Karachi killings

Need of the hour is for political players in Karachi to suspend their differences and focus on the common threat.

Violence in Karachi has now become so routine, with all stakeholders freely partaking in it, that pinpointing blame can be an arduous task. The latest targets appear to be clerics, with three being killed on January 31, including Mufti Abdul Majeed Deenpuri, a cleric of the Jamia Binoria. A dozen or so targeted killings a day have become the norm with law-enforcement authorities either unwilling or unable to catch those responsible. Many in government blame the Taliban for the killings and it is certainly true that the militant group has a strong presence in Karachi. Initially, it was believed that the Taliban were in Karachi not to kill indiscriminately, but to raise money through kidnappings and bank robberies, which could then be sent to fighters in the tribal areas. Now, however, it looks like they may have changed their modus operandi and are becoming even more active in the city.

The biggest problem is that even if a threat is identified, there is simply no way for warring political factions in the city to unite and eliminate the threat. All political parties are armed to the teeth and they are too busy fighting one another. Even a party like the ANP, which has suffered greatly at the hands of the Taliban in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, doesn’t seem to recognise the Taliban threat in the city. One would expect the three coalition partners at the centre — the PPP, the MQM and the ANP — to also cooperate in Karachi and it is for them to realise that it is in all of their interest for the city to have lasting peace. Tackling the problem of violence in the city is impossible when the three main factions simply cannot work with one another and are more likely to turn their guns on their opponents.

The government, meanwhile, is resorting to the same old cosmetic measures. A three-hour shutdown in cell phone services was all it could muster. Even if we are willing to accept the government’s assertion that blocking cell phone services prevents such attacks, it does so only for a limited period. As soon as cell phone coverage is restored, the killers will be back coordinating their attacks. The need of the hour is for all the major political players in Karachi to suspend their differences and focus on the common threat.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2013.