Way of the jungle

The killings in Karachi have continued now for months. Despite the promises made, no end is in sight.

Karachi has turned into a jungle — where not even the fittest can be guaranteed survival. In a situation where the rule of law has broken down completely and the writ of state is now just a distant memory, death can come anywhere, at any time, and indeed it has come again and again. The killings in the city continue and the terrifying sound of machine gun fire rings out sporadically, sending fear travelling through a city that has come to resemble a war zone. There is no indication that things will return to normal any time soon and it seems obvious that the authorities lack all ability to keep things under control or restore calm in a city torn apart by violence.

In the latest spree of killings, Joint Secretary Sindh for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Mian Taimoor and his father were shot dead in the Defence area by unknown men on motorbikes. The motive is unclear. A former medical superintendent of a Sindh government hospital and a former SHO were among three people shot dead in separate shooting incidents the same night. The third victim was the prime suspect in a previous shooting incident. The motives in each case may be different. The end results are the same: death. Seventeen people were killed in Karachi in 24 hours and it is impossible to say how many will die in the days to come.

The killings in Karachi have continued now for months. Despite the promises made, notably by the interior minister, no end is in sight. The question that needs to be asked is how long can people continue to live like this? How long can they survive in an ungoverned, unpatrolled wilderness? No answers are available. No solutions are being offered, and this can only mean that there is no real hope of an improvement in affairs in Karachi anytime in the near future. This is a disturbing idea, with our largest city having, in fact, been reduced to a terrible anarchy to which no end seems to be in sight.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2013.