Too much, too late

Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s announcement on August 5 that the Rangers in Karachi have been given shoot-at-sight orders to curb the violence that has plagued the city is both an overreaction and has come too late. Over 80 people have been killed in the aftermath of Raza Haider’s assassination, yet it took the central government five days to formulate a response. In the interim, law-enforcement agencies acted as disinterested observers, watching idly on the sidelines or absenting themselves from the scenes of the killings altogether. The plan the government has come up with, though, is unlikely to work. It is impossible to predict if the violence in Karachi has peaked or whether we can expect further killings in the days ahead, but there is no doubt that giving the Rangers shoot-on-sight instructions will do little to quell tension in the city.

At best, the Rangers presence will be irrelevant as the violence dies down of its own accord, as happened on May 14, 2007, when the Rangers were given the same orders two days after some of the worst violence Karachi has ever seen. Those who say that violence cannot be predicted, which is why such measures are taken a few days after the situation has gotten out of hand, are misguided in their justification of government inaction. Had there been better planning and a truly independent police force, the bloodshed seen on May 12, 2007, prior to the chief justice’s visit could have been prevented. And the same is true for what happened following Mr Haider’s murder. The ineffectiveness of the law-enforcement agencies is bad enough, having them misuse the shoot-on-sight orders will be even more disastrous. As the MQM knows all too well from its experience with police and military operations in the 1990s, giving law-enforcement agencies too much power without holding them accountable is a recipe for further violence, especially for a city with history such as Karachi’s. The only workable long-lasting solution is for the various political parties in the city to realise that peace is in their own interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2010.