible or effective as long as the isolationist, hateful rhetoric remains in vogue.

Although this may seem as an overreaction, anybody who has followed the Balkan Wars and the genocide in Rwanda will know of the potential of violence based on minor ethnic differences, and lurid rhetoric. The only discernible physical difference between the Hutu and Tutsi in Rwanda was marginally of height (barring economic class), and it resulted in violence the likes of which the modern world has not seen. It is for now a battle amongst the political parties in Karachi, but the insidious, intentional attempt is to transform it into a battle between the people. This should be chillingly scary to everyone in Karachi and elsewhere in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2011.