Once known as the “City of Lights”, Karachi has turned into a battleground for many state and so-called non-state actors.
Due to the worsening law and order situation, the economic hub of Pakistan currently presents a picture of some kind of a fortress with trenches dug in front of police stations, sandbags covering entrances to security establishments, huge walls erected around buildings housing diplomatic missions and approach roads closed to traffic for some of them, have become a common sight.
Since its emergence, the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) is usually being blamed for the unrest and violence that takes place in Karachi. It is estimated that there are around 250,000 to 350,000 Taleban militants in Karachi. They could be a very potent factor but certainly not the only one, as political patronage of criminals and gangsters, incompetence of police and government’s inability to restore law and order are also some of the factors that should be taken into account.
It is also feared that the number of Taleban or their supporters will swell due to the influx of people displaced from the tribal areas of the country in the wake of a military operation against the TTP.
Sensing an alarming change in the demographics, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the unchallenged political might in the urban areas of the Sindh province, denounced them and their supporters as “traitors.” In a recently organized rally to express solidarity with the armed forces, Hussain tried to kill two birds with one stone. He showed his muscles to those threatening the country’s very integrity, simultaneously aiming to win the support of the army, paramilitary forces and the police.
It was an impressive show and the sea of human heads stretched to almost 2 km. The MQM could have done it all by itself but thought fit to associate several other parties, including the ruling PML-N. The event served two purposes. It offered unflinching support to the army — engaged in eliminating the militants — and negating the perception that had developed lately that the party was on the downward slide.
The strategy worked as the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) without wasting time called an emergency Cabinet meeting and announced its wholehearted support to the army perhaps at the cost of its apparently cozy ties with Islamabad, which seems reluctant in solely relying on the army over the issue of Taleban. However, the criminal gangs in Karachi are still having a field day. Extortion and targeted killings have become the order of the day. So it is not just Taleban that need to be tackled. These gangsters, reportedly, operating with the blessings of “influential” people need to be reined in.
“There is no hope for Karachi getting back to its original lifestyle. It used to be a lively city. The famous phrase that the city never sleeps, applied to Karachi in all its manifestations,” said an old timer.
