Calming Karachi

The pulled-down shop shutters in Karachi, the closed gates of schools and the protests on the streets are, sadly, all too familiar to the people of the city. These scenes have been witnessed again following the raid by Rangers on Nine Zero, the headquarters of the MQM, early on March 11. Violence, which has predictably spread out from the Liaquatabad area, threatens to sweep across the Sindh capital and reach into other urban centres of the province. There has already been one death in Karachi, from where reports are pouring in of vehicles being torched and other disruptive activity being engaged in. This is not comforting. A flurry of statements from political leaders has come in, many of them accusatory in tone.

The Sindh chief minister has called for a full report on the raid. Right now, it is crucial that all parties recognise the need to maintain peace in Karachi and prevent the flames already lit from reaching any higher. The lives and welfare of the people depend on this. Karachi has bled too often in the past as a result of similar violence. It cannot afford to lose more blood. Chaos and strikes in the country’s main commercial centre have cost us dearly in the past. We cannot afford more damage and a greater breakdown of order. Such breakdowns can occur rapidly in a city as volatile as Karachi with so many different, but intertwined, lines of tension running through it. As the situation unfolds, all those involved need to remember that criminal activity in Karachi is not the doing of any one political party or group. There are many elements involved in it. All these elements and each of the powerful forces which back them need to be acted against and no single party should be singled out. Only when this happens can we hope to see an end to crime and the resulting violence, which has already brought Karachi to its knees. Everyone needs to play a part in helping Karachi stand up again and preventing the current anger and unrest from assuming more dangerous proportions as the cauldron continues to bubble. We hope it will simmer down before long and before any serious loss in any form.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2015.

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