On Wednesday, at least 25 people were killed and 40 injured while 20 vehicles were torched in different parts of Karachi. Trouble began in North Karachi when armed men opened fire on Zarina Colony, leading to an alteraction with Rangers personnel. Incidents also occured in Surjani Town, New Karachi Industrial Area, Khawaja Ajmair Nagri, Landhi and Malir.
Do you live in any of the affected areas? Did you witness the clashes? What is the situation in the affected areas on Thursday? Is tension prevailing or is there a modicum of calm in the wake of MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s appeal for peace? Share your stories with Dawn.com.
I would share my experience of last sunday’s riots..
I dont exactly remember the reason.. but there were some clashes in progress between two groups.
As i woke up in the morning, and went out on my terrace to get the newspaper.. it was around 9 am.. i heard some gun shots near by.. and smoke emerging from NIPA chorangi..
i ignored first few as i dint know things were not good outside. later more gunshots continued.. and i also became cautious..went inside . I quickly opened a news channel and came to know that a person was killed at NIPA right then!
I cant tell what i felt. I actually heard a gunshot that killed someone?!
~ Let there be peace. We are getting immune to voilance.. it dosnt bug as anymore.
Pain & miseries inflicted by Talibans on the residents of Swat & surrounding area are being compounded by unbridled lust for power by MQM & their new found friend JSQM.
It is not the fear of Talibans but fear of losing control over Karachi that motivated MQM to block the entry of displaced people.
MQM’s philosophy – “what is mine; is mine, what is yours is negotiable”. War in Swat is a national tragedy. If we don’t extend a helping hand to displaced, the consequences are beyond imagination.
I am an Indian. I have a solution for the problem in Karachi.
We need a dedicated group of about 1oo workers who are ready to sacrifice themselves for humanity. The solution is Gandhi’s policy of non violence and satyagraha. It can start with one dedicated worker who sits in the centre of the city in fast unto death till the political parties dont come together to solve this ethnic problem. More people have to join him till it becomes a big voice in silence. Let Pathans and mohajirs and balochis and sindhis join in and not be afraid of guns and violence. Let it grow into a movement. God willing, I see and end to this madness
Why has this issue suddenly come to light? Why hasn’t the previous administration (Musharraf) addressed these militants while he was in office?
As an outsider looking in, can you tell the world what has caused the sudden upsurge in mass violence in your country?
Where do the people place the blame on what is happening, and how do they think the issue or issues can be served?
What are the people’s suggestion for a solution to what is happening?
Thank you.
i agree with ameen.its high time karachi gets its fair share.and as far as refugees coming from northern areas is concerned…i was watching a program arnd 2 days ago where one refugee stated “hum koi hindustani yah muhajir thori hain..hamara pakistan per poora haq hai” indeed they have the right.
however its really sad to know that people still have this sorta mentality.its a shame.if the ethnic divide is so strong…i dont see us going anywhere…
This kind of brutal happenings are the work of organised extremists groups of people,under the cover and with the support of their patrons in power for the fulfillment of their ulterior motives.As a resident of Gulistan-e-Johar reported dinning firing ,can’t be work of a few individuals and the pertinent question is where were the security forces and what kind of preoccupations,they were involved in?Has any probing been ordered and duly conducted on this account?
An overcrowded city,An inept political system,A corrupt social system, raciest leaders, A very frustated and largely unemployed youth,A parllel adminstration run by Mobesters and Dons then the state adminstrations,A religous uphivel orchastraited by Taliban or religous fanatics,are the main reasons why Karachi is burning today.If you see then you will find karachi no different then Mogadishu where war lords deterimine the order of the day and sanity will prevail only if the basic mindset of the people is changed otherwise Karachi is set to be doomed
Karachi is a metropolis and it generates more than 70% of our revenue. It’s about time, the city of Karachi gets its fare share. I feel the City has been literally robbed since the creation of Pakistan by our ruling elites from the North. The creation of ethnic parties in Karachi was a result of years of looting and disproportionate allocation of resources. Has anyone looked at the so called “Quota System” of ours? Where Karachiets who represent more than 10% of the total population are only allocated 2% of the available federal jobs and educational opportunities.
The entire police force of Karachi comprises of non-Karachiets. All federal offices in the city are filled with non-Karachiets who were appointed on the bases of their domicile-courtesy of our quota system.
As a Karachiet I welcome any Pakistani to our biggest and the “brightest” city, all I ask is that you respect the city and treat it as your own home
Well, since Karachi already has a population far more than it can handle, and this over-crowding has left the city’s infrastructure in shambles — in my opinion the authorities in Karachi are entitled to keep a check on the city’s population growth both through family planning and strict legal restrictions on admitting refugees from other parts of the country and Afghanistan. However, before taking such measures, laws & rules must be framed to that affect and then the necessary steps be taken accordingly. Needless to say, vigilante justice by resorting to violence is totally unacceptable, regardless of the motives.
Interesting discussion. So .. who are these people who are making trouble in Karachi? Foreigners may be involved. But if the local law enforcers don’t even have any suspects in mind, how are they going to start their job of investigation in the first place? And during this process of doing nothing, the sufferers of Karachi will only have to wait for the violent ruckus to start somewhere again.
Not to mention, that statement claiming “WE CONDEMN IT ALL” is an insult to any civilizded society. It’s not even worth commenting upon.
Mr.Kara Swart has correctly diagnosed the disease Pakistan is suffering from. The people are more attached to their religion, race, ethnicity. Two generations of people were injected with religious poison by the Govt agencies and media and it is nearly impossible to change the mindset of the Pakistan people now.
