Media watch: Solving Karachi's problems

The media, looking at the recent violence in Karachi, tries to identify the causes and look for solutions.

Media watch is a daily round-up of key articles featured on news websites, hand-picked by The Express Tribune web staff.

Karachi operation

As for involving the Rangers, we have said before that this is not a long-term solution to Karachi’s law and order problem. We believe a depoliticised police force armed with good intelligence-gathering capabilities and using scientific investigation methods can provide much more effective law enforcement and yield better results than depending on the army or the Rangers. Also, politicians and government officials should be more careful when using words like ‘operation’ and ‘curfew’… The idea is to calm down passions not inflame them. (dawn.com)

A little late

For success to come it is essential that all the key parties back initiatives and make their own efforts to end the violence. Their cooperation is an essential ingredient. This, more than anything else, will determine what happens next. While moving in more security personnel is necessary at this point – it is also important that they be given specific instructions on what they are to do. Merely stopping innocent commuters at barricades will not serve any purpose. (thenews.com.pk)

Karachi’s civil war: politics by other means

In a situation where the PPP is finding it difficult to break the cycle of violence and an army action may not be in sight, a bolstered police and rangers action with a clear mandate must start in earnest, and soon. The public perception of the PPP’s weakness is seriously damaging its political base, especially in Sindh. However, for such an action to deliver even the bare minimum, the PPP will have to restrain its coalition partners. If the PPP leadership is able to demonstrate some crisis management skills, it could project the party’s soft power through its image restoration. Karachi’s perennial inter-ethnic problems are unlikely to evaporate soon but a proactive PPP could manage to keep them from spiralling into a full intensity civil war - Dr Mohammad Taqi (dailytimes.com.pk)

Partly Facetious: Why do PPP politicians keep on contradicting each other?

"So now what?" "No army operation, neither of the political parties wants that other than perhaps the ANP." "The Sindh Home Minister had asked for the army on the floor of the house and retracted it at the end of the day." "What is the impediment to cleaning Karachi?" "The Prime Minister doesn't interfere in Sindh, doesn't interfere in Punjab, other than Multan, doesn't interfere in Balochistan and doesn't interfere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He doesn't control defence, he doesn't control the economy, … and there are no local bodies so that we could say he is the Prime Minister of local bodies." "Correct, he merely is more ceremonial than the President." - Anjum Ibrahim (brecorder.com)