omment:Karachi bleeds —Ali K Chishti

It might be true to say that Karachi’s biggest problems are not ethnic, political or sectarian differences but the incompetent police itself, which has become a largely criminal and political outfit

The first instance of targeted killings of foreigners in Karachi was the assassination of two Americans, which came amid political, sectarian and factional violence that made the city one of the most ‘dangerous in the world’ in the 1990s. On March 8, 1995, Gary C Durrell, a CIA official, died on the spot while Jackie Van Landingham, a consulate secretary, lost her life on the way to the hospital. A third employee, Mark McCloy, was able to escape despite a bullet wound in his ankle.

Karachi burned throughout the 1990s and the flames trailed into the new century, as it became the hub of a proxy war between Saudi and Iranian-backed sectarian organisations and political infighting between various groups that resulted in indiscriminate killings of Iranian engineers, leader of Aalmi Majlise Tahaffuz Khatme-Nubuwwat Maulana Ludhianvi, MQM’s flamboyant leader Khaled Bin Waleed and numerous professionals and ordinary citizens, resulting in a huge brain drain.

Interestingly, none of the perpetrators of those acts of murder were captured, let alone prosecuted. Instead, there had been calls for de-weaponisation and a bizarre ban on pillion riding which displayed the failure and incompetence of the Karachi police and was an outright violation of fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution. The gun culture in Karachi got a major boost because the police was seen as an alien force and had been actively involved in extra-judicial killing sprees. Amnesty International went on to declare Pakistan as the worst human rights violator in 1995, as more then 2,674 men died in police custody in Karachi alone, thereby justifying the lack of confidence in law enforcement agencies among the people. The primary source of weapons, the gun factories in Darra Adamkhel, had to be removed before any ‘serious’ campaign of de-weaponisation could start.

In my previous column ‘Targeted Killings in Karachi’ (Daily Times, June 17, 2010), I had discussed various dimensions of targeted killings. This paper was the first to file an investigative piece that eventually decoded the mysteries of the targeted killings in Karachi in July 2009. It featured an account of the attempted assassination of Bashir Qureshi, chairman of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM). The attempt to assassinate him failed when one of the would-be assassins, Mustafa Zahid, was killed while another MQM-Haqiqi member, Muhammad Imran (son of Muhammad Suleman) was caught. The following investigation involved the employment of NADRA finger printing records by the police to help identify the detainee, which was the first such instance in Pakistan. Imran gave out more than 50 names overnight and kept changing his statements. The police later confirmed that Imran was the former guard of Afaq Ahmed of MQM-H and had been released on bail. Interestingly again, identification cards issued by intelligence agencies were recovered from both men and an investigation team was formed by the Interior Ministry but as usual, no concrete action was taken. The last we know of Imran is that his leg was amputated at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre Hospital (FIR No 83/2009 under Sections 302 (pre-meditated murder), 324 (attempted murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code is still pending at Malir Police Station).

As I write this article, at least eight individuals have lost their lives in Karachi due to targeted killings in just eight hours. This is a continuation of the killing spree persisting since last month, when members of various political parties had been targeted in Karachi. The Karachi police, in the name of ‘snap-checking’, is busy stopping innocent motorcyclists (no, they do not stop big cars) and doing what it does best — taking bribes. The level of incompetence of the police was seen only recently when two ‘high value’ terrorists of the Jundullah outfit were freed from City Court Karachi in broad daylight (apparently, the Governor’s House and Chief Minister’s House are within a couple of kilometres from the place). It might be true to say that Karachi’s biggest problems are not ethnic, political or sectarian differences but the incompetent police itself, which has become a largely criminal and political outfit. A top officer himself told me, “Criminals and politicians are so interwoven together that the relationship among various stakeholders has become complex and is now impossible for us to break” — a clear sign of defeat from within the law enforcers. Another source from the police showed his displeasure over the role of the Rangers in Sindh and believes, “If the same amount is diverted to the Karachi police, we could actually deliver and do better.” Is it all about the money then? While the turf wars, political rivalries and ethnic tensions mount in Karachi, the Taliban (especially Mehsuds), who had previously used Karachi to raise funds through bank robberies (all 18 bank robberies that took place last year have been traced to FATA), are finding new opportunities in the troubled city, as a state of chaos is advantageous to them. They are quietly penetrating into the urban areas of Karachi while accomplishing their goal of eventually stopping NATO supplies while, at times, openly helping sectarian outfits in order to fuel sectarian strife.

Amidst the chaos, Karachi bleeds slowly and gradually, but no one seems to care because it is Karachi — it will solve its own problems, but with a cost of course. I would conclude with a friend’s poem who wrote, “Once again, as in the past, Karachi is overwhelmed by violent hate/She is not easily overwhelmed/I yearn for the day when this unholy mess and the bloodshed will stop!”

Long live Karachi!

The writer is a political analyst and can be reached at akchishti@hotmail.com