I really dont care whether a person is elected or selected. For Pakistan we need some one who actually works and cares for the people. PPP and PML N both had democratic governments one after another but what did they do for Pakistan? I Really dont know why people still believe in them, and turn against one of the best leaders Pakistan has ever had Pervez Musharraf.
It is always very easy to critize a democratically elected government, but remember democracy gets the best out of ourselves and the product of parliament work really hard to make things happen for and by the civilians. Every body is entitled to express his views which includes media, whereas in a dictatorial rule, any mistakes which would eventually happen by any one are never highlighted in public and the dictator is always projected as super human which is never a case.
The state of Balochistan, the great Kashmir debacle, Afghanistan policy and current Swat/Buner debacles are all products of past and current Army regime, the country is no good at dictatorial rule despite this fact we still believe that democracy is not for us.
Our parents have come all the way from India to settle and progress in Karachi city on many promises made by the then political leaders including Mr.Jinnah. Why should we allow uncivilised barbarians to settle at our place to create anarchy and crime.
only if we like india had abolished the feudal system long ago..we wouldnt have been suffering today!lets face it..all the leaders and political parties..and literally ALL of them have their own agenda. all of them have have been given a chance…2 of them have ruled twice infact!didnt do the country any good.they have nothing to loose.their investments are abroad..their children are abroad…some leaders are even abroad..wat do they loose in all this?nothing!absolutely nothing.it is we who suffer!
so if wer depending on any of these existing parties for any good…God have mercy on us!!!
It is very sad that it happened. i wish that it had not happened and people didn’t loose their precious life.
The under cover security personnel posted in Karachi should be vigilant enough as to make sure that they catch the mastermind behind the incidence.
I completely agree with what Kaley Khan said previously in his post. Karachi is used like a rented house and no one is seriously ready to invest in it.
Karachi generates the most revenue and shares it with the entire nation.
It is perhaps the only city which blends in people from a large variety of ethnic backgrounds.
The population of karachi is burgeoning while its resources are limited. Hence causing a large number of people to fight over restricted resources.
Its time Pakistan started developing other parts of the country as well so that people coming from other areas are facilitated with in their own cities to conduct business and trade and do jobs there.
I must say that general Musharraf’s government did achieve this to an extent.
Though he was not democratically elected but one has to admit that he was far better than any other democratic govt. that ever ruled over Pakistan. At least the conditions were not as precarious and violent as they are nowadays.
Farhad,
You are pro Musharaf as you are highliting his good governance. But, don’t you realise that he took power illagally? In simpler words, he was an illegimate president of Pakistan. And in order to hang on to his unlawful thirst for power, he tried to please his masters.
Don’t you realise? that he left our nation nowhere. Our Army suffered because of this goof.
The worst democracy is better than the best dictatorship.
What were his accomplishments? He didn,t even deliver his seven-points agenda.
He was good at declaring emergency twice and
house arresting the sixty noble judges.
Let me remind you here that I belong to no political party, therefore, this is my idependant opinion based on observational analysis.
This problem has subsided for the time being but it is a time bomb that is bound to explode sooner or later and must be addressed before that happens. I recommend the following:
Restrict Pashtun entry into Karachi, otherwise the majority of the recently displaced people from the Malakand will soon head for Karachi grossly adding to crime rate and making the Urdu speaking residents jittery. Secondly, major political parties and armed militias should act responsibly, and preferably have their armed wings absorbed into the local police.
Can’t agree with Ramkey more.
This tolerance of Pakistani’s for lack of procedure, in this case accepting the Mushraff coup as a legitimate process is truly the bone behind all their problems.
If Mushraff can grab power why not Taliban? Why not I or you? The only way to legitamize power is to derive it from consensus. And the only known way to measure consensus is democratic election process. It is not a western phenomenon to be hated. It is your solution to all the problems.
If you have an incompetant government, do not elect them. But do not condone illegal usurpers of power how ever well meaning or capable the individual is.
Farhan said …. “While musharaf was ruling,” ….
Farhan, Musharraf was not chosen by the people to represent them. It doesnt matter what he did or he didnt. He should not have been in power, period. If you dont understand this you will never understand why Pakistan is fast becoming a failed state.
I am from Pakistan and hurt every bit to see my country being torn apart at seams. Whilst I have sympathy for Tariq’s empassioned views, I must say we Pakistani have to seek the truth with in ourselves and that is likely to be unpleasant. Rule one of remedy is to seek the source of problems. I am afraid we will find that fault lies with us and our ruling and detached elites. only limited blame may go to the enemy. Afterall if we call anyone an enemy, it makes sense that he or she should at the very least try to hurt us! The onus is upon us to protect ourselves.
I have read a lot of comments here and do feel sad for Pakistan. I am from India and what I read about Pakistan, one of the conclusions about your country is that you have been let down by your ruling elite. Everyone was too busy playing the power game to build institutions. Democracy thrives on institutions that continue to do what they are supposed to do without fear or favour. The good news was the reinstatement of the Chief Justice but for the judiciary to be an effective institution it has to be free from political interference and corruption. The second institution is the Press, it needs to be free. The army as an institution needs to be subordinated to the government. I am no expert on Pakistan but feel that the nation Jinnah created and what it is today arre two very different entities.
While musharaf was ruling, all the tensions were overcomed professionaly and the way he used to tackle the situations was outstanding. Current governance is apparently short of skills, expertise and ideas. Current governance always blaim the policies of musharaf; however, unable to solve the prevailing issues.