Adil Najam
Karachi used to be called “the city that never sleeps.” It may as well now be called “the city that forever bleeds.”
Karachi is bleeding again. More than a dozen dead. 80 injured. The Sindh Home Minister says “shoot to kill.” And everyone expects more blood to spill on the streets of Karachi. Fear rules the thoroughfares of Karachi.
Here are some snapshots of what has been happening:
The News: Confusion and chaos reigned supreme in many parts of the city due to widespread rumours of violence in the city on Saturday evening. Shops and markets in Saddar, Zainab Market, Zebunnisa Street and Burns Road were closed. Besides, petrol pumps on Sharea Faisal and Saddar areas were also shutdown. Vendors and pushcarts selling eatables were also not seen near major streets of the area. Police mobile vans were seen patrolling the affected areas and personnel taking positions to thwart any law and order situation.
Daily Times: The riots started from Banaras, early on Saturday, when a driver and conductor of a local route were thrashed by a mob in Mosa Colony. As a result the aggravated locals started firing and resorted to violence. The riots spread like bush fire, engulfing surrounding areas where groups of angry protesters pelted stones and fired at cars, setting fire to many vehicles. Two rickshaws and motorcycles were burned at Pak Colony, two buses and two motorcycles in Ittehad Town, two tankers at Nagan Chowrangi and one water tanker in Qasba Morr.
The News: Naseeb, aged 22, said that he was travelling in a rickshaw when he was intercepted by four armed men riding motorcycles near Abdullah College. When Naseeb told the armed men that he was going home to Qasba Colony, one of the armed men took out his pistol and fired at him. After injuring him, the armed men fled from the scene. Safdar Khan, a 30-year-old minibus driver, said that armed men intercepted his vehicle near Qasba Mor No-1 and ordered all the passengers to get down. Afterwards, when Safdar was still in the bus, the armed men opened fire at him and set the vehicle ablaze. Muneer, a 23-year-old labourer, was going home towards Peerabad when unidentified gunmen opened fire at him and fled. Two other persons Inam Dar, aged 25, and Rose Zameer, aged 26, also sustained bullet injuries in Peerabad area and were brought to the JPMC.
The Nation: At 8:30pm on Saturday night, traffic was barely reported on the City’s main arteries including MA Jinnah road, Karachi University Road, Shahrah-e-Pakistan, Sir Shah Suleman Road, Shershah Soori Road, Shah Faisal Road, and other important roads. The public transport including buses, minibuses, rickshaws and taxies were disappeared from all the main thoroughfares when the violence news spread in different parts of the City. The transporters took off their vehicles due to fear of burning, while private commuters were also avoiding to come on the streets due to the rumours and fear… People were sending mobile messages to their relatives and friends about the effected areas as well as inquiring about the situation of settled other areas.
The News: A rickshaw driver, Nasir Mehmood, told The News that, early in the morning, he was strictly advised not to visit places like Banaras or Sohrab Goth at any cost and told that, if he ventured there, he would be targeted due to his ethnicity by the residents of those areas. “At Korangi Road, another fellow rickshaw driver refused to go to Orangi although he was offered almost double the normal fare; he still felt insecure travelling there,†said Mehmood. A resident of Manzoor Colony, Inaam-ul-Haq, told The News that he was scheduled to visit the Cattle Market situated on the Super Highway on Saturday to buy a sacrificial animal. “Due to the circulation of terrifying news, I decided to defer my plans to go there,†he said.
Dawn: According to a private television channel, Pirabad police said two unknown gunmen opened fire in the Bukhari Colony area of Orangi Town at about 2:30 p.m., killing two men and fleeing swiftly. Later, three bodies were brought to Orangi Town’s Qatar Hospital while injured were being treated in different hospitals around the city. One person was also killed during firing in the De Silva town area. Airports nationwide were put on red alert and the airports’ special passes were cancelled for security purposes, television reports said. The incidents of violence struck various parts of the city, including Banaras, Orangi Town, Quaidabad, North Karachi and Nazimabad.
