Adil Najam
Pictures on the television show Karachi burning. The city is at war. Morchas everywhere. Clashes, violence, firing, deaths.
The Chief Justice is holed up at the airport and the streets are ruled by mobs. Aaj TV is being fired at and Talat Hussain reports that the police and rangers are unable to get their to help because the roads are blocked (to stop the Chief Justice). Of course, these road blocks have not stopped the killers who are firing at the TV station. As of now 15 are reported dead. Over 100 seriously injured. Hospitals in Karachi have declared an emergency. The Prime Minister has called an emergency meeting of his own to respond to what the government is calling a ’security situation’ but which sounds, smells, looks and feels like the beginning of a war on the streets of Karachi. Flights in and out of the city are stalled. Train traffic is stopped. The city seems to have descended back to its darkest days of street violence.
Meanwhile, the petty blame game continues. But things are changing too fast for one to analyze them. But one thing is certain. Things have gone out of control. Totally out of control. Totally out of everyone’s control. It is a sad sad day for all of us.
I wish I had something more profound to say. All I can hink of right now is what someone wrote on our comments section recently: Khuda Khair Karray!
(Picture credits BBC and The News and pictorial story at Bilal Zuberi’s blog; great blog coverage at Karachi Metroblog).
Prof. wrote an article in THE NEWS today
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=5622 4
Pakistani establishment oposition parties and former cheif justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chudhry are responsible of 12th may tragedy
[quote comment=”48228″]We become too political in everything.[/quote]
Karachite, that is exactly why politics is there so we don’t have to resort to violence. It’s the insistence of MQM on not allowing peaceful political activities that has caused the current problem ….just like Jamaat Islami used to do before MQM. It seems whoever is in power does not want to play fairly.
Prof. Najam, saw your excelent essay on 5/12 posted on Naseeb Vibes, but not here. why?
http://www.naseeb.com/naseebvibes/
As our city begins to get back to normal I think it is the responsibility of ordinary people to build the civil society in the city so that it is taken away from political parties and returned to citizens. Civil society is the only solution, though activities, business, arts, civic life. We become too political in everything.
How did MQM try to control the situation but not letting police and rangers stop the massacre? By making police actually help and patrol along with MQM ghunday? If MQM is not guilty why is MQM changing stories every day? Good one “HAQ PARAST”
if MQM wants to surpress their opponents by power and they had to do it on 12th of may, how could the opposition came prepared with assult rifels and pistols? it was a preplanned conspiracy against MQM! in my opinion, MQM did their best to control the situation.
i was really amazed when i saw the footage of the ‘real massacre’!!!! everyone was blaming it to mqm but now as the dust have settled, its clear who’s behind it. no opposition perty wants karachi to progress, so they tend to ruin the peace over here! and its true that only biggest party of karachi is MQM! every one has to except it! yeah, its true….