Daily Times

As has been predicted in this space, the departure of the MQM from the coalition government has given rise to violence in Karachi and other cities. The killing of president People’s Unity of PIA employees’ Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA), Amir Shah, along with a worker of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Khalid Jakhrani on Saturday in Gulshan-e-Iqbal is proof of the argument. In addition, seven more people belonging to ANP, PPP and Punjabi-Pakhtun Ittehad (PPI) lost their lives on Sunday. When the MQM was a part of the government, it was hostile towards the ANP, but now the PPP too seems to have become its target. The recent killings reflect a shifting of fault lines.

The political and security situation in Karachi seems to be getting out of control with each passing day. Following the assassination of Amir Shah, the PIA workers went on a strike, which badly disrupted the international and domestic flights schedule on Sunday, causing immense inconvenience to the passengers and loss to the economy.

Besides violence, the menace of acute load shedding has broken the back of the city’s economy. Protests against the prolonged and indefinite power outages and the police resorting to baton charge and aerial gunshots to disperse the crowds have become a common scene on the city roads. Karachi is the country’s economic hub and incessant violence and power outages are literally cutting this jugular vein. In the already overheated environment, Karachi will erupt into flames if a clash starts between the MQM and the PPP, following Amir Shah’s murder.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has claimed on Sunday that miscreants in the mega city are using Israeli-made weapons. Hinting at the involvement of foreign hands in fomenting unrest in Karachi is one of the pet lines of our interior minister. Malik seriously needs to support his assertions with conclusive proofs. Foreign-made weapons are not conclusive proof of the ‘foreign hand’.

To probe Saturday’s murders, Rehman Malik and the Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wassan have separately formed joint investigation teams comprising high officials of the FIA and the police. The formation of two teams to investigate the same crime is absurd and a proof of lack of coordination between the federal and provincial governments. It shows how haphazardly matters are being dealt with. No one has a clue how to control the worsening law and order situation in the metropolis. The situation on the ground accentuates the threat of further chaos looming over Karachi with even greater intensity. *