A city long yearning for peace

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On April 15, 1985, a 20-year-old college student Bushra Zaidi was killed by a speeding minibus in Nazimabad neighbourhood of Karachi. Her sister was also injured in the road accident, as well as a few other students. Burhra Zaidi's killing triggered widespread protests by students against rash driving, followed by violence in many parts of the city. Instead of tactfully dealing with protesters, the police used excessive force only to augment the violence — which was soon given an ethnic colour.

Since then, Karachi has been in the grip of periodic outbreak of violence. More recently, killings by heavy vehicles, like dumper trucks and water tankers, threaten to ignite ethnic violence in the city.

At a press conference in Islamabad on April 8, MQM-P leaders warned that the people of Karachi would not tolerate killings on the roads of Karachi and accused the PPP-led Sindh government of neglecting real issues facing the 30 million-strong mega city. The MQM-P leaders said that more than 90% of cops and bureaucrats in Karachi are non-locals which is the root cause of the various crises facing the city.

They also questioned the recent appointment of the Sindh police chief, claiming that the development was followed by a surge in criminal activities across the province. The MQM-P leaders lamented that Karachi, despite accounting for 60% of the federal and 90% of the provincial revenue, gets the step-motherly treatment.

Meanwhile, Afaq Ahmed, the Chairman of Mohajir Quami Movement, also bitterly criticised the killing of Karachiites by heavy vehicles; acute water shortage in Karachi; and the free rein that the criminals are enjoying in the metropolis. He warned the Sindh government of serious consequences if immediate steps were not taken to save the people of Karachi from mafias "being patronised by the PPP".

Forty years have passed since the tragic accident that resulted in the death of Bushra Zaidi. The situation of Karachi has gone from bad to worse during this period. In 1985, the issue of over-speeding by minibuses owned and run by non-locals destabilised peace of Karachi.

Now other serious matters — water crisis, land mafia and street crime — have cropped up, compounding the city's predicament. Four decades ago, the Urdu-speaking population constituted more than 50% of Karachi's total population, but it has lost its majority in the city now. At that time, police and city administration had a sizeable representation of locals, but now — as alleged by both MQM-P leaders and Afaq Ahmed, 90% of police and administration officials in Karachi are non-local, belonging to rural Sindh.

It is another story that the MQM fully exploited the killing of Bushra Zaidi to propagate the slogan of Mohajir nationalism. Based on that, the party that was launched in 1984 won the municipal elections of 1987 as well as the National and Provincial Assembly elections from Karachi and Hyderabad in 1988.

However, it failed to resolve the very many issues facing the urban population of Sindh. The MQM, which converted into Muttahida Qaumi Movement from Mohajir Qaumi Movement in early 1990s, remained part of almost all federal and provincial governments.

The party is accused of letting its voters down by compromising on principles for the sake of power and privilege. Now after 40 years, the Urdu-speaking population of urban Sindh, particularly those from Karachi and Hyderabad, feel that they have betrayed by their leaders.

If the citizens of Karachi have had to pay around 25 billion rupees every year to buy water and their lives are at risk because of the rash driving by dumpers, tankers and mini-buses, it means that those who have been getting their votes since 1987 were mainly interested in using the power of the vote for maximising their own wealth.

If Karachi and Hyderabad are controlled by non-locals, it means that the MQM compromised on its election manifesto and left people of the two cities in the lurch.

Forty years down the line, it is time to analyse what went wrong with the leadership of the Urdu-speaking population of Sindh and why it has failed to meet the aspirations of its voters. One can examine the dynamics of four decades of violence in Karachi from three angles.

First, since April 15, 1985, there has been no respite in Karachi and Hyderabad from ethnic violence which was first directed against the Pashtuns, then Punjabis and finally Sindhis. It is alleged that the violence in the wake of Bushra Zaidi's killing was used by the dictatorial regime which patronised MQM against PPP.

The MQM got a heavy mandate from Karachi and Hyderabad in the 1988 general elections. It was an ideal opportunity for the party to focus on issues that plagued the two cities. At the April 8 presser by MQM-P leaders, Mustafa Kamal claimed that during his tenure as Mayor, he had changed the face of Karachi.

But the question is why the party has failed to take a firm stand against the dumper mafia, water mafia, land mafia and street criminal. The only way the MQM-P can reclaim its popular support is by reverting to the grassroots politics.

It is also alleged — not only by MQM, but also by JI, PTI and GDA — that it is the ruling PPP that has destroyed both urban and rural districts of Sindh through bad governance. Lack of ownership for Karachi and Hyderabad on the part of PPP and running the two cities through non-local police and administrative officials further aggravated the issues.

When Karachiites, who contribute bulk of federal and provincial revenues, will be left at the mercy of the mafias, the outcome will be nothing else than violence.

Second, lives lost on the roads to over-speeding means the absence of rule of law as well as poor governance. When the K-4 water supply scheme continues to remain in limbo for 20 years, it will aggravate the water crisis in Karachi and likely result in water riots. When corruption and nepotism are allowed to destroy the very foundations of the city, it means the destruction of Pakistan's revenue engine.

Third, the provincial and federal governments must own Karachi and take steps to ensure rule of law and better governance, and to eliminate mafias. But that is only possible when those who wield power eradicate corruption and nepotism. With the country already facing serious challenges in Balochistan and KP, it cannot afford to see Karachi destabilised.