The May 12 carnage and its fallout
By Manzoor Ali Isran
THAT May 12 will be remembered as one of the blackest days in the annals of our tragedy-ridden political history goes without saying. The scars caused by the senseless shooting spree on that day by terrorists of various hues have left indelible marks on the face of our national politics and the echoes of what happened on that day will continue to haunt us for long time. But its critical fallout is already becoming visible.
Despite accusations being endlessly hurled on the opposition parties for being responsible for the ugly carnage that turned Karachi into a ghost city, those at the helm of the affairs are now showing a great sense of unease as they begin soul-searching and look back to why and how it all happened. It is more than evident from the fact that many ministers are either shy of indulging in the offending blame game or are simply trying to come up with different explanations that may satisfy both their superiors and their own conscience. Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s resignation from the PML membership is a case in point.
Then, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement which played a lead role in grinding to halt the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s caravan’s scheduled visit to the Sindh High Court at the behest of the federal government and the president in particular and, as a result, earned the notoriety for unleashing the reign of terror and deaths on the roads. That it is feeling too uneasy for its part in the tragic episode is evident from its high command’s three-day marathon meeting in London which reviewed the May 12 happenings and considered measures to salvage its reputation in the country, its appeal among its workers and its standing in the national politics.
So, the MQM has sought opinion of its rank and file about which option out of the three it has outlined be adopted by the party as future course of action. These are (1) withdrawing its ministers from the federal cabinet, (2) withdrawing its ministers from both the federal and provincial cabinets, but continuing to sit on the treasury benches and (3) quitting the ruling coalition and sitting on the opposition benches. But many doubt if any of the three options will be decided upon and carried out by the MQM leadership after receiving the feedback from its party workers. That the whole exercise is aimed at improving its image among the citizens of Karachi is the possible reason, many analysts are of the view. It is considered imperative for protecting its vote bank as the elections are now only months away.
The regime is already under great pressure from various sides. Looking from broader perspectives, one may say that the events in Karachi and other parts of the country, especially, the suicide bombing in Charsadda and another one in Peshawar and defiance of burqa clad girls at Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad have brought under severe challenge the writ of the state and already beleaguered government of General Musharaf. So, in light of these unpleasant developments, many question the viability of the current dispensation and the ability of the military-led set-up to run the political affairs of the country. Prof Stephen Cohen, an expert on South Asian affairs, in his recent comments has said that the political structure in Pakistan has to be rebuilt because the military is not competent to govern the country, being no substitute for organised political parties.
This requires a new social contract between the state and the people as the current political system does not consider the latter as one of the stakeholders and hence does not provide security to the common man. But the military general are more impatient to pursue the course of conflict and confrontation to eliminate the regime’s opponents.
In short, Karachi carnage will have serious socio-economic and political repercussions on the politics of Sindh and Pakistan, unless corrective measures are taken to defuse the hatred it has aroused among various ethnic groups against each other. For that, the government has to undertake confidence-building measures and involve all the stakeholders in creating durable peace and ethnic harmony in the city. Given the commercial profile, the city cannot afford to be shut down even for three hours, let alone three days ––– as planned by Pukhtoon Action Committee but now postponed for a fortnight –– as several millions’ bread and butter depends on their daily work.
The failure of the state, whether accidental or deliberate, to provide security cover to the people on May 12 has given rise to apprehensions among the people. The common perception is that the security aspect was deliberately compromised for the sake of political gains by the government.
Apparently, the government of Gen. Musharraf felt demoralised by the grand reception the Chief Justice got in the interior of Sindh, the NWFP and Punjab. So, it did not want to see similar welcome in Karachi and put pressure on its coalition partners (Muslim League and the MQM) to show their strength by holding counter rallies. As part of the plan, the MQM fanned out its workers around the city, Sharae Faisal was barricaded, airport and Sindh High Court were literally cordoned off, police was absent, a private TV channel was attacked and the CJ was held in virtual incommunicado at the Airport lounge for about eight hours.
The May 12 violence was in fact the result of confrontation between pro-Musharraf and pro-CJ parties. It has certain political dimensions. Since the president’s action to ‘suspend’ the CJ was politically motivated, the opposition parties began rallying around the lawyer’s movement which is, in fact, fast turning into a movement for democracy. The MQM committed a great mistake by becoming a tool of the authorities and hence indulging in the politics of violence which it claims was actually initiated by the other side. Being a middle class party, it was expected to be supporting the lawyers’ movement as the latter is also a middle class movement aimed at making the judiciary independent. Initially, it may be recalled that the MQM had kept itself at distance by saying that it had not been taken into confidence when the reference against the CJ was filed. But by suddenly jumping into the fray, it surprised, if not disappointed, even its supporters.
However, whatever has happened on May 12 in Karachi and the reaction it has aroused across the country has caused political damage, if at all, to the MQM and not to the opposition or the CJ’s cause. Since that day, the MQM has been under tremendous pressure and it was because of this factor that the governor of Sindh found it necessary to make a courtesy call on ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan at the residence of Shahi Syed to condole the deaths of ANP workers. Later, he made a similar call on Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
The writer teaches at Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Sindh. He is also a visiting faculty member at SZABIST, Karachi.
Email:
m_isran@hotmail.com.