Daily Times

In one-way or another, we are all storytellers. A few take the profession too literally, but most of us suffice with composing our life experiences, which then transform into stories of our own beings. The process starts as early as from the cradle and the bug stays with us right into our old age. But the fables we hear as children are never just tales of times long gone. Deftly woven into them are moral lessons we eventually learn to appreciate as adults, in times of personal and collective turpitude. So as children, we learn never to be greedy, or dishonest, or vain, and even though as adults we create a lot of grey areas in between it all to our own liking, the lessons learnt still endure.
One such story is that of Ali Baba and the forty thieves. Immortalised through the collection of stories in One Thousand and One Nights, it is the tale of an honest woodcutter who through his righteousness and a lot of help from a slave girl, is able to overcome the odds and emerge victorious. This space is far too short to embark on re-telling the entire fable, but the long and short of it is that Ali Baba stumbles upon a stolen treasure in a cave, and has to eliminate its original collectors, the forty thieves, to lay claim over it. He is ultimately successful in his quest, although at great personal cost. At the end, we are told that he is the sole keeper of the secret of the sesame cave, and the consequent struggle between squandering all that loot and abusing the power that comes with it, or learning to appreciate the attraction but never giving in, is left for the audience to resolve for themselves.
Mentioning this particular tale is important, because it appears that we are witnessing another iteration of the same story currently in the form of the manoeuvrings taking place in Karachi at present. The situation under discussion is that of the ongoing tussle between the Mutahhida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the security agencies, in particular, and everyone else in general. If you look closely, a modern day Ali Baba, who prefers to stay anonymous, has brought upon himself the task of ridding Karachi of its criminals. Through his intelligence, he has worked out the code to open the entrance of the sesame cave but does this Ali Baba even know what lies behind that door?
It appears that the JIT report, holding elements within the MQM responsible for the Baldia Town factory fire, kick-started a chain reaction of cataclysmic proportions. The report was met with the usual furore from the MQM, but inebriated in their ire and illusion of boundless power, they perhaps went one step too far in retorting back at institutions that are part of the larger security apparatus within the country. Now, under normal circumstances, this would not have mattered much. After all, the control MQM enjoys within its constituencies knows no bounds, and the party apparatchik are virtually untouchable from the perspective of accountability.
But this time, something was different. The country is battling militancy and crime in all forms, and the underhanded tactics of the MQM have been an issue for quite some time. This time, an Ali Baba had had enough, and with the Rangers at the forefront and the political forces backing them, the campaign against the MQM started to take shape. No more glitches, no more fiascos, and this time the blow had to be quick and effective, where all accusations were supported by evidence.
So, when the hornet’s nest was finally disturbed a few days ago, the cavalry was prepared for any and all challenges. Nothing the MQM threw at them would stick, and the once unshakeable edifice of the party now started to show significant chinks. And then came the master stroke, Saulat Mirza, the ex-MQM worker and doomed prisoner, whose execution was pretty much a closed deal was transformed into a state witness and was fed to the media frenzy. We are told that further witnesses and accomplices have started turning up out of the woodwork as well. Part of it is due to the excellent intelligence gathering that has helped bring to justice the personnel that were responsible for various heinous crimes. But more importantly, the focus with which attacks are being mounted against the infamous party suggest a battle-hardened master at the helm.
But while all this has the makings of an epic climax, which could see Altaf Hussain, the party leader in exile, excusing himself from his role, there are other implications as well. Far be from it for me to suggest that this is one door that must stay shut, but beyond the threshold of the sesame, both treasures and tribulations await. For instance, the thieves that are being brought to the fore one by one will eventually start to name some names from other political outfits as well, as is the case with Uzair Baloch, and then the critical question of whom to indict and whom to acquit would emerge too. Moreover, there is still a lot of fight left in the MQM, and this battle could soon spill over into the streets of Karachi, which could wreak havoc.
But ultimately, the question to be resolved is this: now that the cave is open and its treasures and horrors are in plain sight, can Ali Baba do the right thing? Even when some form of justice looms over the horizon for the ones affected by the crimes that have been committed by the MQM, it is imperative on us to resist the urge to let go of due process. It is tempting to bend the rules a bit when you are after the big fish, but as our history bears witness, such measures only result in creating room for the abuse of power, which comes as no surprise at all.
This is even more important now because besides the open sesame cave, we are already struggling to cope with the open Pandora’s box of extremism and violence. The way the case of the MQM is handled and eventually resolved will become the blueprint for all such struggles in the future. The sesame beckons, but as the tale goes, the ones who in their greed forget the magic words upon leaving the cave, are doomed forever.

The author is a freelance columnist with degrees in political science and international relations