March 23, 2013 . 0

During the hearing of the Karachi law and order case, a report was submitted to the apex court containing the names and details of extortionists and target killers arrested since October 6, 2011 and wanted in 351 different cases of lawlessness. Not only that, this time around, the names of the groups and parties that they belong to have also been presented to the court which are Sunni Tehkrik, TTP, Lyari Gang, ANP, MQM, People's Aman Committee and Tehrik-e-Insaf. Quite a mess and quite a shame! The previous government successfully kept this report a secret; being one of the actors in the equation, it could have only done that. The Minister for Interior, who was invariably trying to master the art of how to save the Sindh coalition, hid under the cloak of ‘foreign hand’. For him, this hand was everywhere and involved in most incidents of violence.

The expose, however, confirms the long standing perception that major political parties based in the province have been fighting a turf war to take control of the country’s commercial hub. Of course, making the matters complicated are the TTP and other banned outfits fishing in Karachi’s troubled waters. An ordinary citizen or for that matter a beat policeman who roams the streets is well acquainted with this fact. These are after all the political parties that appear to dictate the fate of the city, although they say they are the saviours. Since no one has stood up against them over the years, they have grown bolder and bolder. It is hence a good omen that at least now the Supreme Court has been presented with evidence incriminating these parties. The court made the observation that the city would not be purged of arms mafia until and unless, new delimitations of constituencies were made. We can expect the apex court to ask the concerned agencies to do their job without fear or favour. A swift crackdown needs to be carried out since the parties who had prevented that from happening are out of power.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...-with-the-list