City violence: Karachi worse than Waziristan, says Rangers chief

MQM begins to assist the proceedings; SC turns down JI plea to summon Zulfiqar Mirza.

KARACHI: Chief of the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers Sindh has called Karachi’s situation graver than that of terrorism-hit South Waziristan but solvable once the state decides to act against criminals.

“Karachi, unfortunately, has political, ethnic and religious polarisation. The problem begins as an ethnic one but once that is quelled, religious violence erupts,” Maj-Gen Ijaz Chaudhry told a five-member bench of the Supreme Court during Wednesday’s hearing of the suo motu case on Karachi violence.

But he categorically rejected the idea that a military operation was the answer to continuous violence in Karachi. “The army or the Rangers cannot assure a durable solution to Karachi’s issues. The only long-term solution is political,” he said. However, he stressed that violence could be quelled if full powers were given to law-enforcement agencies. “There is a realisation on part of the government and that’s why Rangers were given police powers. If a free hand is given to us, we can put the city back on track and return Karachi to its people,” he said.

(Read: ‘As long as the parties deny responsibility, killings will continue’)

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has so far summoned Sindh police chief Wajid Ali Durrani, Supreme Court Bar Association President Asma Jahangir, and counsel for Awami National Party Iftikhar Gilani.

MQM joins in

Meanwhile, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which had been cautiously observing court proceedings for the past week, has finally decided to assist the case.

Confirming that the party has decided to participate in the proceedings, Barrister Farogh Naseem told The Express Tribune that he will appear on behalf of the MQM. “We want to help the court find a way forward. The focus of our arguments will be what was done internationally in similar cases and how it can be emulated [in Karachi],” Naseem said, stressing that the MQM believes that the Supreme Court is an apolitical platform.

However, octogenarian nationalist leader and chief of Awami Tehrik Rasool Bux Palejo said that the MQM, hand-in-glove with feudal landlords, is acting as an agent of international imperialism. “The MQM has an organisational setup in countries like Japan, Canada and the US. It is a terrorist organisation like al Qaeda.”

The bench interrupted and asked him to confine his submissions to recent incidents as per an order of bench dated August 28.

“The problem has its roots in the period after our so-called independence [from British rule]. Some people came and abolished our freedom,” he said, urging that, in view of the evidence, the federal government should consider imposing a ban on the party.

Palejo’s argument was seconded by former chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Iqbal Haider who said Karachi’s problems date back to 1986. “Many commissions were established and reports were prepared but none were made public thus the real issues remain hidden.”

New legislation

As lawyers for various stakeholders presented their arguments and suggested constitutional or extra-constitutional steps to guarantee peace in Karachi, the chief justice hinted at new legislation for quick dispensation of justice.

Citing examples of Italy and Chicago, he said that families and cartels grew so strong that the government was left with no choice but to act on information and sentence them immediately in a summary trial.

Earlier, Khawaja Naveed Ahmed, appearing for the UK-based Friends of Lyari International, submitted that under a sub-section of Section 6 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, extortion can be checked.

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) counsel Ghulam Qadir Jatoi said that the assembly could be suspended for six months or till such time that law and order improves in the city. “The carnage in Karachi has been built up before the upcoming Senate elections so that pressure can be applied for negotiations on number of seats,” he alleged.

Responding to JI counsel’s request to summon former Sindh minister Zulfiqar Mirza to court, the chief justice said that if Mirza wanted to appear, he should submit an affidavit in court himself.

Punjabi Pakhtoon Ittehad’s Irfanullah Khan Marwat said that, while the court is hearing the case, bodies continued to be found in gunny bags.

The bench asked the responsible police officers to come forward and explain.

The deputy inspector-general, who appeared on behalf of the police department, was unable to tell the name of a person who was killed and another policeman appeared ignorant about a torso found from a garbage bin in Orangi Town.

“We have observed that, prima facie, the government has failed. This is more evidence,” the CJ said.

Blaming the ‘politics of reconciliation’ for the law and order breakdown in Karachi, Marwat said that police and Rangers should be allowed to work freely and the city should be deweaponised. “The real problem in Karachi is control over the city.”

The court also heard arguments by Advocate Javed Ahmed Chattari, a resident of Qasba Colony, who informed the court about the area’s topography including that of Kati Pahari, Qasba Colony, Gulfamabad, Aligarh Colony and other adjoining areas.

The PML-N’s panel of lawyers proposed special security for business centres, neutral officials be appointed to the Citizens Police Liaison Committee, a Mass Transit System for Karachi, monitoring through CCTV cameras and creation of job opportunities.

Proceedings were then adjourned till Thursday.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th,  2011.