Nasim Ahmed

It was a typical gangland attack. A bus carrying passengers from Karachi to Swabi is stopped on the way near Nawabshah. Half a dozen gun-toting assailants enter the bus and, without asking any questions, open fire killing passengers indiscriminately. Seven die on the spot and many more are critically injured.

After accomplishing their deadly mission they flee on motorbikes chanting slogans in favour of the Sindhu Desh Liberation Army.

This was reprisal killing at its most blatant. It is said that the assassins spilled innocent blood to avenge the killing of 12 innocent people in an attack on an Awami Tehrik rally in Karachi a week earlier. The "Save Sindh" rally was passing through the Lea Market area when unknown hooligans opened fire, killing 12 people and fatally wounding more than 30. The assault has been blamed on the MQM. Enraged by the outrageous attack, the Awami Tehreek called for a wheel jam strike to protest against the killing the next day, which resulted in further violence and arson. The Nawabshah massacre occurred a few days later.

Welcome to the killing fields of Karachi - a city which is forever thirsting for the blood of its sons.

The cycle of murderous violence in the city never seems to stop. Indeed, the megalopolis has become a metaphor for the Roman amphitheatre where gladiators fought to the death. In Karachi, it looks like a free for all with everybody killing everybody. There is ethnic killing. There is sectarian killing. There is target killing. There is random killing and there is blind killing. Dead bodies with torture marks all over, stuffed in sacks, are a common sight. Criminal gangs backed by power political groups indulge in open loot and killing without any fear of being called to account.

A few weeks back, Lyari was the scene of pitched battles between the police and armed gangs holed up in the area. It was like the fighting in Beirut in the early 80s between armed groups which went on for months and years on end. For several days, Lyari looked like a war zone. Heavy weapons, including rocket launchers and grenades, were freely used to keep the police at bay. Even after fighting for several days, the law and order forces could not enter many areas of Lyari. And in the end the operation had to be abandoned without achieving the objective for which it was started - ridding the area of criminal elements.

Needless to say, the cauldron of violence in Karachi has been kept on the boil by the criminal gangs which hold the city to ransom. The gun, drug, land and extortion mafias ruling the city brook no opposition to their criminal activities and will go to any length to intimidate, blackmail and kill common people. This is the defining feature of life in Karachi today.

According to the annual report of Amnesty International, around 2,000 innocent people were killed in Karachi during Jan-Dec 2011. The report says the city remained "gripped by a wave of killings sparked by rival gangs associated with different ethnic and political groups." The AI's report also criticizes the civilian government for failing to ensure security to the people and paying scant attention to promote the human rights of its citizens. Pointing out that authorities were frequently unwilling, or unable, to protect women, ethnic and religious minorities, journalists and other vulnerable groups from abuses, and bring the perpetrators to justice. The AI report also says that "promises by federal and provincial authorities aimed at improving the rule of law" in the city were never given practical shape.

Speaking to the media, Mustafa Qadri, Pakistan researcher at Amnesty International, said: "2011 was a difficult year for human rights in Pakistan reflected in a string of high profile killings from Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti to journalist Saleem Shahzad and reporter Wali Khan Babar. The judge who sentenced Mumtaz Qadri for killing Taseer has gone into hiding and no one has been prosecuted for killing Bhatti or Shahzad while police and the courts are fearful of investigating the possible link of a major political party to Babar's killing. The people from Karachi to FATA are stuck in a worsening spiral of violence as demonstrated by killings and other abuses in the Khyber agency and Lyari town in Karachi recently and so many other places."


There is a general breakdown of law and order in the country which is typified by the all-enveloping terror in Karachi. The city is a microcosm of Pakistan: what is happening here reflects the process of creeping deterioration and degeneration that currently holds the country in its grip. From Gilgit-Baltistan to FATA to Balochistan to Karachi the state does not seem to exist. Criminals of all description- militants, terrorists, sectarian extremists, serial and target killers, drug barons, etc. - have a free run of the country.

Karachi's problem stems from its dangerous ethnic mix exacerbated by increasing social and economic inequalities and a ruthless power struggle among various political groups using gangsters as their strong arm against rivals. All criminals have their political patrons and that is the reason why they are never called to account.

Karachi's problem is, basically, political and it can only be solved politically by the major stakeholders of the city sitting together to hammer out a new socio-political contract which accommodates the legitimate rights of all ethnic groups. The bulk of the Muhajir, Pathan, Punjabi, Sindhi and Baloch population comprise of daily wage earners, factory labourers and daily wage earners. And it is a tragedy that it is they who suffer the loss of life and income most when the scheming politicians fight for their turf.

It is imperative that that this deadly political game which has cost thousands of innocent lives is brought to an end through a new accord among all the stakeholders in the power game. The first step towards this objective should be to de-weaponise the city as soon as possible. The megacity bristles with arms, both legal and illegal.

It is pertinent to recall here that immoderate politicians like Zulfikar Mirza have done their bit to turn Karachi into the tinder box it is today. In one of his intemperate outbursts recently, he admitted having issued three lac weapon licences to his supporters. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Millions of illegal weapons are supposed to be in the possession of criminals as well as common people fearful for their security.

If Karachi is to find peace, the government should declare a state of emergency and impose a curfew, if needed, in order to confiscate all weapons, legal or illegal, in a well-coordinated combing operation by the law and order agencies. Licensed arms can later be returned but after the operation anyone found in possession of illegal weapons should be awarded deterrent punishment. Violence will automatically wind down in a weapons-free Karachi.

-cuttingedge