The causes and the future
Being the world’s second largest city in terms of population and Pakistan’s financial capital, Karachi is a city that never sleeps. However, over the last three decades we have seen that the city has been engulfed by chaotic law and order situation which has its roots in the early 1980s when General Zia-ul-Haq promoted the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) under Altaf Hussain’s leadership to counter the political influence of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Sindh. ‘Language Riots’ of 1972 had already alienated the local Urdu speaking community and the support given to MQM during General Zia’s regime in the next decade added fuel to the fire. Therefore, ethnic-religious violence became common and it had long-term effects on Karachi’s socio-political arena.
Though the MQM got strong support at the behest of Pakistan’s military intelligence circles, it gradually became an independent and formidable force in the street politics of urban Sindh. However, its role over the province’s affairs became questionable in the 1990s when it was widely accused of extortion, target killings, arms smuggling and assassination of political and ethnic rivals. The ISI and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) gave briefings to PM Nawaz Sharif regarding MQM’s activities that led to the authorisation of ‘Operation Blue Fox’ in June 1992 in order to contain mass violence and prevent the alleged separation of Karachi from Pakistan. COAS General Asif Nawaz, during his tenure as Corps Commander Karachi, tried to defuse the ethnic tensions before the commencement of this operation but failed to achieve the objective when the involved ethnic groups refused to shun the politics of violence. Hence; COAS General Asif, Corps Commander Karachi Lt General Naseer Akhtar and DG Rangers (Punjab) Major General Safdar Ali Khan were convinced that the core problem lay with ethnic based militant activities for creating inter-city disharmony and one of the higher ups in the military at the time even said that a certain leader of a local political party is an anti-Pakistan element who vowed to break the country and even burned Pakistan’s flag at a rally held in Hyderabad during the year 1987.
After the ouster of the PML-N government in October 1999 by General Pervez Musharraf, Karachi’s ethnic political violence of the 1990s was replaced by religious violence, which gradually increased between Sunni and Shi’a sects residing in the city
Though the operation was supposed to be successful, countless number of people lost their lives in the city that resulted in divisions along ethnic lines. This operation continued during the second tenure of Benazir Bhutto’s government under Major General Naseerullah Babar’s command but resulted in loss of approximately two thousand people. Stability returned to the city when Governor’s Rule was imposed in 1998 by PML-N led government.
After the ouster of the PML-N government in October 1999 by General Pervez Musharraf, Karachi’s ethnic political violence of the 1990s was replaced by religious violence, which gradually increased between Sunni and Shi’a sects residing in the city. Militant organisations such as Sipah e Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Laskhar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) became more active in terrorist activities at the onset of the 21st century by forming small bases within the city’s limits. Political violence was only able to re-emerge after May 2007 when around fifty people lost their lives in a standoff between pro– and anti-judiciary protesters.
The city was engulfed in flames once again from that year onwards and the subsequent government of the PPP formed in March 2008 under a democratic process failed to stop the violence from increasing despite having all major political entities of the city such as the MQM and ANP on-board as partners. The bubble of violence in Karachi burst during the years 2011 and 2012 as targeted killings were rapidly on the rise leading. ‘Sector commanders’ of political parties’ militant wings and extremist religious entities were deployed in every major area of the city and territories were held hostage in name of ethnic nationalism in areas such as Lyari, where police operations failed to curb militancy.
The year 2013 was a turning point for the politics of Karachi when Imran Khan’s political influence over the city gradually increased due to his immense popularity among the educated urban class who considered his party, the Pakistan e Tehreek Insaf (PTI), as the best option to counter the MQM which was long accused of rigging elections in its favour. Such was his party’s influence that the MQM’s vote bank decreased in areas once considered its strongholds and the upcoming by-elections being held in NA-246 on 23 April 2015 might further become decisive in that matter.
The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is also concerned and launched wide scale operations across the city under the command of the then DG Rangers (Sindh) Major General Rizwan Akhtar. The purpose of these phase-by-phase operations was to launch a crackdown on hardened political and religious militants who were working under the apparent blessings of the higher ups and a heavily politicised police force as pointed out by General Rizwan Akhtar and former Karachi police chief Shahid Hayat. The initial months did not show any considerable progress but later on target killings reduced to some extent and stability increased. However, COAS General Raheel Sharif wanted the political leadership of Sindh to show complete seriousness on maintaining law and order in Karachi. The ISI Chief Lt General Rizwan Akhtar and other higher ups of the Pakistan army recently summoned the top political and bureaucratic leadership of Sindh in February 2015 and warned them of the failure to curb violence and political corruption that may lead to the imposition of Governor’s rule.
It may seem that the operation conducted in 1992 is being repeated again but the fact is that every group involved in violent criminal activities is in the process of being contained regardless of their affiliations as vowed by the new leadership of the Pakistan army
About a month ago, the MQM’s headquarters Nine-Zero was raided by the elite force of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) that apparently got intelligence tip from within the ranks of MQM leadership. Illegal high precision weapons allegedly stolen from NATO containers bound for Afghanistan and hardened target killers involved in various killings especially that of Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar were nabbed and taken to undisclosed locations. Soon afterwards, notorious MQM worker Saulat Mirza and his wife’s startling revelations regarding Altaf Hussain and his associates came to light and caused ripples in Sindh’s politics.
It may seem that the operation conducted in 1992 is being repeated again but the fact is that every group involved in violent criminal activities is in the process of being contained regardless of their affiliations as vowed by the new leadership of the Pakistan army. The extradition process of Peoples Aman Committee (PAC) leader Uzair Baloch and his own revelations regarding PPP leadership are also important for they shed light into the complex politics of Karachi. No go areas and their barriers are also being taken care of through the help of KMC and security forces which shows the seriousness of the operation across the board.
Regardless of the assurances made, it is hoped that a situation seen during ‘Operation Blue Fox’ does not occur in Karachi again otherwise the consequences could be catastrophic. A strong network and coordination of apolitical police, military and civilian intelligence is much needed to counter militant wings of political parties and religious extremist elements instead of a full scale military operation that is unfeasible for urban warfare. The administration needs to learn from the mistakes of the past that caused Karachi’s ultimate demise as a global city and minimise both religious and political violence, otherwise we won’t be able to see harmony even in the long run.
