After Karachi

May 12 has become an emblematic date in Pakistan, and Newsline8217;s June issue is devoted to tabulating its reverberations. That was the day of many rallies. Two in Karachi: a thwarted one by the suspended Supreme Court...

May 12 has become an emblematic date in Pakistan, and Newsline8217;s June issue is devoted to tabulating its reverberations. That was the day of many rallies. Two in Karachi: a thwarted one by the suspended Supreme Court Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry, and a pro-government show of force by the MQM. And another in Islamabad later in the day, addressed by President Pervez Musharraf. Violence in Karachi led to more than 40 deaths. It has brought back violent images of the city from the not too distant past, and it has focused analysis on the MQM. Writes Zahid Hussain: 8220;Over the last five years, the MQM had tried to build its image as a mainstream, secular democratic party. It had expanded its network to other parts of the country, shedding its ethnic colour. But the day-long mayhem, with its gun-toting militants on a killing spree, completely wiped out that effort and returned the MQM to pariah status. The saner elements in the party privately acknowledge the political damage caused by the May 12 incident.8221; It has also shifted attention to party chief Altaf Hussain, who8217;s been based in northwest London since 1992, and has since become a British citizen. Says Zahid Hussain, 8220;According to British government sources, the MQM leader has been placed under surveillance.8221; He adds that, given the strong support the party has kept with Musharraf, the consequences have by extension isolated the general.

That day8217;s developments, he writes, also set back the Washington-encouraged deal-making between Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto: 8220;The two sides came very close to an agreement in April, when Bhutto declared she was willing to work with Musharraf in the 8216;national interest8217;.8221; In another article Syed Talat Hussain mentions the ruling PML-Q8217;s discomfort with the MQM, a coalition partner, given its attempts to enter Punjab politics.

Meanwhile, Dawn reported on June 13 that Imran Khan8217;s case against Altaf Hussain filed in London has brought him closer to Nawaz Sharif. Sharif and Khan addressed a press conference in London at 8220;PML-N8217;s international headquarters8221;. In Islamabad, the paper reported, the MQM filed a reference seeking Khan8217;s disqualification from the National Assembly, citing a 1997 Los Angeles court verdict in the Sita White case.

American summer

US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher8217;s been in Pakistan, leading to assessment of America8217;s relationship with General Musharraf. His first appointments took him to Balochistan. In Quetta, reported The Daily Times on June 15, Chief Minister Jam Mohammed Yusuf told him that Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden are not in the province. Boucher then went to Chaman and inspected the biometric system installed to check movement across the border with Afghanistan. With US Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte also expected in Pakistan over the weekend, The Daily Times said officials denied that the visits were connected to the political crisis. According to sources, it said, 8220;The US is more concerned about Taliban encroachment on settled areas like Tank, Bannu and DI Khan. They are concerned that more than five years after the fall of the Taliban, Western forces are still faced with the uphill task of quelling the Taliban-led insurgency.8221; The Americans were also expected to convey their concern about the North Waziristan agreement.

In an editorial on June 13, the newspaper asked: 8220;Is the US going to walk out of its relationship with President Musharraf as it did in the case of a number of 8216;supportive8217; autocratic rulers in the past?8221; It8217;s not that simple, because: 8220;The White House is obviously concerned about Pakistani public opinion and its most effective clerical spearhead, the MMA, which, it fears, might end up controlling Pakistan8217;s nuclear arsenal. But this fear can be overcome only by the fear of losing the entire political consensus building up in Pakistan.8221; It also notes that Musharraf 8220;seems to be 8216;diversifying8217; his reliance on the US8230; by reviving old links in the Gulf8221;.

In his Friday Times editorial, Najam Sethi took a sweep of US-Musharraf relations since the 1999 coup and noted the current state of play: 8220;The US now lent its weight to a future power-sharing arrangement between General Musharraf as president without uniform and a democratically elected civilian government on the basis of acceptably free and fair elections.8221;

Road from Chaman

Back in Chaman, reported Dawn, 8220;hundreds of vehicles were stranded on Thursday after Afghanistan banned private cars and motorbikes from crossing into its territory8230; The unprecedented ban, announced on Wednesday for what Afghan officials said were security reasons, triggered a protest by local tribesmen who said they would defy the order.8221;