A sorrowful microcosm

If the events in Karachi during 2011 were to be read as a book, the narrative would have few sparks of hope, although plenty to keep the action moving along. Over 400 citizens were killed in the first six months of this year, and almost as many have been shot dead in the two months thereafter. There are multiple factors at the heart of the ongoing violence in the city – politics proper has been replaced with political parties providing cover to mafia groups to perpetuate their influence, gerrymandering has created ghettos of ethnic strife, the police force has become increasingly politicised, lacunae in the law allow those apprehended by the police to be out on the streets soon after arrest and, finally, the political leaders seem to have become even more short-sighted than earlier. As a result, the violence that the city has seen since the 1990s has now become entrenched in the very fabric of society.

There are multiple disputes between the various political actors of Karachi, with local, provincial and national politics all fanning the flames. The relationship between the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the largely Sindh-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) extends to the federal government, and any disagreement between the two parties ultimately affects politics at the Centre as well as in the city. The Awami National Party (ANP) is a minor partner in Sindh's coalition government, but plays a more critical role in the coalition governments at the Centre as well as in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Such an extended partnership should, in principle, have brought the parties closer together. In practice, what is being played out on the streets of Karachi is in part a form of score-settling between various stakeholders and in part a larger positioning in the national polity. One thing is clear: irrespective of whether the dispute is over a national-level issue, a provincial one or even a local problem, it is on the streets of Karachi that all these disputes are, currently, sought to be resolved.