The Pakistani Spectator

The killings in Karachi have continued since the terrorist attack on the Ashura procession, with 40 deaths in four days primarily of rival political activists. It has led to recriminations amongst the major political parties in Sindh and in the National Assembly the opposition has demanded a debate on the Karachi killings. Yet the interior minister has sought to paint this violence as part of the Taliban militancy against the US-led War on Terror. This is an absurdity that will do even more damage to Pakistan because it will prevent the government from dealing with the real cause of the violence. As it is, Karachi threatens to blow up into a replay of the decades’ earlier political violence between warring political parties that destroyed the city.

One needs to take a long hard look at the manner in which the violence began in Karachi on Ashura. Again, the occasion was used by a well organised group that sought to use the occasion to ignite a wider programme of violence. After all, targeting an Ashura procession would make the terrorist attack fall conveniently within the usual terrorist ambit that has Pakistan in its grip. However, right from the start, there was something different to the Karachi Ashura terrorism and it showed up almost immediately. The arson that destroyed shops and markets was not just a random display of anger but a planned campaign of destruction where people had already been placed with means to ignite the fires. After all, people who participate in an Ashura procession hardly come prepared to set the place ablaze - and they certainly do not carry specialised ignitable chemicals on them.

Other issues relating to the fires that destroyed so many shops and export godowns also came to the fore but so far have been pushed into the background because of the violence that has spread in the city. For instance, how come old shops on only one side of the road were burned? Apparently, these shops had been occupied by traders for a long time on low rents and an effort was already underfoot to get them out to another location so that developers - the powerful land mafia of Karachi - could take over. Was it a mere coincidence that the developers’ job became easier as a result of the fires? How did the fires spread so quickly and so methodically and where was all the fire-fighting equipment?

Beyond the fire, the violence that has gripped Karachi has a traditional political colour to it and certain ethnic groups are being especially targeted, like the Balochs - not only in Karachi but also in Sindh. Then there are internecine conflicts amongst activists of various parties. Within this melee, Rehman Malik is merely confusing the situation by trying to put it in a Taliban framework - which on this occasion has no relevancy.

Nor has the policy of calling in the Rangers to target the stronghold of only one leading party, simply to appease the other powerful player, been successful. Malik is no Naseerullah Babar and the times have also altered.

Clearly, there is an ominous pattern here. Karachi had escaped the new wave of post-9/11 terror and as the financial hub of the country this was critical for Pakistan’s stability. So, the fire has been ignited in Karachi just when the US ‘surge’ is taking place and drone attacks are increasing, killing yet more Pakistani civilians amidst the odd terrorist. Interestingly, despite non-credible denials by the interior minister, most inhabitants of Karachi know that there is a growing presence of US covert operatives in their city also - be they from Dynacorp or Xe Worldwide (formerly Blackwater). This is also the time the US has begun using its Pakistani employees, who by and large do not have diplomatic status, to undertake strange and questionable activities in sensitive areas of Pakistan like Gwadar.

Clearly, the effort to destabilise Pakistan continues and Karachi is the last link in this deathly game for the future of this country and its nuclear assets. As for the government, it is falling into the trap of not recognising the different types of terrorist threats it faces presently. By lumping everything into the Al-Qaeda and Taliban basket (and here too a separation is required and even the US and its NATO allies have already moved to that conclusion), the government is unable to frame rational and viable responses to these varied threats of violence and mayhem.

The Karachi killings need an immediate political response because they can trigger off a backlash that will extend far beyond that city alone. The reason for this is the ethnic polyglot that Karachi is today - with all ethnic groups of Pakistan and many of South Asia living here. Yet, there is a separateness to this heterogeneity as each group tends to live exclusively in its own space - in poverty which breeds a hostile environment in which different ethnic groups live in close but antagonistic proximity to each other. That is why targeting any one group causes a flare up that multiplies and spreads in violence. The solution of course lies in improving the lot of the people in terms of basic necessities and living conditions. Instead, the government has shown a total lack of sensitivity to the people’s needs while being highly sensitive to US and IMF demands. So we are witnessing power shortages, fuel shortages, food shortages alongside price hikes every few weeks. That is creating an underlying layer of frustration and anger that becomes combustible at the slightest political provocation. That is why the violence in Karachi has spread so rapidly. That is why the players seeking to destabilise Pakistan one step further finally moved into Karachi.

And the government’s responses so far have been negative and unproductive to conflict resolution. Rehman Malik has in fact chosen to further fuel the violence by declaring that all illegal immigrants will be thrown out of the country if they do not voluntarily leave within 30 days. Some of these immigrants have been in Pakistan for decades. The answer is not simply to turn on them and forcibly throw them out but to see how to deal with the problem in a humane manner. The fault has been that of the state which has failed to check this flow of illegal migrants and it is at that level that the rectification must be made in terms of tighter entry conditions and border controls. At a time when the ghettos are already aflame, use of force against the migrants who also inhabit them, will merely add to the violence and turmoil. Nor can this threat be implemented effectively. Even developed states have not been able to use this method successfully. Instead, a firm beginning should be made by the ruling political party’s leadership to compel its activists as well as the activists of its coalition partner, especially in Sindh, to disarm themselves and stop using violence. The issue is a political one and needs political resolve and a non-discriminatory enforcement of de-weaponisation for all. It is time to remove the Taliban blinkers and look at the larger picture of all the forces destroying this country.