KARACHI: Can criminal groups become political actors? Are people in certain regions prone to authoritarianism? Is violence a tool to mobilise voters during the time of elections? These observations were shared by Boris Wilke, senior researcher at the International Centre for Violence Research, University of Bielefeld in Germany, at a seminar on ‘Conflicts in Global South: A Comparative Study’ on Thursday organised by the Programme on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, Department of International Relations, University of Karachi.

This study is part of a two-year project in which four researchers have taken their countries as case studies to understand political violence.

Beginning the session, Mr Wilke spoke about three main debates that centre the research project. The first one relates to the perception that domestic and internal conflicts in countries undergoing democratic transitions are a recent phenomenon. “That is a misconception. It has been occurring even before 1945.” The second debate pertains to failure of the states but in fact “there are very few states that are real failures, the rest are mostly fragile”. Thirdly, “this argument that people in some countries are prone to authoritarianism is incorrect. Such characteristics are exhibited everywhere.”

Mr Wilke suggested to the four researchers that they undertake research on political violence in their countries (El Salvador, Nigeria, Pakistan and Egypt) based on the following perspectives: “Each state has its own formation process and history. We shouldn’t expect the states to be emulating experiences of other states. Then, it shouldn’t be expected that disruptive action [violence] to disappear for it will recur and expand when democracy expands. This approach is known as contentious politics in which people are outspoken and where politics becomes violent. It is a part of political life.” We must understand in a democracy that contentious politics is a possibility, he added.

He also highlighted the fact that in textbooks students are taught about conventional politics comprising routine and administrative aspects of political systems whereas contentious political movements are often overlooked.

Also read: Karachi operation

Coming to the four case studies, Mr Wilke briefly explained the political conditions of these countries and shared some of the preliminary findings observed by the researchers.

El Salvador was ravaged by civil war in the 1980s which was brought to an end by the UN in 1992. However, since then the country is beset with gang wars; in fact, according to Mr Wilke, it is much more prevalent there than here. “It has a very high homicide rate. It is a very violent society.” For the last four years, these criminal gangs have been negotiating with the government in order to enter the political sphere.

The case study is examining the adopting of violent entrepreneurs who have become political actors especially during elections in El Salvador. “During the recent presidential elections, the political parties were careful not to antagonise the gangs, and they did not do so due to violent backlash but because these criminals have hard-core supporters.”

The question being asked when studying El Salvador is “if we put gangs in the political process, could it mean putting the political system at risk?”

About Pakistan, he said the researcher is looking at the phenomenon of political violence in Karachi. “Political parties are involved in political homicides i.e. targeted killings is a prominent feature.” He emphasised that it is not about blaming political parties and they had no idea that the operation would be taking place when they began the study two years ago.

Competition over land is fuelling inter-party killings and contentious politics filling a void due to the absence of the state are some of the early observations of the case study on Karachi. Other aspects that are being looked into include are there preventive mechanisms to put an end to the killings? The operation in Karachi is underway, but is this the right way? Are there other ways to bring it down?

With regards to Nigeria, the researcher scrutinised the conditions in Sokoto State which was a rather peaceful area except that in the last decade violence has become a prominent feature and is mainly perpetuated by the youth. The study looks into the use of violence, particularly during election time, in which young party members are drivers of the party violence.

The youth in Egypt have been forced to take sides. They are either with the army or with Muslim Brotherhood.

“Political fault lines have hardened and violence has escalated in Egypt.” According to the study’s initial findings, violence there has backfired and the collective memory of the public is being erased. In other words, the army is removing all remnants of the political process post-Hosni Mubarak and is imposing its view. The study is also attempting to look at third parties i.e. nurses, lawyers, doctors who may not be a part of this divide and could be neutral.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2015

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