Daily Times

The bloodshed in Karachi has claimed the lives of six more people, including activists of the Sindh People’s Youth Organisation (SPYO) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), who were killed on Monday. It seems that the issues between the PPP and the MQM have not been completely resolved despite a recent partial settlement between the two parties as a result of which Dr Ishratul Ebad resumed his duties as Sindh governor. People came under the impression that the PPP had won the estranged MQM back to its fold but such incidents of target killings reassert the assumption that the reconciliation process has yet to yield the desired results. There are issues still pending between the PPP and the MQM, causing confrontation between their workers. Killing of an area president of SPYO, the PPP’s youth wing, and the MQM’s activists on Monday reflect that tension still remains high on the ground and the people belonging to these parties are at daggers drawn. The situation is indeed alarming.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad called the representatives of the PPP, the MQM and the ANP on Monday and held a detailed discussion with them on the prevailing situation in the city with particular reference to the recent spree of killings. As one would expect, the parties agreed in the meeting to make joint efforts to restore peace in Karachi. But only time will tell how much weight their resolve carries. Such high-level meetings have become a routine exercise. The leaders of political parties condemn the violence, give calls for peace, demand to have inquiry commissions for investigation of the killings, pledge to create a conducive environment to restore peace in the city, but do not do anything practically. At an instant of conflict in views, different areas of the city are turned into battlefields and the violence is used as a manifestation of power, as a means to create hegemony over other groups.

The continuing death toll presents an extremely gory picture of events in Karachi, which is the only economic gateway of our country. A number of people are being killed on a daily basis. Business activities have come to a standstill. Unfortunately, there is a sorry state of law and order in the metropolis with no end in sight. If the political parties are really serious to resolve this issue, they should stop patronising criminal elements in their ranks.

Karachi has become a highly volatile city. Targeted killings, gun battles and gunfire are frequent across the city while the law enforcement agencies have, as usual, failed to stop the bloodletting. There are reports that after Friday’s bloody clash between the heavily armed men of MQM Haqiqi and the MQM in Malir and Landhi, the police along with the Rangers have conducted raids in these areas and rounded up over 150 people and recovered weapons from them. We hope that this exercise has not been done just to show ‘performance’, and the law enforcement agencies have captured the real culprits this time.

We keep repeating in this space that the government should enforce the writ of the state in letter and spirit to restore peace in Karachi. The police have to be given all the powers they need to maintain law and order in the metropolis.

There is a need to restore the confidence of the police. They should be assured of full cooperation and that the saboteurs will not be protected or released due to their political or ethnic affiliations. The de-politicising of the police is imperative in this regard. With thorough intelligence and good policing, targeted operations should be initiated in violence-hit areas. These measures can help control the situation in Karachi.*