Violence in Karachi having reached the level it has, even rumours can send the entire city in a state of panic. That is what happened on Wednesday in the wake of the MQM's call for an indefinite shutter-down strike all over Sindh until the perpetrators of the Abbas Town carnage are arrested. Although the party had said it would be peaceful protest, unknown armed men started forcing businesses to close amid rumours that something bad was about to happen, causing pandemonium on the roads and fear and despondency in the public mind. Normalcy returned only after the MQM wisely decided to withdraw its strike call. It would be an exaggeration, though, to describe the situation as normal.
For a time, the nation's commercial capital has also become its chaos capital in which targeted killings are a daily routine, citizens are kidnapped for ransom, and businesses subjected to extortion. As a Supreme Court bench hearing the Karachi law and order case pointed out a while ago, those involved in such criminal activities included the ruling alliance's all three partners - the PPP, the MQM and the ANP, as well as Jamaat-i-Islami and some banned sectarian organisations. Since all three maintained and protected their armed wings and their criminal activities, the police had its hands tied. The result has been a near breakdown of law and order - an ideal environment for various banned sectarian outfits and the Taliban to thrive in. Not too long ago, press reports revealed that as many as 35 religious outfits, including several proscribed ones, were active in the city. The Abbas Town carnage - which has shaken the nation to its core like the two recent attacks on Quetta's Hazaras - is not the first incident of its kind; Karachi has been the scene of some of the country's worst incidents of sectarian violence. This horror was waiting to happen.
After holding two hearings on the Karachi law and order situation in as many years, and failing to have the government act on its recommendation, the Supreme Court has stepped in once again to take suo motu notice of the Abbas Town atrocity. Noting that 10 to 15 citizens die in the city every day, the court lamented that had its previous recommendations been implemented things would have been set right by now. In its Wednesday's proceedings the court ordered the suspension of SSP Rao Anwar, and observed that all concerned officials, including the provincial police chief would have resigned if they had any shame. The government later announced removing the IG and another officer from the posts. The three key intelligence agencies - ISI, MI and IB - are to submit their respective reports on the situation on Friday. Meanwhile, army Chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani was also in Karachi where he attended a briefing at the Corps Headquarters, and said the Army was prepared to provide any kind of assistance to the civil administration for maintaining law and order in the city. The situation is dire and inaction not an option though the time rather awkward. The present government is on its way out. The caretakers who are to manage day-to-day affairs in the province and at the Centre till elections, it is hoped, would ensure that this time, the recommendations that emerge from the apex court's suo motu hearings are implemented in letter and spirit.
Comments
Comments are closed.