November 17, 2008	Monday	Ziqa'ad 18, 1429

KARACHI, Nov 16: Police authorities have said that recent attempts to grab pieces of land in certain parts of the city have stirred armed violence and claimed the lives of over 10 political activists in a month, and warned that this might lead to large-scale clashes among rival groups and create a severe law and order situation.

Seeking a political solution to the problem, the police high-ups in a recent communiqué to the Sindh home ministry have called for urgent measures to “arrest the situation before it goes out of control”. Officials at both the central police office and the provincial home ministry confirmed that the communication cited the gravity of the situation.

“In the light of such a revealing letter to the ministry, the home department has taken up the matter and is moving fast for a broad-based policy,” said an official at the Sindh government. “The letter from the police command cites the recent incidents of firing and armed clashes in different parts of the city and their causes, which suggests that attempts (to grab pieces of land) by political groups led to deadly clashes.”

The law enforcers, he said, had identified areas of Orangi Town, Baldia and parts of North Nazimabad as flashpoints, where nearly half a dozen incidents of armed clashes have occurred in a month.

“It said that since Oct 8 to Nov 5, some five incidents of shoot-outs have been reported to different police stations,” said the official. “These incidents occurred on Oct 8, 10, 27, 28, 30 and Nov 5 in the limits of Mochko, Pakistan Bazaar, North Nazimabad and Korangi police stations, in which pedestrians and activists of a couple of political groups were killed.”

Citing a brief extract from the two-page letter to the Sindh home minister from the police hierarchy, he said in most of the incidents people from outside the particular areas tried to possess targeted pieces of land, which provoked inhabitants of the vicinity and prompted clashes.

“The communiqué says that in some cases the administrations of different towns backed by a political group tried to vacate illegal possession of land, which created a law and order situation,” he added.

In fact, he said, the most targeted pieces of land were located in the foothills of the city and fell in the jurisdiction of the city government.

“Areas of Orangi Town around the hills of Toori Bangash have emerged as the most serious cause of contention between the rival political groups,” he said, citing the police’s findings.

Political killings

The city has witnessed a steep jump in the killings of political activists in recent days, as more than a dozen people belonging to rival groups died in a month. The fresh reports have come as a grim reminder of March 2008, when about 22 activists of three parties – the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Sunni Tehrik and MQM-H – were targeted and killed in the very next month after the Feb 18 general election.

However, police authorities believe that apart from ideological differences between parties and their scramble for dominance in certain areas, groups’ interest in pieces of land in different parts of the city have emerged as a serious threat to the law and order situation.

“The police have suggested that a solution to the recent violence lies more in political dialogue, and asked the ministry to play its role in this regard,” said the official. “The situation has left the police in a quandary as all the rival groups, one way or another, are partners in the coalition government. So, there is a greater need for the government quarters to mediate and hold dialogue among the parities concerned.”