Everyone seems to know the script of the drama that is about to unfold, yet again, on the streets of Karachi. Except that the deaths will be real, not make-believe. Those who will be doing the killing have been arming up. Those who will be doing the instigation have already upped their rhetoric of hate, division and violence. Those who will be doing the dying, remain on knife’s edge, hoping that they will not be called upon to be sacrificed in the rituals of ethnic murder, so close to the Eid of sacrifice. The rest sit stunned in inaction as the politics of mayhem readies to raise its ugly head yet again. We see Pakistani kill Pakistani in the name of Pakistan. We sit afraid. Very afraid.
When will this murder stop? Why must violence be the only resort? How much blood can the streets of Karachi soak? When will we learn that violence is not teh solution to our problems. It is the problem!
This is not my first post on Karachi that I am compelled to end with the prayer: “Khuda Khair Karray!” Indeed, I have had to use that refrain too many times for violence all over the country. Once again, I can think of nothing else to say. Except, maybe, that the “Khair” will first have to come from our own hearts and from our own actions.
Gill, you say that
“The West is about to collapse in far worse fashion than anything you have ever seen in Pakistan. The difference is that Pakistanis have been living with this for a while and can deal with it.
When things go bad in the West, the people will be caught off-guard and will turn into the worst sort of animals.” …. You say this, while Pakistan sadly sees this sort of corruption, violence, murder and mayhem on a daily basis?
Frankly, I am glad to live in a society that has not been “living with this (violence) for a while “.
You need to wake up and take a deep breath, that rotten smell of a society in decay, is right under your nose my friend.
Yes, the West has an economic crisis – but its a worldwide global crisis and has affected Pakistan as much as all other countries across the world. There is an economic downturn – that being said , anyone who tuned in their TVs on Black Friday (major shopping event in the US!) or went out on the day would not have necessarily believed that. Its an economic correction which was much needed for the fundamentals to work and by no stretch of anyone’s imagination will turn people into animals in the West !!!!! What is simply happening is people are becoming more frugal in their spending, there is a degree of job insecurity , but all of this is being managed by the govts of US / UK with the aim of getting back into the swing of things by mid of thew new year……. by no way is the West going to descend into people with guns roaming the streets wanting to kill you………
The comments about moving on from Pakistan whether you are Mohajir/Punjabi / Pakhtun still hold not withstanding the current economic crisis.
Adil, I left New York FOR Pakistan. I grew up there.
It’s getting bad.
It’s not entirely safe from crime, and when it does happen, it’s completely random and people are caught unawares. The violence isn’t civil unrest. When civil unrest DOES reach New York, then everything will go very bad, very quickly.
Don’t forget how many hundreds of Pakistanis (and Muslims of other ethnicities) were snatched up in the dead of night after 9/11 and literally put in makeshift camps set up in stadiums.
http://nymag.com/news/features/48931/
I can’t believe you would advocate that people work as CAB DRIVERS in Manhattan. These people have no dignity. I would know, I’ve seen American friends mercilessly make fun of cab drivers while I was with them.
You also pretty much doom your children by raising them in America. The education system there (before graduate school level) absolutely stinks and the culture WILL corrupt them to extents that even other Western countries fear. The healthcare system in the United States is outrageous and impossible for normal people to afford. A quick trip to the emergency room will land you *thousands of dollars* in debt in one fell swoop. How is a cab driver going to pay that off? Obama’s mythical universal health care system hasn’t materialized yet.
I can understand wanting to leave Karachi, but that depends on whether you’re potentially subject to the violence here. If your family is Mahajir and you have lots of friends and contacts in Karachi, you can get by mostly free of MQM’s touch. If you’re Punjabi or Pathan and things have gotten bad, you can relocate to other parts of Pakistan. There are plenty of options WITHIN Pakistan.
