On Wednesday, 22 April, the violence which erupted between Christians and Pakhtoons in Taiser Town was triggered by wall chalking by unknown persons, allegedly Taliban or their supporters. One person, Irfan Masih was killed and three others, Imran, Qudous and Raziq Khan Pathan were hurt.
As the Sindh Assembly was in session, the incident got the notice it deserved from the Law Minister and parliament members. Usually, the police alone takes notice of such an incident and handles it in their half-hearted manner, sometimes not even bothering to investigate. Colleagues on the crime beat tell me that incidents of deliberately provoked violence is on the rise in Karachi. They have noted it on their own but do not have police reports to authenticate journalists' findings, hence they have not reported the crimes to their newspapers or TV news channels.
Law Minister Ayaz Soomro termed the Taiser Town incident "a part of a planned conspiracy to destroy the peace of the city". The Taliban could not gain control of Sindh "which is a land of sufis and saint," he said. MQM MPA from a minority seat, Stephen Peter, said he was an eyewitness to the Taiser Town incident. He was skeptical about the Law Minister's claim that Taliban could not gain a foothold in the province. If the Taliban are not responsible for the incident, "then who is conspiring to write slogans (on the walls) such as 'Islam's identity: Taliban' and 'Minorities should pay Jiziya or leave 'the locality'?" he asked.
The minister and member have mentioned points to ponder. For Taliban to take over Sindh, they would first have to eliminate the shrines of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalander. I can't imagine anybody in this province allowing that to happen. Neither could such a thing happen in Karachi to the shrines of Abdullah Shah Gazi and the lesser known but equally venerated "Ghaib pir" (absent saint) whose shrine is near the cant railway station.
The minorities MPA's question deserves an answer. It has often been noted that lesser criminals take advantage of the notoriety of bigger criminals to forward their own agenda. They indulge in what is termed "copycat crimes" so that the blame for violence goes to the notorious criminals and they can take advantage of the chaos it creates for their own benefit.
A known fact of Taiser Town is that the land mafia has been grabbing land here, probably with the connivance of the area police. This was alleged by MPA Salim Khurshid Khokhar who said the land mafia was behind the recent violence and demanded suspension of the area SHO and police check post in-charge, as well as the ordering of a judicial inquiry. Taiser Town is a new town created to accommodate families displaced by the Northern Bypass. It is always in new townships that the land mafia is most active.
The wall chalking which caused the flare up in Taiser Town could well be the work of land grabbers who want to frighten the minority community of Christians to leave by threatening them with Talibanisation. This is not the first incident when wall chalking has led to violence and bloodshed in Karachi. Rais Amrohvi's bitter verse "Urdu ka janaza hai zara dhoom se nikely" (it is the coffin of Urdu, take it out joyfully) was chalked on walls all over Karachi during the language riots of the 1970s and played a major role in inciting the public, as I recall.
Grafitti or wall chalking, exists all over the world. The messages are, however, not always aimed at inciting people. Many Romeos declare their love on street walls. Street walls have been called the poor man's newspaper. This newspaper seems to have a strong religious or political bias. Slogans painted on walls usually begin with "chalo! chalo!" (come along! come along! ) urging wayfarers to join up or sign up for some cause.
In Karachi I have read all kinds of messages, from declarations of love, angry consigning of this or that person to Hell, obscene words, allegiance to a party leader, invitations to public meetings, praise of a palmist, advertisements of quacks who have magical potions for curing sexual problems, admonishments to say your prayers before it is too late, telephone number of ayah service and tuition institutes and so forth. Anti-government slogans have also been frequently scribbled on walls.
What I have never seen on street walls, nor has anybody told me that they had seen it, are writings that directly attack ethnic groups or religious minorities. I may be wrong, though. But even when the anger against Babri Masjid incident had repercussions in the burning of a small church in Esanagri, there was no wall chalking condemning Christians or Hindus. During the language riots no one wrote "down with Mohajirs" or "down with Sindhis".
Until now. The things written on the walls in Taiser Town, telling Christians they will have to pay jiziya is a shameful, dastardly act. Thankfully, Sindh home department wasted no time in banning wall chalking and hoisting of party flags and banners across the province with immediate effect (April 25). Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza ordered the ban imposed under Section 144 CrPC. He also ordered inquiries into the recent Taiser Town incident and target killings in Karachi.
This is what is needed. If government officials and concerned ministers personally involve themselves in solving law and order problems then we are bound to get positive results. The Police has never been able to resolve any problems for the simple reason that it does not directly serve the public or work for their welfare. They are the strong arm of governments.
Politicians, however, are accountable to the electorate. It is good to see that present-day politicians are actually behaving like responsible leaders. Are we witnessing a new trend? Previously, elected members, let alone ministers, behaved like lords and masters and were irritated if they had to address some problem of the lowly masses.
I feel like suggesting 'the Sindh Assembly should sit more often and for longer periods. If incidents like the violence in Taiser Town, which are thaught to be minor incidents, are given serious thaught and lead to positive action, we could really and truly have a civilized country.
I had a mind to do some wall chalking myself. I thought I would write on the walls of Aiwan-e-Sadr (the only government wall within easy reach of me) "Good work Sindh Assembly!" But the guard at the gate didn't look friendly. I felt discouraged. Oh, well, may be some night when he is fast asleep.