A sense of insecurity has once again been created among the people of Karachi in the garb of so-called Talibanisation. The threat of ethnic tensions subsided some how or the other after the May 12 Karachi carnage. Another attempt was made to fan ethnic hatred among people on July 7 when a series of seven bombs hit the Pakhtun-dominated areas of the city. And now the Pakhtun-dominated areas of the city, under a well-planned conspiracy, are being tagged as the havens of Taliban.
In the province of Sindh neither the workers of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) nor those of Awami National Party (ANP) are willing to accept MQM as a coalition partner in the government. Political observers believe that the present coalition at the provincial level is unnatural and can break at any instance. An indication of dying partnership and a possible break-up is evident from the recent statements made by the Muttahida Quami Movement’s leadership. Perhaps President Pervez Musharraf has assured MQM a share in power in any future setup as well in exchange for giving PPP a tough time. This is the reason that the political situation in the province and especially in Karachi is fast changing.
In Karachi, which has long been battling street crimes, loadshedding, lawlessness and ballooning population, Talibanisation is being invited to achieve the ill-designs of those with vested interests. A strategy is being chalked out to ensure that only a single party with a particular ethnic identity dominates the city and other nationalities are made to pack up and leave the city – that has always been a mini-Pakistan.
It seems that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) for its own particular objectives and aims wishes to get the city vacated of the Pakhtuns. An obvious example of the party’s mindset was witnessed by the whole country rather across the globe on May 12 last year when the chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry visited Karachi. More than 50 people belonging to various political parties as well as common citizens who wanted to welcome the chief justice were brutally killed on the streets of the city. The siege that was laid around the Sindh High Court building on the occasion of the hearing of the May 12 case and the violent actions on April 9 and the series of bombing in the city just a day after the statement by MQM leader Altaf Hussain regarding Talibanisation very precisely indicate that a conspiracy is being hatched to spoil peace in the city.
Addressing a hurriedly called general workers meeting last week the MQM leader Altaf Hussain directed the party workers to prepare themselves against Talibanisation and warned against a possible takeover of the city by Taliban. In his address Altaf Hussain appealed to the international community and the human rights organisations working at both national as well as international level that they must come forward in the name of humanity and use their influence to save the people of Karachi from the religious extremist elements.
He said, we would not accept any Kalashnikov-wielding Shariat and would not succumb to the armed Taliban extremists. He said we would not let anyone turn Karachi into Fata.
Altaf Hussain said he had been warning the people against the Taliban threat and the conspiracies being hatched in this regard for quiet some time and that he had been presenting proofs as well.
Altaf Hussain, mentioning names of some of the madressahs in the city, said Ume Hasssan had offered to provide training to the students of those madressahs and had asked them to prepare themselves for jihad. In his speech Altaf Hussain mentioned about the Pakhtun-dominated areas in specific. He said Fayyaz and Zubair, residents of Hazro, Attock, were behind the act of propagating the idea of jihad in the Pakhtun-dominated areas as well as murder of two Intelligence Bureau personnel in Karachi some three months ago.
He said the two persons had started sending people to Afghanistan for jihad training. In his speech Altaf Hussain said two persons, Dr Arshad Waheed and Dr Akmal Waheed, had started sending people to Afghanistan after faking travel documents. He said they were also involved in giving lessons on jihad.
The MQM leader also alleged that Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) local leaders had contacts with Al-Qaeda. He urged the party workers to save the city from Talibanisation and form vigilance committees as well as establish security system in localities. The MQM leader appealed to philanthropists in the city to contribute towards the security of the people of the city and help the poor who were even willing to lay down their lives against Talibanisation.
Lauding the sacrifices of the workers during the past military operation, he said they should prepare themselves for the same mentally as well as physically.
Even prior to this, many unfounded reports have surfaced from the investigative cells formed by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. This time the report by the MQM cell mentions the places visited by Ume Hassan, names of madressahs and people working for Taliban and Al-Qaeda as well as their addresses. The biggest loose noose in the report is that Dr Arshad Waheed is reported to be the man running Al-Qaeda network in the city, but the fact is that in the US attack on Bajaur hospital on March 16, Dr Arshad Waheed was killed. Either the report was formulated prior to Dr Arshad Waheed’s death or the MQM had to accept that the report was false.
Reliable sources said Dr Akmal Waheed was residing in Dubai for the past one month.
Altaf Hussain, in his address, also accused the doctor brothers of being involved in attacks on the corps commander though the court had already acquitted the two in the said case, and this statement of the MQM chief was equal to contempt of court.
The way MQM is raising the issue of Talibanisation is itself synonymous to fanning ethnic hatred in the city. It is important to mention that with every single visit of the president the MQM starts singing a different tune. During the previous visit of President Musharraf the city nazim Mustafa Kamal warned Pakistan People’s Party and now the issue of Talibanisation has been raised.
If one looks at Karachi, all the colonies located at the entry points of the city that is Sohrab Goth, Pahar Ganj, North Nazimabad, Orangi Town, Sher Shah and others, Pakhtuns are in a majority there. This is something that the MQM is not easy with.
The MQM is keeping an eye at the property and wants to get complete control of the city. Even prior to this the MQM has been involved in illegally occupying parks and real estate property in areas where it enjoyed little support. In these areas the land occupied was distributed among its workers and they were also provided government plots.
On the other hand the contacts between MQM and the US are fast growing, an example of it was the meeting of the American officials with the city nazim at a crucial time. The MQM has said wall chalking had been done by Taliban in the city but no evidence of it could be seen in any part of the country.
The MQM should have raised the issue in the provincial cabinet and handed over information if it had any to the provincial minister of interior. On the other hand the government of Sindh has rejected the statements of the MQM leadership.