April 04, 2008	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 26, 1429

KARACHI, April 3: The deaths of nearly two dozen political activists during March in Karachi indicate that the targeted killing of political opponents has risen sharply after the recent elections. It is clear that even as the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) mull over a power-sharing formula in the province and the centre, harmony between the various political factions in Karachi remains a challenge for all elected representatives in both the rural and urban areas of the province.

Figures complied by law-enforcement agencies reveal a sudden increase in politics-related violence that occurred in different parts of the city immediately after the Feb 18 polls when pro-Musharraf political forces experienced humiliating defeats across the country, except in Karachi. During the past month, such violence claimed the lives of 22 members belonging to various political groups, most of whom had stood against the earlier political administration.

“Of the 22 men who died in March, six workers belonged to the Muhajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) and were taken out through targeted killings carried out mainly in eastern parts of the city,” a senior police official told Dawn.

The Sunni Tehrik, another force wielding considerable influence in the city, also fell victim to the violence and lost four of its workers. Similarly, two members of the Jeay Sindh Mahaz and three other individuals, who had had political affiliations before they disassociated themselves from their respective parties, were also killed during the month past.

“Even the two major winners in the city of the Feb 18 polls, the PPP and the MQM, were touched by the violence as the parties lost four and three workers respectively,” said the official. “So far this month, there are no indications that the violence is abating.”

Parties blame MQM

The strongest reaction to these targeted killings has come from the Sunni Tehrik and the MQM-H, as both parties held their political rivals responsible for the deaths of their party workers. In an aggressive move, the Sunni Tehrik went so far as to attempt to lay a siege to the Governor’s House in protest against the killing of a senior member last week.

Both these parties boycotted the elections and have historically not enjoyed a popular mandate in the city. However, their leaderships believe that their parties are being targeted for being political rivals of the MQM, which was a coalition of the earlier government in the centre and in the province.

“We have put our grievances on the record several times and have also brought the matter to the attention of the authorities concerned,” said Shahid Ghori, central leader of the Sunni Tehrik. “However, we have yet to witness any positive results.” He added that though the leadership of his party met with the MQM’s coordination committee earlier this week, there had been no change in the MQM’s stance towards its rivals.

Meanwhile Akhtar Hussain, a member of the ad hoc committee of the MQM-H, raised the same issues but said that unlike the Sunni Tehrik, his party had not been invited for talks with the MQM. Moreover, he brushed aside the official death toll and claimed to have received the bodies of 35 of his party’s workers since the elections.

“We have made several attempts towards peace but there has unfortunately been no serious effort from the other side,” he told Dawn. “Our rivals started targeting our workers after we demonstrated street power through a protest demonstration held by the party’s female members outside the Karachi Press Club last month.”

‘Unseen forces’ to blame

While both the Sunni Tehrik and the MQM-H point the finger of blame at the MQM, this former coalition partner of the earlier government did not escape unscathed from the spate of violence last month and three MQM members were killed in different areas of the city.

While the situation allows the MQM to raise counter-allegations, the party suspects that the ‘evil designs of unseen forces’ are taking swipes at the city’s peace. “We are the major stakeholders in this city since we won the majority of the seats during the elections and run the city government for metropolitan development,” said Faisal Sabzwari, an MPA-elect of the MQM, which also nominated him a deputy parliamentary member in the Sindh Assembly. “We cannot afford violence in the city, or for the law and order situation to be threatened. In this spirit, we held talks with the Sunni Tehrik instead of trading allegations.”

Mr Sabzwari told Dawn that along with other parties, the MQM had also fallen victim to the recent spate of violence but was attempting to bring about harmony through holding talks with political forces.

However, the political rivals of the MQM maintain that they will not feel safe until the new government makes a commitment that allows and ensures a level playing field for all the political forces in the city, and follows democratic norms.

Meanwhile, the authorities confess that there was a sharp increase in targeted killings during the past month but hope that this worrying situation will be reversed once the new administration takes over.

“There has been a rise in the number of such cases but it is more exaggerated than the ground realities” commented Sindh Home Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan. “We are handling the situation carefully and taking administrative measures but these activities may come to an end after the new political administration takes effective control.”