Sindh Government has been unable to solve Karachi's problems are of a unique nature. May be for this reason Sindh Government and its administration has been unable to handle Karachi's problems. While interior Sindh is entirely agricultural and its educational end economic development level is very different from that of Karachi, a mega city of about 20 million pepulation with a very high rate of literacy, Karachi is economic hub of Pakistan and industrially most advanced in Pakistan, it contributes may be 65% of funds to the Federal Budget. Karachi needs an autonomous status to be managed by its own representatives of all those who live in Karachi irrespective of their ethnicity - whoever they are whether, Muhajirs or Pakhtuns, Sindhis or any Pakistani permanently residing in Karachi without any discrimination.
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The situation in Karachi has taken a turn for the worse. There is a
head-on collision between the PPP and the MQM. In less than a week, more
than 100 people have lost their lives in the metropolis. Sindh’s acting
governor, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, promulgated three ordinances on Saturday,
with immediate effect. An official statement said, “Accordingly, the
commissionerate system, Sindh Local Government Ordinance 1979 and Police
Act 1861 have been restored. Sindh government has suspended Sindh Local
Government Ordinance 2000 and Police Order 2002 with immediate effect.”
The colonial commissionerate system has been reinstated in Sindh while
the Sindh Revenue Department has divided the province into five
divisions. These moves have clearly annoyed the MQM, which has decided
to challenge the commissionerate system in court. The MQM is a strong
supporter of the local bodies system introduced by General Musharraf as
it re-demarcated districts and constituencies to its advantage. The
MQM’s interest was greatest in Karachi and Hyderabad, its traditional
constituencies. A local bodies system in principle is a good plank for
devolution but has unfortunately been sullied in our history by military
dictators desirous of bypassing the normal political process and
creating a loyal constituency at the grassroots. Now that the
commissionerate system is back in place, Sindh, like the rest of the
provinces, has returned to the bureaucratic ways of doing things rather
than representation at the local level. Bureaucratic systems are
unresponsive because they are rooted in colonial structures and
attitudes; they are thus not the best means of delivering to the people.
The PPP might be pretending that this is a temporary arrangement but
the impact it has had on the MQM is obvious. The MQM’s potential ally,
the PML-N, will not side with it on the commissionerate system issue as
the Sharif brothers support it in Punjab. This can further be a cause of
disunity between the newly wedded allies.
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Ethnic identity is over powering Pakistanism. The basis of Pakistan nationalism was the brotherhood of all components of the nation, whereas in recent past the grip of unity of Pakistan nationalism has been weakening. In the recent past the first official patronage given to ethnicity was the creation of Khayber Pakhtun Khawa Province. Now the ruling Party has included in its manifesto its plans to creation three more ethnic provinces including Sraiki Provinces. Were more provinces suggested for administrative reasons that would have been a different reason. In this atmosphere the ethnic differences are asserting themselves and in fact poised to clash.-
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Tensions between the MQM and the PPP have escalated. There were reports
that senior minister Sindh, Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, met the MQM’s sworn enemy
Afaq Ahmed of the MQM-Haqiqi in jail. MQM’s Anis Ahmed Kaimkhani
alleged that Mirza and Afaq “hatched a plan to cut off the telephones
lines of Nine Zero and then attack the MQM headquarters with terrorists
and members of the People’s Amn Committee”. Federal Interior Minister
Rehman Malik tried to pour oil on troubled waters and made his usual
placatory noises but the situation in Karachi remains grim. When the MQM
left the coalition government this time, we had cautioned in this space
that there would be more violence in Karachi. Now with the PPP denying
the MQM its power base by restructuring the system, things have become
more complicated than ever. The implications of the trajectory of the
events in Karachi are grave.
Things being as tense as they are,
there are advocates of calling in the military. This should be avoided
at all costs. Inviting the military to control Karachi may open the
doors to another military intervention. Also, as the 1992 experience
proved, military might is a blunt weapon that should not be used for
urban troubles. If the military is unleashed, the fallout would be
dangerous; the damage may be permanent, but the ‘good’ effect (peace and
quiet) will not last. Experience shows that when the MQM was
rehabilitated by the very same establishment that tried to quell it by
military force in 1992, Karachi was laid open to the very risks the
military operation was intended to do away with. The central role in any
kind of urban troubles has to be that of the police and intelligence.
There is a need to strengthen the police by depoliticising it, allowing
it to carry out its duties without fear of political ramifications and
supporting it against all inimical forces. This is the only solution to
control the spiral of violence that has taken over the city of lights.
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