Violence in Karachi — again

Bringing peace to Karachi is essential, but the question is how this is to be achieved.

The last thing Karachi needs is an addition to the different kinds of violence that run through it and encircle it in a permanent ring of black. Last week, some 100 people died in four days of frenzy on the roads. We now see the violence take a different turn, as the old wars between rival political factions resurfaced, claiming (at the time of the writing of this editorial) the lives of 19 people. One large section of the city, akin to one of its five districts, had fallen victim to close to two days of violence in which gunmen from the rival groups fought what seems to have been a pitched battle with each other. Unfortunately, as this happened, the police, the Rangers (whose powers to police the city were extended only recently by another three months) stood by and did nothing. Karachi has seen precisely such violence before; it certainly does not need more of it, or the appearance at street corners of more bodies wrapped in gunny bags. There is no way of saying what direction the violence will take. In the past, factional violence between rival groups created havoc in the city. Residents recoil as they recall those days, in particular the mid-1990s. Anxious to prevent a worsening of the situation, the president has immediately discussed the situation with Home Minister Manzoor Wasan and opted for further security measures. It is hard to say if these will work. There are some ominous signs already. The MQM has blamed Sindh Senior Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza for stirring up trouble by meeting the chief of the MQM-Haqiqi, who is in prison. The latter party for its part has said that its activists are being hunted down and its offices targeted.

This is basically the worst set of developments that could have unfolded in Karachi. The tenuous peace that had descended for a few days has blown away. It is hard to imagine security forces being able to manage the situation. They have, after all, failed repeatedly in the past to bring any kind of order to the city. Indeed, the tensions that run through it seem to be assuming more and more complex dimensions, with some reports also speaking of ANP activists becoming involved in the battles. Bringing peace to Karachi is obviously essential, but the question is how this is to be achieved before violence destroys the city.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2011.