Opinion The furore in Karachi

Accusations by rival political and religious parties fly in every direction as the spate of targeted killings haunts Karachi once again. Dozens belonging to ethnic and sectarian groups have been gunned down in the preceding weeks,sparking protests here and there,but no one has been apprehended,let alone brought to justice. The government’s response has only been administrative: impose the notorious colonial-era Section 144 to bar a gathering of more than four persons at a given spot to thwart a protest.

And just the day after the Sindh home minister announced the measure,on Tuesday,Sunni Tehrik — a Sunni-supremacist group whose leaders have been victims of targeted killing and whom others accuse of involvement in the same crime — took out a massive protest rally in Karachi. The event passed off peacefully because the government buckled; instead of being confrontational,it arranged police and army rangers to escort the angry marchers,ostensibly protecting them against an attack from a rival group.

That’s how seriously Section 144 can be enforced in Karachi. The same is the case with the ban on pillion ride on two-wheelers or indeed that on extremist outfits. Interior Minister Rehman Malik flew into Karachi to show how seriously Islamabad was viewing the violence in the city and he too just ended up warning the extremist groups in words to the effect: “If you re-emerge under a new name,we’ll ban you again!” (Gee,that really scared them.) The warning was sounded more to appease the PPP’s shaky coalition partner,the MQM,rather than as a means to do anything concrete to address the

issue.

Pakistan’s economic hub,Karachi has long been the scene of turf wars between all and sundry to establish their “writ” as against their rival’s or the government’s. Urdu-speaking Mohajirs fight the Pashto-speaking Pathans and Sindhi/ Balochi-speaking old-time natives; Sunnis clash with Shias and followers of Sunni Barelvi sect fight their rivals of the Deobandi sect.

Then there are fissures among the ruling coalition parties: MQM accuses the PPP and the ANP of targeted killings,and vice versa. Karachi’s free for all to fight their battles — endlessly,it seems.

It is a city that does not take kindly to any highhandedness on the part of the law enforcement agencies. The police can come under attack if they are seen as being rigorous in enforcing the law; the government is not taken seriously and a ban imposed on just about anything is flouted with complete impunity; here traffic jams are caused because drivers often do not observe the red light in rush hours and the police dare not book the violators for fear of a backlash. Any individual or a number of citizens could be found armed,most illegally,at any random check anywhere if one were to be carried out. The law enforcers do what the rest of the citizens are forced to do: fend for themselves.

The tragedy is that it is not only the so-called extremist elements that are out to kill their ideological rivals. Mainstream political and religious parties are equally guilty of maintaining their killer squads of sorts or patronising gangs of hired hit men. Behind it all lies a high level of social intolerance in general; more so among those with any power at their disposal. Abuse of power and corruption and utter disregard for the law further erode the moral fabric. Throw in the lack of authority and accountability,and you get the lethal mix that can really plague Karachi,a city of multiple cultural,religious and linguistic identities.

The PPP-led government’s decision to wind up the city district government system that General Musharraf had given to Karachi,and which the MQM presided over through public representation,has left Karachi more rudderless. While the city government was popular and seen as doing a good job,the PPP could never hope to control such a local government through the vote and thus it had to be dismantled. Unfortunately,Pakistan has a bad precedent in this area. Every elected government has sought to erode and dismantle local government institutions while every dictator has reinvented and strengthened this grassroots level democratic institution.

For a politically volatile mega-city like Karachi,a strong,representative local government may be the only answer. Coercive and ad hoc administrative measures such as the imposition of Section 144 or giving extra powers to law

enforcement agencies can only breed more unrest.

The writer is an editor with ‘Dawn’,Karachi