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).
2 wrongs dont make a right i.e.
army/mullas/punjabism as much to blame as MQM!
[quote comment=”46954″]Umar, please can we avoid going down the ethnic divide at this time. I don’t think most people are thinking along those lines right now. I don’t think the poor ambulance driver who was killed in Karachi today while perfoming his duty, is being described by his ethnicity. So, please…… bus, bahut ho gaya….[/quote]
avoiding the ethnic dimension to the conflict is equivalent to an ostrich shutting its eyes.
its clear mqm is flexing its muscles and federal govt cant do jack bcoz its a marriage of convenience. quid pro quo i.e. let the mqm do its badmashis and let the rest of pakistan be treated like slaves by punjab, so long as altaf bhai’s jurisdiction is not disturbed, all is good.
ofcourse i am all for pakistan but until n unless the issue of provincial autonomy is not solved, u ll carry on seeing such disasterous days.
give sindh its autonomy and watch how the muhajirs then desert MQM and freely take part in other parties. MQM = alliance against punjabism.
Altaf Hussain and his mafia known as MQM is totally responsible for this choas. He should be be hanged in public along with the top leadership of this mafia. Second person behind this particular is mess is ofcourse Musharaf, although I believe that Musharaf gave him the permission to stage all this.
Its sad infact its worth crying.
@LS: maybe today is the day of starting another War of Independence?
latest: CJ lands at Isbd. Tons of lawyers at airport..and not in a happy mood either….
Remember, today was the anniversary of the War of Independence in 1857.