The march of death

Solution to target killing can be found with participation of political parties that wield influence in Karachi.


Editorial September 20, 2012

With each passing day, the death toll in Karachi rises steadily. It is hard to explain who is behind the killings or why the victims were the ones chosen. It appears that ethnic, sectarian, criminal and political motives may all be involved. The killings take place sporadically with people falling prey in various pockets across the city. In most instances, gunmen driving past on motorcycles are responsible while occasionally, other methods are used. Over the past week, there have been more deaths resulting from the unrest, raising the total even higher.

According to a statement by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, at least 800 people have been killed so far this year. Other accounts suggest the number has already crossed the 1,000 mark. These are alarming numbers, fit to paralyse the citizenry. So far, despite the many statements we have heard form Interior Minister Rehman Malik and others in the government, there have been few arrests and little success has been achieved in tracking down those behind the murders. This does not carry much hope for the future.

The law-enforcement authorities and district administration need to improve their methods as this is the easier part of the task. What is more demanding is the need to work out a policy for Karachi, which incorporates all the diverse problems it faces. Only if we understand these fully and acknowledge that they exist can there be any hope of bringing the killings to an end. Till then, they will continue on a virtually daily basis as is happening now.

A solution can only be found with the participation of all the political parties that wield influence in Karachi. Without their full cooperation and support, it will be difficult to initiate a process that will lead to some consensual effort to change this fast-becoming reality of daily violence and death in a major city of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21st, 2012.

COMMENTS (5)

Ricky | 11 years ago | Reply

@Usman: Sir with due respect how could IK solve all the problems of Sind and Karachi when he was not even able to enter that part of the country? What has changed now? The same parties have been in power in Karachi for more than two decades and the govts come and go but their power does not diminish. How would IK deal with that, just like the CJ who came to Karachi to address the killings but after all the fanfare it went in hibernation.

zahid Abdulla | 11 years ago | Reply

Please read this to understand the political violence in karachi :

Anatomy of Political Violence in Karachi

As bid for mastery over Karachi continues, violence seems to be only mean to achieve the end. The violence has once again sparked up engulfing almost all parts of the city, except the elite porches areas. As always, it erupted as political controversies surpassed political bargaining. But the worst in the conflict in Karachi is official attitude to its nature. The violence in Karachi is never described as political violence but criminal violence and targeted killings

Continue reading by clicking the link

http://zabdulla.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/anatomy-of-political-violence-in-karachi/

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