Once again an effort is being made to create sense of insecurity among the people of Karachi. Once more installation of security gates has commenced on the streets in various areas of the city. In most parts of the city people are being assigned special duties while others are being encouraged to keep weapons.
Various rumours are being circulated regarding a possible Taliban attack on residents of different areas of the city. For some time now Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has been claiming that a conspiracy was being hatched to Talibanise Karachi and that truckloads of arms and explosives were being smuggled into the city.
Recently MQM convener Farooq Sattar, at a press conference held at the MQM centre, said a conspiracy was being hatched to disturb law and order situation in the city at a large scale and for this purpose thousands of people from the tribal areas were being brought and settled in Karachi. He said the sole purpose behind getting thousands of people from the tribal areas settled in Karachi was to hand over the city to the Taliban, claiming that for this purpose large quantity of arms was being accumulated.
The MQM, criticising the visit of the wife of Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, Umme Hassan to Karachi, said the government of Sindh provided official protocol as well as heavy security to her. It said under the pretext of operation against Taliban a conspiracy is being hatched to initiate sectarian violence in the city. All this looks less meaningful provided the fact that MQM itself surfaced amid sectarian violence.
On the other hand Taliban Pakistan’s spokesperson Maulvi Umar and Mullah Faqir Mohammad, while responding to the MQM’s accusations, said the Taliban were not killing any innocent person rather they were fighting for their own survival.
Calling MQM chief Altaf Hussain a US and jewish agent, they said he was conspiring against Pakistan and Muslims sitting out of Pakistan. They alleged that MQM got thousands of people killed in Karachi and that the party’s history was full of examples of terrorism.
Whereas Umme Hassan after returning to Islamabad from a three-day trip to Karachi alleged that she received threats from MQM and that she was not allowed to talk to media in the city.
This new situation made the provincial minister for interior and a close associate of Asif Ali Zardari, Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, call a press conference. Dr Zulfiqar Mirza said neither was Karachi facing a threat of Talibanisation nor was the rest of the province.
If the circumstances-stricken people from the tribal areas are coming to Karachi (in search of refuge) then calling them Taliban is wrong as they are themselves coming to the city out of fear of the Taliban (in the tribal areas).
He said he believed that those talking about Talibanisation had been misinformed or there could be some other objective behind the whole issue.
Those talking about Talibanisation in Karachi need to distinguish between Pakhtun and Afghan population. Afghans are living in the city for the past 11 years but why is it the case that the issue is being highlighted after the formation of the Pakistan People’s Party government.
Responding to a question, the provincial interior minister said even if Taliban claim of controlling Karachi then too it was completely wrong, as they were not organised enough and that the government knew how to control them. Replying to a question, he said he never mentioned of launching an operation against Madrassahs or Talibanisation.
Dr Mirza said there was a difference between Islam and Talibanisation and such propaganda was a conspiracy to destabilise the government. He said the people and businessmen were experiencing a sense of insecurity due to press conferences regarding Talibanisation of the city, advertisements, wall chalking and posters.
The minister said the Sindh governor had been asked to stop his friends in the MQM from issuing statements regarding Talibanisation, adding that he would take up the matter in his meeting with the provincial cabinet members and the chief minister of Sindh.
The provincial interior minister said if someone told the governor about Talibanisation four months ago then we can’t say anything about it as we were not informed nor there was any proof  in this regard.
To a question regarding Umme Hassan, he said she was a respectable Pakistani citizen and calling her a terrorist was wrong.
Dr Zulfiqar Mirza said Umme Hassan did criticise the previous government and the Lal Masjid operation but did not train or gave lessons to anyone on suicide bombing.
He said for the last one-and-a-half months there was high alert in Karachi, and the police were fulfilling their responsibilities after the new government took over in the province.
He said the government would not allow anyone to act on its own to counter any conspiracy, adding that it was his responsibility to remove public apprehensions regarding Taliban taking over Karachi. The truth, he added, was that Taliban did not exist in the entire province of Sindh.
He said the people of Karachi valued Islam and any religious teaching should not be labeled as Talibanisation. There is religious education and teaching in Karachi and the rest of Sindh but at no place Talibanisation was being propagated.
The provincial interior minister said the Sindh government was monitoring religious seminaries and mosques to ensure no unlawful activity. If any proof of Talibanisation was found the government would take action.