'Bhatta Cell'

Speaking to business community in Karachi, Home Minister of Sindh Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza has announced formation of a "Bhatta Cell" to note down complaints from the business community about criminal elements involved in extortion. This entity will have to work as a professional body free from any political pressure and linkage in order to earn the confidence of the Karachi businessmen who are forced to pay protection money because of governmental failure to protect their life and property.
Directly blaming the businessmen of Karachi for the bad law and order prevailing in the country for funding the Taliban and other terrorist groups in the country and in the same breath demanding of them to stop "if they wanted peace in the city and the country at large" shows a profound lack of realisation of the fact that, money makes a man more cautious. Richer one gets, higher are the stakes and it makes the person so much more vulnerable and on the lookout for the best protection money can buy.
But that begs the question - what does one do if the popular political parties of all hues and colours decide to keep musclemen within their fold, in order to have the financial means run the party organisation and to cart the voters to the polling booths on the day people elect their leaders?
For argument's sake, accusing both MQM and ANP for the targeted killings would have carried some weight - if the businessmen in the old city of Karachi were not being subjected to the same kind of harassment and extortion as the shopkeepers and traders in parts of the city which elect representatives from MQM and ANP.
Land grabbing, capturing labour unions in large business organisations and appointing politically linked officials in the police force in key positions has been the norm at least in both Sindh and Punjab. Despite several-fold increase in the budget meant for law enforcing there has been a slide in effectiveness of the police force.
People generally have more faith in Rangers and the Army because they are depoliticised. Rangers and the Army cannot be a substitute for police. The requirements of the jobs require different kind of training, organisational set-up and intelligence gathering.
However, the lesson that needs to be learnt from long years of martial laws is that once political compromises are made in order to continue the role of a uniformed Army Chief as head of state or government - the cleaning up of the system as well as the political parties is conveniently put on the back burner.
Home Minister Dr Mirza has a point that funds gathered in the name of charity are being misused sometimes by organisations who are indulging in terrorism. However, one must not lose sight of the fact that religion-tilted political parties believe in democracy and not in force.
The people of Pakistan also have the same view. The withdrawal of support to Sufi Muhammad in Swat and backing the government to crack down on those who want to force their will and way of life is a living testament of that view. But one does wonder if MQM and ANP are to blame for the tit-for-tat targeted killing in Karachi - who is responsible for the bad law and order situation in the interior of Sindh?
This is not the first time that Home Minister Mirza has publicly accused MQM of targeted killings. As a coalition partner, the PPP and MQM are supposed to sort out their differences behind closed doors. It appears that leaders in PPP in Sindh are alternately playing bad and good cop. Every time a PPP minister blames MQM, the Prime Minister or the President act as good cop to keep the coalition government going. MQM is under pressure from its rank and file to leave the government. But saner leadership does not want its workers to be once again targeted as was done in the past. Staying in the government is a policy of protection.