The city of Karachi, once again, is seen as a pulsating, live entity in the headlines as politicians and Rangers wage their relentless war for supremacy. The recent events are a potboiler, glorifying violence and machismo. Sindh has just seen a seamless replacement of its chief minister. The media — print, electronic and social — is awash with various forms of unsolicited counsel for the successor to the chief minister’s throne, all responding in chorus for law and order, and debating the precarious timing of this new appointment.
Sindh has been subjected to merciless battering; the air surrounding its borders reeks of desperation and helplessness as covert criminals extort society to generate wealth for the benefit of a few handful stalwarts; target killing becomes a daily norm; corruption infiltrates all morality; and vile land grabbing leaves the peace-loving citizens completely gutted. These atrocities began to spiral out of control; the crippled law and order situation was a clear indication that humanity was left to rot or was being buried under sheer misanthropy. It was this very realisation that compelled the political parties to invite the Rangers for a helping hand, but little did both the major parties in Sindh know that they would have to pay a high price for this invitation. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was hopeful that the involvement of Rangers would solely expose the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) as the prime target; however, this fantasy bubble was destined to burst with a loud pop. Some PPP loyalists and front men were alleged as being involved in financial corruption of an alarming magnitude.
Rangers are trained to fight criminals indiscriminately; political relationships or undercover deals are insignificant when the main purpose of their deployment is to reinstate people’s faith in the rule of law. This political detachment became problematic for the parties in provincial parliament since the actions of the Rangers began to collide with political interests. This is clearly the underlying reason for resisting and delaying the extension of powers of Rangers, and the delay and debate appears as a feeble attempt to use the extension as a bargaining chip: offering the extension in return for some breathing space. Despite the transparency of government’s governing flaws, the ruling party leadership wanted to restrict the Rangers control to Karachi alone; it is comical to think that criminals would continue the cat and mouse chase within the confinement of Karachi borders.
So what is the true intent of the leadership? To maintain law and order throughout their constituencies, or only in specific locations where they can shift the blame on other parties. The PPP may have smelled the coffee when Assad Kharl was arrested from outside Karachi. Unfortunately, for decades Sindh has been accepting of trends where the police works hands in glove with the political administration, mostly to prove a “friendly” terrorist innocent despite heaps of incriminating evidence.
But before we delve deeper into this topic, let us pose two questions: what is so difficult about governing Sindh? Why has it been denied good governance all this while? The answer is a simple one: a complete failure of good governance. It is a depressing tale, a province that houses the country’s economic hub, Karachi, should have been leading the country towards prosperity and economic stability. However, the metropolitan city is seen gasping for air as it drowns in a sea of corruption and lawlessness. The urgency for rescue reinforcements cannot be stressed enough, and there is a need for good-willed men and women who refuse to violate their mandate by embezzling money, and on the contrary, honour the people with dividends of democracy.
The changing of chief ministers may have been the top leadership’s dismissal of Sindh government’s sadistic and damaging governance, where the leaders seemed to be indifferent to the horrifying sight of amputated limbs, bloodstained vehicles and dead bodies sprawled on roadsides. As long as their political supremacy was kept intact and the votes kept coming in, the people could die a slow and painful death, a fascinating display of public manipulation.
For decades political gladiators in Sindh have constantly manipulated the people and the political processes to advance their own agenda. Beyond theorisation, in reality one can place fingers on a number of issues that appear to have pushed for a younger, more promising chief minister. Where the police act like pawns of the executive, and herds of ghost jobs and harmful deals are made to sate political interests. And of course, the portrayal of close proximity to the party elite highlighted to ensure a sense of duress to achieve a personal plan. A pathological culture of impunity towards target killing, abusive extortion and china cutting have collectively contributed to the rupturing of the Sindh government. A voter’s bond with the ruling elite is akin to the dynamics of public policy. Perhaps the government has decided, and wisely so, to rekindle this relationship with its people, and the change of administration may be considered as a peace offering, hopeful to receive the public’s benefit of the doubt. With the passage of time, patterns have emerged that would erode rather than consolidate confidence in people, and the political bigwigs should take this lesson to heart.
Not many would disagree that at a personal level the ruling party leadership has an arsenal of fancy diplomatic skills. But much more is required for progressive leadership; paucity of decisiveness and failure to step on the toes of those carrying out scandalous acts is propagation of havoc. Those who hold the key to Karachi have been allowed to leisurely strut in the city streets and do as they see fit, with zero accountability for their cutthroat actions. It wasn’t until the deployment of the Rangers that fear, panic and suffering of the city started to diminish. The past and the present have been striking the MQM leadership in bits and spurts since the intervention, although, up until recently, the MQM leadership in exile was an untouchable force. However, recent events have hit them hard and it is unlikely they will be able to recover from the injuries.
Does this mean the winds are finally changing? Will the new chief minister see this as a political opportunity? The rules that shall be laid down, the processes that shall be followed, and the behaviour of the new man in charge will determine how public interests are articulated, resources are managed, and power is exercised to benefit everyone in society. This transfer of power will provide a basis for measuring the difference in performance between the old and the new. A toast to Karachi’s resilience! But it is not over until it is over.
The writer is a media professional, and can be reached at [email protected]