Who will bail out Karachi?

By Ali K Chishti

This year has been the most violent in Karachi's history, with more than 2,000 people killed in political, sectarian and gang violence. After the MQM and ANP - seen as rivals in Karachi but both part of the ruling coalition led by the PPP - boycotted the recent Senate session in protest against the increasing violence in the city, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf visited Karachi and chaired meetings with the administration and law enforcement agencies. "Enemies of the state want to destabilize the state's efforts in the war against terrorism through deterioration of law and order situation in Karachi," the president said in statement. MQM Senator Syed Mustafa Kamal, the former mayor of Karachi, said the prime minister should take immediate action on law and order in Karachi. He demanded the imposition of emergency in the city. "Peace cannot be restored in Karachi without an army operation," ANP Senator Ilyas Bilour said. "But the action should be across-the-board."But the traders are not ready to wait for that. Siraj Kassem Teli, a representative of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), told reporters that businessmen had decided to carry guns to protect themselves. "The extortionists simply want us to go bankrupt, lock down our businesses, and go home. We just cannot let this happen. We will not submit to their blackjacking," he said. "If we will have to carry firearms to save our businesses, then so be it." "Our traders have lost more than Rs 20 billion in business, and our industrialists have lost at least Rs 45 billion," said Atiq Meer, the chairman of the Karachi Markets Alliance. Sharfuddin Memon, spokesman for the home department of Sindh, admitted there were not enough policemen in the city but said they punch above their weight in foiling crime and attacks. The total number of policemen in Karachi is 40,000, of which only 8,000 are deployed at police stations. Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, who is heading the five-member Supreme Court bench hearing a case on violence in Karachi, remarked during a hearing that there was hardly any trader in Karachi who wasn't paying extortion money or was safe. He said turf wars had risen to the extent that political workers of one group could not go into the territory of another. When the Rangers chief told the court his paramilitary troops had deployed additional force and took immediate action on information about crime, Justice Amir Hani Muslim intervened and said the Rangers could only hand people over to the police, who were supposed to charge and prosecute them. On another occasion, the Sindh police chief told the court some officers had political affiliations and their backing was so strong they did not obey orders. Justice Jamali asked him how many police officers misused political influence. The inspector general said he was making a list of such policemen. Police is also among the major terrorist targets. Of the 2,014 people that have been killed in Karachi this year, more than 74 were policemen. According to police data, two intelligence agents have also been killed. According to the Sindh Law Ministry, not a single suspect has been successfully prosecuted in Sindh over the last three years for target killing. Although political violence in the city had seen a decline, Taliban attacks and sectarian violence have been increasing rapidly, with the Shia community especially vulnerable. But tensions de-escalated after Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad held a meeting with key religious leaders. "Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan is only one fourth of the problem," said senior police officer Raja Umar Khattab. "The real problem is the fighting between various groups for more resources." Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah said the police were doing their best and had controlled violence to a large extent. He said police had arrested and charged criminals but they were freed by courts. CID supercop Chaudhry Aslam, who has been at the forefront of anti-terror activities, said the solution to Karachi's problems was more policing, backed by speedy justice. MQM leader Faisal Sabzwari agrees. "The solution is simple," he says. "Local policing backed by solid prosecution, along with better coordination is the way to go."