The killing fields of Karachi

The spate of recent killings in Karachi, which have claimed hundreds of lives of innocent people and the inability of the Sindh government to stop the perpetrators, suggests that city needs an out of the box approach to check this bloodbath; an approach which is not subservient to political expediencies.
Needless to emphasise that the situation in Karachi is a sequel to the turf war between the land, drug and extortion mafias patronised by different political outfits. It is hard to believe that our intelligence agencies and other organs acting as eyes and ears of the government are not aware of the elements engaged in this heinous crime against humanity.
A very senior police officer who has served in Karachi for a long time confided to me that the root cause of the problem was the political patronage of the carnage. The police and law enforcing agencies have never been given a free hand to tackle the situation and even sometimes they are stopped from taking action against the identified criminal groups and individuals.
The situation in Karachi has deteriorated to the extent that it requires a ruthless and indiscriminate crackdown against these elements and also unveiling political faces behind this carnage without caring for the narrow political gains to the detriment of the national interests. No half-hearted and cosmetic measures are going to check Karachi's gradual drift towards a precipice. As long as the criminal groups believe that they have the freedom to accumulate and use weapons as they see fit, no person in his right mind can expect an end to the killing fields of Karachi and its return to a normal city like other cosmopolitan habitats around the world.
The solution to the Karachi conundrum must come through political channels as the establishment of a durable and sustainable peace in Karachi can only be found through political means. The initiative needs to be taken by the federal government. The three back-to-back consultative meetings held by the President with the Sindh leadership, PPP ministers and other concerned circles indicate the seriousness and urgency the federal government is looking for a permanent solution to the strife in Karachi. The decision to authorise the President to talk to all political forces, particularly the MQM is a positive move.
The PPP, MQM and ANP are the major political forces having a stake in the peace in Karachi. As a first step they all need to recognise and accept the changed realities in Karachi. The major onus, however, lies with the MQM which needs to realise that it is no more in a position to dictate terms and manage things the way it used to handle during its hey days. The other parties also need to accept the MQM as a potent political force in Karachi and avoid taking measures that could undermine that reality. As a first step all the parties should renounce the use of force and handover to the law enforcing agencies all those individuals and party workers who have been involved in targeted killings and turf wars in Karachi. Secondly, they should vow to withdraw their support to the mafias and disband them immediately. The police and Rangers be given powers to deal with the miscreants and members of the mafia sternly, according to law and without political interference, which has been the root cause of this unabated frenzy. The intelligence gathering apparatus also needs to be strengthened and overhauled. The next step should be to deweaponise Karachi, although it is a very tricky proposition under the circumstances but that should be the ultimate goal.
The political leadership has to rise to the occasion to save Karachi, which is the economic and political face of Pakistan. The continued conflict in Karachi has already done tremendous damage to the reputation of the country as a safe haven for foreign investment besides tarnishing its image as a civilised and peaceful society.