Daily Times

During his visit to Karachi on March 19-20, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Imran Khan made a passionate appeal to the people to ‘give us a chance and we will bring the change as we have fulfilled our commitment by bringing a change in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.’ It was the second time in two weeks that Imran Khan visited Karachi under his party’s membership campaign but used the opportunity to take advantage of political vacuum which exists in this mega city as a result of split and infighting within MQM.

In the last general elections held in May 2013, PTI got substantial votes in Karachi as it was able to grab one seat of National Assembly and few seats of Provincial Assembly. Khan is trying his utmost to gain confidence of the people of Karachi and Sindh by blaming PPPP of corruption, nepotism, loot and plunder. Targeting both, PPPP and MQM, Khan called it ‘urban-rural political partnership’ for the mess created in the city as ‘Karachi has been going down the hill for the last 30 years instead of moving forward. The city of lights has been pushed by rural and urban political leadership.’ He suggested that the only viable strategy to clear Karachi from garbage, broken roads, choked sewerage system and overcome water shortages was by directly electing the mayor of the city and empowering him with adequate resources to sort out age-old issues faced by the citizens of Karachi.

What PTI Chairman suggested for the betterment of Karachi cannot be disputed but can his party gain the confidence of the people of this mega city? How can he compare KP with Karachi as the two case studies are totally different? Visiting Karachi for few days and expecting to gain electoral support is a wishful thinking because unless PTI and its leadership operate at the grassroots’ level and provide a viable alternate by breaking the hold of different factions of MQM, PPPP and other political parties, election results in 2018 cannot be different from 2013.

Amidst his lust for power, unprincipled and contradictory stance on various issues, PTI Chairman is right when he blames ‘urban-rural political partnership’ of ruining Karachi depriving its people of better way of life by excessive loot and plunder

Undoing the destruction of Karachi is not possible by mere rhetoric and superficial slogans and it requires will and determination with clear vision, integrity and wisdom. If Karachi was a role model city for Pakistan and the rest of the world till 1960s and early 1970s, it was because of the culture which shaped the city’s way of life which was less mismanaged, corrupt and violent. The erosion of the culture of Karachi since early 1970s has to do with politicisation of bureaucracy, including police, justice department and the replacement of merit with corruption and nepotism. And, it was not only Karachi which bore the brunt of violence and the surge of mafias, but values and ethics negatively transformed in the whole of Pakistan in post-1971 era. Karachi which used to provide political leadership to the country and was a major challenger to authoritarian regimes was systematically marginalised when the federal capital was shifted to Rawalpindi in 1960.

Four waves of destruction of Karachi can be gauged while analysing how the city of lights was turned into darkness and a den of mafias. First, when against the will of the people of Karachi the federal capital was shifted to the garrison town of Rawalpindi by President General Ayub Khan, such an act caused a severe blow to national unity of the country as Karachi was acceptable as federal capital also by the people of East Pakistan. Shifting the capital to Rawalpindi and then to the newly built city of Islamabad deepened a sense of deprivation among the majority of Bengalese as they suspected the resources utilised from the export of Jute and Tea spent for the development of the new federal capital. Furthermore, the Pakhtun-Hazara dominated mob attack led by Gohar Ayub Khan, son of President Ayub Khan on the Urdu speaking localities of Karachi who had overwhelmingly voted for the opposition presidential candidate Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah in December 1964 presidential elections caused ethnic polarisation in Karachi. It was during the military regime of Ayub Khan which led to the marginalisation of Karachi and its steady erosion. Second, when ZA Bhutto came to power in December 1971, the passage of Sindhi language bill by the provincial assembly in July 1972 triggered blood bath in Sindh between the Urdu and Sindhi speaking population. The introduction of quota system and other discriminatory policies during the Bhutto regime against the urban population of Sindh, particularly those living in Karachi eventually led to the surge of ‘Mohajir nationalism.’

Third, the destruction of Karachi was not only the making of Ayub or Bhutto regimes, but the longest martial law of General Ziaul Haq deepened the sense of deprivation in Karachi who had played a major role in PNA led movement against Bhutto after the alleged rigging of March 1977 elections. The military regime in order to neutralise PPP patronised Sindhi and Mohajir nationalist groups. A sense of deprivation deepened in Karachi particularly among its youths because of the quota system and the influx of people particularly from up country. Both All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO) and Mohajir Quami Movement (MQM) were established during martial law of Gen Zia. It was alleged by those subscribing to the slogan of Mohajir nationalism that Karachi, despite contributing to 60 percent of national exchequer, gets a paltry amount for the development and maintenance of such a mega city. But, it is the third phase of Karachi’s destruction beginning with MQM (later on renamed at Muttahaida Quami Movement) getting power which transformed Karachi from peaceful to a violent and a dangerous city. Extortions, kidnappings, corruption and nepotism carried out during MQM’s hold over the city and provincial governments during Musharraf’s period made Karachi a no-go area for many. The failure of MQM to deliver by improving the infrastructure, governance and civic amenities diminished trust of its voters which ultimately led to friction and infighting within its rank and file. Finally, the destruction of Karachi reached a logical conclusion during a decade of rule by those who lacked vote bank and proper representation in Karachi city but pursued policies to seek control of the city.

PTI Chairman amidst his lust for power, unprincipled and contradictory stance on various issues, is right when he blames ‘urban-rural political partnership’ of ruining Karachi depriving its people of better way of life by excessive loot and plunder. If the citizens of Karachi have little access to respectable, affordable public transport; clean and safe drinking water; functional sewerage system; good roads; better educational facilities and security, it is because no one owns Karachi. People of Karachi every year pay Rs 22 billion to the tanker mafia as they have to buy water because water is not supplied to their localities.

Critics argue that those who got mandate in the name of ‘mohajir nationalism’ were the ones who let down their voters by massive corruption, nepotism and unleashing of violence. Otherwise, MQM which got enormous popular support during November 1988 elections could have transformed the urban areas of Sindh as a role model for other parts of Pakistan. But, its lack of maturity, honesty, integrity and professionalism caused a great harm to the people of Karachi.

It is an uphill task to undo the destruction of Karachi as the city not only lacks ownership but bad governance, absence of the rule of law, corruption and nepotism caused havoc as far as the life in Karachi is concerned.

The writer is Meritorious Prof of International Relations, at KU. E-mail: amoonis@hotmail.com

Published in Daily Times, March 30^th 2018.