Now that the Sindh High Court has issued a plea for judicial inquiry into the Ashura carnage and subsequent acts of arson that occurred on 28 December in Karachi, we may get answers to a puzzling question: why was the wholesale market set aflame?
The public has been kept in the dark. We have been given details about the number of shops burnt, said to be between 3,000 and 4,000; the billions of rupees worth of goods gutted in the fire; the thousands of people who lost their livelihood as a result of the arson. We are also aware of the spectacular break-neck speed at which the reconstruction and rehabilitation work has been undertaken by the CDGK. But nobody tells us why at all the incidents of arson took place.
The interior ministry assigned the FIA to investigate the incidents of arson. Hardly a week has gone by and the FIA source has already ruled out the conspiracy theory behind the arson, citing inaction on the part of the law enforcement agencies as the primary reason for why things went out of control and the blaze spread through three major markets on M.A. Jinnah Road (still called Bunder Road by many).
This is mere guess work; you can hardly call this hard fact, it is nothing more than a mere opinion. Another incredible opinion of the FIA source is the suggestion that the acts of arson was a spontaneous reaction of the participants of the Ashura procession. Speculations of this nature only reduce the credibility of the FIA and do nothing to inform the public.
One cannot even call the FIA's suggestions circumstantial evidence. The prime circumstantial evidence is that chemicals were used in a "well planned" arson attack. The fire-fighters said they found "obvious" signs of chemicals used in the arson. This lent credence to the suspicions of traders that the arson was premeditated and well-planned.
It is appalling to blame, even speculatively, the participants in the Ashura procession for the arson. Is the FIA perchance suggesting that the mourners had come armed with guns and inflammable material? They did vent their anger, after the bomb explosion that killed 43 people and injured over 100, in the only way that they could: by hurling stones which were plentifully strewn on the road once the bomb blasted. The participants of the Ashura procession cannot be blamed even speculatively for the arson, as the FIA has so irresponsibly suggested.
Base on the few fact collected over a week since the Ashura carnage and subsequent arson it seems the two incidents were separate and possibly the work of two different, if like-minded perpetrators. The Taliban allegedly claimed they had bombed the Muharrum procession but said nothing about the arson. The Taliban are virulently anti-Shia and allegedly they could have bombed the Ashura procession. But the traders in the gutted wholesale markets off M.A. Jinnah Road belong to all stripes of Muslim sects. The Taliban are fanatics (and may they burn in Hell), but they are not fools.
While the arsonists were simply bent on destroying the commercial heart of the city. Because the arson began as if the cue was given by the bomb attack, it does create the impression that both dastardly deeds were the work of the same culprits. However, it is equally possible that the arsonists were simply aware that there would be trouble. Everyone expected trouble since there were two smaller bomb explosions during Muharrum processions earlier, on the 7th and 8th of the holy month. So it is quite likely that the arsonists were hoping for trouble on the main Ashura procession to exploit it.
The blaze broke out simultaneously in about 300 spots in 18 different wholesale markets housed in various buildings on M.A. Jinnah Road from Light House to Boulton Market. Within minutes shops were ablaze in an area covering approximately 100 acres of space. The blaze was intensified because of inflammable goods such as cloth and plastic ware and medicines, chemicals and perfumes. The fire spread quickly to upper floors in buildings and threatened the lives of people in the upper stories.
The police and the chairman on the Alliance of nearly 300 markets blamed the late arrival of the fire-fighters for the massive spread of the fire. This was denied by the city nazim, and I personally would not blame the fire-fighters. I have my bank in a lane just behind Denso Hall which is near Light House. The lanes are narrow and vehicular movement hampered by the encroachment on the roads and the pavement. One can hardly walk through, one has to weave through the boxes of goods, the pushcarts and goods trucks. On my trips to the bank I have always wondered that would happen if there was a sudden blaze in these congested inner lanes of the wholesale markets. Well, now I know. But the traders are not likely to blame themselves for obstructing the work of fire-fighters.
Besides the obstruction caused by the traders in the way of fire-fighters, the arsonists, too, impeded the dousing of the blaze. According to city nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, in order to restrict the fire brigades from putting out the blaze, the arsonists opened fire and injured some firemen. Despite the obstructions and the hurdles thrown in the way, manful effort was made to put out the blaze, but it took 20 hours simply to bring it under control and 40 hours to end the blaze.
We are often told to beware of bombers, keep alert for possible acts of terrorism, but how are we to do this when we do not know how the troublemakers really operate. We must be told the facts. Why are facts hidden from the public as if they were state secrets? The city is affected. Directly or indirectly everyone's life is affected by the arson attack on the wholesale markets because the city is the major consumer of goods. The area of the arson attack is also a historic site where there are buildings which are a national heritage. Even M.A. Jinnah Road is full of history. In short, the arsonists have told us in no uncertain terms that they do not care for the history, the people, the livelihood or the lives of the citizens of Pakistan. Who are they? We will know if the investigators tell us why the city's commercial heart was set ablaze.