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).
“out of control”? what nonsense. MQM and its generals are in full control. This is exactly how they “control” people. They kill them if anyone dares to stand against the boss in London or his general in Pindi. But their time will come and it will not be pretty…
Sir your picture of CJ in dark glasses so much reminds me of Altaf bhai’s pics in dark glasses.
OK, seems like MQM has now been able to reach “The News” and “Jang” newspapers. The leading headlines have changed from the accounts of the events to Shujaat’s condolences over attacks on MQM’s rally. Now they are trying to paint the attackers as the attacked. People who were paying attention during the 80’s and 90’s would not be surprised. We all know MQM’s blatant tactics to get the kind of coverage they desire from the newspapers.
So it’s back to the old ways for MQM. They are back to the tactics that have worked for them very well in the past.
Again a military dictator as the guardian angel for this terrorist outfit.
Will we ever learn?
27 killed, dozens wounded as Pakistan’s crisis erupts
Gun battles on Karachi streets as chief justice is trapped at airport
Peter Beaumont , foreign affairs editor
Sunday May 13, 2007
The Observer
At least 27 people were killed and dozens more wounded in the city of Karachi yesterday as Pakistan’s political crisis escalated into fierce gun battles.
The crisis, sparked by President Pervez Musharraf’s suspension of the country’s chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, on 9 March, exploded into lethal clashes on the streets of Karachi when Chaudhry tried to visit the city for a political rally of his supporters.
The suspension of Chaudhry over allegations of ‘misconduct’ has outraged the judiciary and the opposition, and rapidly turned into the most serious challenge to Musharraf’s authority since he seized power in 1999 in a bloodless coup.
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The crisis coincides with the run-up to a general election and an anticipated attempt by Musharraf, a close ally of the US, to secure another term. Analysts say Musharraf’s main motive in seeking the removal of the independent-minded Chaudhry is to have a more pliable man in place in case of a constitutional challenge to his plans.
The chief justice has been outspoken in his criticism of the government and has made a number of judgments that have irritated the government.
As Musharraf yesterday ruled out declaring a state of emergency, hospital officials in Karachi said that at least 27 people had died in the violence and 55 were wounded.
Television pictures showed men with AK-47 assault rifles firing from behind cars. A man with a neck wound was shown crying in a bus and another wounded man lay gasping in a pool of his own blood.
The gun battles broke out as Chaudhry arrived at Karachi airport, for what organisers hoped would be the largest in two months of rallies by lawyers and opposition parties protesting at his suspension, after ignoring requests from provincial officials to postpone his visit because of fears of bloodshed.
Opposition activists accused supporters of a pro-government party, the Mutahida Qami Movement (MQM), of attacking them with batons and gunfire as they attempted to greet the judge at the airport.
Witnesses described MQM supporters calling for ammunition and firing from buildings, reportedly at supporters of the Pakistan’s People’s Party and Jamaat-e-Islami while opposition supporters were firing back. Later, a senior MQM leader, Farooq Sattar, said four of the party’s supporters died in the clash.
Chaudhry had earlier declined an offer from authorities to travel to the venue of a planned downtown rally by helicopter and so was stranded at Karachi airport – as were hundreds of passengers from earlier flights. He later abandoned his efforts to enter the city.
Wasim Akhtar, an MQM official with the provincial government, urged Chaudhry to return to Islamabad to avoid further violence. The MQM is a partner in a coalition ruling Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital.
Arshad Zubairi, chief executive of the private TV network Aaj, said that its building elsewhere in the city had been fired on by MQM supporters who wanted them to stop airing live footage of the unrest.
The government’s failure to contain the unrest in Karachi, despite the presence of 15,000 security forces, will deepen the political turmoil gripping Pakistan.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2078 495,00.html