In the current world situation, the only way to leave Pakistan and not destroy your future is if you’re going to be taking on a professional career in a country such as Canada or a Scandinavian country in Europe (best quality of life in the latter… also great education and healthcare if you can put up with the rising anti-Muslim sentiment for a while). That way all your time there will aid you when you *inevitably have to come back*. Because like I said, the writing is on the wall for Western economies. It’s all they talk about on TV, newspapers, and on the internet. I’ve actually seen people posting threads to sites like reddit about how Islamic economic policies (anti-interest, anti-fractional-reserve-banking, gold standard, etc) would make sense in today’s world. The policies enacted by the US government are not fixing their problems. A piece published in many world newspapers the other day by a major Russian political analyst has the US collapsing and splitting apart soon. An internal Citibank (yes, CITIBANK) memo says that the government’s attempted economic bailout will only result in the worst sort of hyperinflation and to prepare for the VERY REAL POSSIBILITY of civil unrest in the United States by as early as 2010.
“Black Friday”, the day after Thanksgiving holiday in the US, popularly known for rampant consumerism as people flock to stores for good deals before the Christmas rush, turned incredibly violent for the first time this year. Right where I live in New York, a worker was trampled by people rushing into a Walmart store, and a woman miscarried during the stampede. People were annoyed that they had to close the store early and that the dead body was in their way. When Americans feel their wallets tighten and struggle to maintain their ridiculous way of life (which has finally caught up to them… it’s like Hugo Chavez’ dreams came true), they will get frustrated and *violent*. In another Toys R Us, two women, with their children present, got into a fight then had their husbands start shooting each other (the stereotype of Americans carrying guns is overstated except its very true in the South, Midwest, and urban centers of cities… and gun sales went through the roof after Obama’s election).
Another possible solution for Pakistani professionals is the Gulf states. They’re, along with the other rich Middle Eastern nations, buying up massive amounts of gold. People predict the price of gold will more than double in the next two years, so these places will mostly stay rich and they’re starved for professionals. You will at least be guaranteed safety, security, and probably a decent middle-to-upper-middle-class lifestyle.
It is absolutely pointless for non-professionals to leave Pakistan. Unless you’re sending out someone who has no other recourse to work a gas station in New York and funnel ALL proceeds back to their family, until such a time when they have to come back themselves. But then the money runs out. Invest in your future and your family’s future, and prepare for a topsy-turvy world. The only thing you have on your side is that by contrast, Pakistanis are actually *good* people. The ugliness of everyone else has been masked by their worldly progress, which is about to be taken away.
To Gill – Fair point , I may be over reacting, but this is a knee jerk reaction to what I am seeing happen over 20 years! I have had 6 armed men enter my house at 10 am in the morning and rob us blind….and all the time my parents and my sister and I feared whether at the end of that ordeal they would shot us dead or not. And they quite obviously didnt! :)) But I really dont think one should have to go through that. ( and btw my cars were stolen twice in Karachi!)
Are you saying if we as I am advising people – leave Karachi and aim for a better life outside, that the current economic crisis will bring the West down to that ? Do you seriously think that ?
For eg, you mention you have moved back to Pakistan – I am assuming you mean back to Karachi – what have you moved back to ? Loadshedding, water shortage , the chance of being robbed / shot / stabbed – (well actually the possibility of being stabbed is rare, the possibility of being shot is higher!) And why did you move back ? Did you voluntarily give up an opportunity in the West and decide to move back ?
And :))) If you are not a Pathan or Punjabi – what options do you suggest ?
Lets be realistic, the MQM does not want anything good for us, neither does the ANP or the PPP or the JI. All political parties are in the game for their own gain – not for the common man. So why should the common man suffer ?
Every young person (and every parent in Karachi) should start to aim for themselves ( and for their children) to get them out of this hell hole known as Karachi – enough is enough. Having the infamous green passport is not helping our lives, their is no pride is being pakistani – being pakistani in pakistan means that you are exposed to corruption at every level from the moment you leave your house, a chance of possibly never being able to get home alive at night – so why live in a country like that ?
At least if you are abroad even if you are working as a cab driver / chef / IT person/ Finance person or whatever in Manhattan or UK or any other place in the world (there are many options) – at least you and your family does not have to go through this lovely daily question of ” oh – will I probably get shot (replace with robbed / stabbed – there are many options if you are a Karachite) today ?”
Enough is enough , Karachi has been a hell hole since 1986 – thats 20 years of riots and killings