WHITHER Karachi? That is what the countrymen seem to be wondering as they see the major political stakeholders in the metropolis at loggerheads, and its citizens dying of heatstroke in hundreds for want of electric power to cool them.

Hopefully the temperature would come down in coming days, bringing some respite to the people from the searing heat. But the political temperature looks only rising as the blame game between the ruling PML-N, the PPP and the opposition MQM intensifies. And so will the Sindh Rangers’ operation to clean up the commercial hub of the country of criminal mafias and their political patrons that triggered the political bitterness and confrontations.

Back in September 2013, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, along with other mainstream political parties, resolved to bring peace to what used to be ‘the city of lights’. People vividly recall leaders of the PML-N, PPP, MQM, and smaller religio-political parties standing shoulder to shoulder when the decision was announced to launch the operation against outlaws in Karachi. In the following months, the prime minister paid regular visits to the city, with his senior ministers in tow, to supervise the operation.

For a few months, law enforcement agencies made “desirable progress” under the command of the then additional Inspector General Police, Shahid Hayat, and brought down significantly the number of daily targeted killings in the port city. In 2014, however, the PPP government and dispensation in Sindh betrayed uneasiness over Mr Hayat’s ways of doing things. Reportedly, he refused to oblige PPP ministers and office bearers’ wishes to deploy police officers of their choice in their respective constituencies. Meanwhile, at the centre, the prime minister had crossed swords with Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf and Karachi disappeared from his radar. With the PAT and PTI staging dharnas right outside his office in Islamabad, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could not resist PPP’s demands in Sindh. The PPP and MQM supported the federal government against the onslaught of PAT-PTI duo and, it is claimed, in return Additional IGP Hayat was replaced.

In the meantime, the Karachi operation trudged along. Then came the fateful December 16 massacre of children and teachers by terrorists at the Army Public School in Peshawar, which entirely changed the political landscape of the country. An All-Party Conference decided to give the military a free hand to go against the militants and terrorist organizations throughout the country. Karachi again was in the cross-hair of the new operation as, over the years, the hunted militant groups and their supporters had established sleeping cells in the city.  

Dictated by the obtaining circumstances, the political reconciliation between the PML-N, PPP and MQM for an across the board operation started to unravel when Sindh Rangers raided MQM headquarter in the city in March this year. Many think the recent angry outbursts of PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari against the military establishment, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s refusal to meet Zardari, buried the whatever political rapprochement was in play between the two major political parties which occupy treasury and opposition benches in the National Assembly.

Asked about the emerging political scenario, a senior government functionary said that with the military having made it clear more than once that it would take its operations against the terrorists and the mafias of Karachi to their logical ends; and the PPP and MQM adjusting to the new geopolitical undercurrents, the situation at best can be described as fluid.

“What I see at the government level, PM Nawaz Sharif is walking a tightrope when it comes to law and order in Karachi. Both the PPP and the MQM are increasingly showing hostility towards Sindh Rangers, which are under the control of the federal government. If something untoward happens, the prime minister will be held responsible,” the official said summing up the situation.

A federal minister, talking to Dawn, said the prime minister deeply desires the political parties remain engaged in the parliament on the burning national issues, like restoring peace in Karachi. However, the minister admitted that “Karachi is such a complex problem that the federal government is finding it difficult to keep all parties – the PPP, the MQM and the Sindh Rangers - satisfied with its (government’s) acts of commission and omission.”

On the other hand, a PPP member of the National Assembly said he believes the man to be watched in the hectic coming days in the national politics, with Karachi at its centre, will be his leader Asif Ali Zardari. “Just wait and watch how our man of crisis plays his cards,” he said.

For the time being though, the definitely shrewd politician has moved out of the country perhaps to take respite from the intensifying political heat at home.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2015

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