Karachi horror story

APPROPRIATELY, the PPP announced its new partnership with the MQM just when we heard allegations of mass murder committed by thugs linked to the latter.

Both now harbour large numbers of criminals at all levels. The widely held perception is that the new deal, brokered on the basis of a 60:40 division of power, will split the loot in a similar ratio.

The growing criminalisation of politics in Sindh has made the accusations of arson by some elements of the MQM plausible. Even though it is based on the confession of a hit-man for the party, for those of us who have lived in Karachi these last 30 years, the allegation — the first of its kind — doesn’t sound far-fetched.

Even to a country long hardened to violence, the death of 258 men, women and children in a Baldia factory fire in 2012 came as a shock. At the time, the official inquiry identified an electric short-circuit as the cause of the fire. But the JIT report flatly contradicts this finding and names elements in the MQM as being behind arson and mass murder. While we can all guess, the truth remains murky.

The Sindh High Court, handed this hot potato, has directed the lower court to complete hearings and announce its verdict within a year. If it happens, it will probably set a record in a country where the judiciary is not renowned for the speed of its deliberations.

These last three decades have witnessed a steady decline of security in Karachi. Unsurprisingly, this same period has also seen the rise of the MQM as a political force whose strength is based as much on the violence of its militant wing as on the popularity of its leader.

Those of us who lived in Pakistan’s biggest city in the 1980s and 1990s recall all too well the bodies found in gunny bags almost every morning.

The same period has marked an explosive increase in the bhatta, or protection money, paid by businessmen. Even petty street vendors aren’t spared. While the MQM reportedly had a monopoly on the racket for years, others like the Taliban and the People’s Aman Committee have now muscled in. Hence the turf battles constantly being fought on Karachi’s mean streets.

Each time an MQM activist ‘confesses’ to murder or extortion, the party disassociates itself from him. And the constant defensive mantra hinges around anti-MQM conspiracies, whether it is the Scotland Yard inquiry of murder and money-laundering in London, or the widely witnessed violence it launched against a pro-Iftikhar Chaudhry rally in Karachi in May 2007 in which 45 people were killed.

And in case you think the PPP government in Sindh will initiate a fresh inquiry into the case, don’t hold your breath. In his five years as president, Zardari did precious little to solve the mystery of Benazir Bhutto’s murder. So to imagine he would rock the boat to investigate the death of 258 innocent people is to ignore reality.

Soon after Musharraf seized power, he inducted the MQM into the provincial government in Sindh as well as the federal administration. I asked one of his closest advisers why, knowing what he did about the party and its leader, Musharraf had taken such a step.

My friend explained that it was better to have the MQM onside rather than in the opposition from where it would blackmail the government with constant threats to lock down Karachi. And this is where its true power lies.

But although it has enjoyed the perks of power, it has always behaved like an opposition party. Over the years, its unpredictable tactics and its leader’s increasingly bizarre pronouncements have been a major factor in driving many industries and business houses away. This has directly led to job losses and soaring crime, and yet, the party continues to win millions of votes in urban Sindh.

Critics allege that the MQM’s vote bank has shrunk, and it relies on massive rigging to ensure its significant presence in the national and provincial assemblies. But this does not explain the rapt attention of thousands at party rallies who sit in the heat for hours while their leader harangues them from London in interminable, rambling monologues.

Whether it is fear or genuine love for Altaf Bhai, the numbers cannot be ignored or denied. And whether we like it or not, the party and its leader have empowered two generations of Mohajir youths: now, kids with little education and no job prospects can swagger around and get respect.

And it is also a fact that despite all its faults, the MQM remains a secular party and opposed to feudalism. While Imran Khan’s critique of the party is valid, he can afford to take potshots from the safety of Islamabad. Those living in Karachi have to be far more circumspect. That says it all for the kind of party the MQM is.

irfan.husain@gmail.com

Published in Dawn February 14th , 2015