Karachi nightmare

The city of Karachi appears to have slipped into a state of nightmare once again. All through September 11, protests paralysed the city as miscreants burnt tyres and attacked vehicles apparently to protest against the arrest the previous evening of former MQM MPA Nadeem Hashmi. The closure of markets and the general sense of fear meant, of course, that life in the country’s largest city and financial hub came to a halt, leading, as a result, to a loss of billions of rupees for the country’s economy.



The situation is, of course, a familiar one in Karachi. But given the current state of affairs it augurs ill. A targeted operation is currently under way in the city and the arrest of Hashmi seems to be a part of this. The reaction of the MQM to the events of the last couple of days has been one of anger and condemnation. It insists that Hashmi is not involved in the case of the killing of two policemen with which he has been charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The chief of the party, Altaf Hussain, speaking to leaders from London, has said that the operation in Karachi is a form of ‘ethnic cleansing’ much like the one that took place in 1992. That said, it is worth remembering that the MQM is no longer a party representing only the ‘mohajirs’. It was, after all, renamed ‘Muttahida Qaumi Movement’ in 1997 and should as such stand for all people regardless of their ethnicity.

Leaders of other parties, including the PPP, which rules in Sindh, have pointed out that arrest of their workers and members have also been made in the past. At no point was an ethnic motive claimed for these. The problem of Karachi is that criminal gangs have become closely linked to political entities and the result is the chaos we see today. For any operation to succeed, the cooperation of major political parties in Karachi is essential. Some sort of order and peace must be brought to this metropolis and given the situation we see today, it is clear that that will not be an easy task. It is time that all other interests be put aside to save the city from spiralling further into the cycle of violence and unrest that seems to have consumed it.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2013.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.