ASFANDYAR Wali’s proposal

ASFANDYAR Wali’s statement, made in Peshawar on Sunday, reaffirms what we have always been saying in these columns — that it is the politicians who hold the key to Karachi’s peace. Speaking at a press conference in Peshawar, the chief of the Awami National Party said things that are often lost in the din of the phenomenon that is Karachi. Not all Urdu-speaking people supported the MQM, he said, nor were all Pakhtuns in the lap of his party. He then asked President Asif Ali Zardari to call a conference of all stakeholders to ensure lasting peace in Karachi. Undeniably, there is more to Karachi than ethnicity. Not all violence has ethnic overtones, nor do all killings have political motives behind them as there are crime mafias, such as those in Lyari. But what has turned Karachi into all but a war zone is essentially political in nature. Which means politicians can give the nation’s biggest city peace if they really make up their minds not to arouse passions in the name of ethnicity. In the past we have seen how President Asif Ali Zardari managed to effect peace in Karachi by bringing the MQM, ANP and his own party together. There is no reason why such a ‘truce’ cannot last longer. A multiparty conference called at this hour could have a salutary effect on the Karachi situation. The delimitation of constituencies is a controversy that has disturbed the MQM. Several of its leaders, including Altaf Hussain, see in this move a conspiracy to snatch the mandate which they say the people of Karachi have given them in several municipal and general elections. While nobody can ‘snatch’ any party’s mandate, a conference of the kind demanded by Mr Wali could serve to address the MQM’s fears. The focus of such a conference should essentially be on ensuring lasting peace in Karachi by making the politicians realise that it is they who can make a difference to the lives of Karachi residents by pledging to abjure violence, disassociate themselves from militant groups and use the political weapon to remove differences among them.