Hollow promises, and commitments of the ruling party and law-enforcement authorities were clearly exposed as at least 12 precious lives were lost and more than 15 wounded in targeted killing and other incidents of violence in past 36 hours in Karachi.
These targeted killings were triggered on Friday night in Qasba Colony and Orangi Town, when two political activists were shot down by unidentified armed men.
According to reports, this violent series of killings escalated on Friday night at Qasba Colony, when activists of Awami National Party(ANP) were engaged in an opening ceremony of new party office. The situation turned violent when two rival groups exchanged intense firing claiming two lives. The deceased were Mohammed Javed of the MQM and Sharif Khan of the ANP.
Media sources confirmed that 15 bodies were bought to the hospitals, 4 out of which remained unknown and have been shifted to the morgue for identification and autopsy.
On Saturday morning armed men forced closure of shops in Orangi Town, Peerabad, Qasba Colony, Paposh Nagar, Kali Pehari and Banaras areas. According to the fire office, a mini-bus of route G-7, bearing registration number JE-3407, was torched in Sector-11L, Orangi Town.
SHO Mominabad Shabbair Ahmed identified the deceased as Tooti Khan while injured person was Raaz Mohammad, who were attacked by armed men when they came to Mominabad No-5 to purchase steel.
Meanwhile, another non-political person, Naek Zada was gunned down at Orangi Town in C-1 area.
A private TV channel employee , Sajid Ali, was also shot dead by gunmen, in Sharifabad police limits, when he was standing outside his uncle’s house in Liquatabad Furniture Market.
The killings have been condemned and blamed on an unknown political party by both Awami National Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
Capital City Police Officer(CCPO) Waseem Ahmed said,“we have been pursuing the proposal to review the law about the possession of illegal weapons and to devise a mechanism to seize such arms.” He has confirmed seven killings in these incidents of violence.
MQM spokesperson alleged that “an ethnic party is harassing Urdu-speaking people, mainly in the Qasba Colony and Orangi Town areas. They killed MQM activist Friday night, and we demand that the prime minister, federal interior minister and chief minister order action against the killers.”
ANP party’s spokesman claimed that, “in Qasba Colony, Aligarh and other parts of the city the same people were targeting and killing Pakhtuns. The victims were poor people such as labourers and were on their way to work when activists of a political party gunned them down for no reason.”
Lawlessness and inability of the security institutions, yet again proved that the people of Karachi are not safe anywhere. Target killings claimed 40 lives earlier this month.
Ibrahim Sajid Malick is a Pakistani-American writer, technologist, and social entrepreneur. He has been writing on Pakistani society and politics since 1986. He has held several media, communications, and technology positions for organizations large and small. Mr. Malick graduated from New School for Social Research with a master’s degree in anthropology. He holds several technology and management certifications. He works for a leading technology firm and blogs at www.ibrahimsajidmalick.com
[...] New Wave Of Violence Claim 12 Lives in Karachi [...]
Karachi has been enduring violence days and nights for the last couple years on a regular basis. During this period the death toll has reached in hundreds. It is home to about 18 million people and serves as business hub of the country. The government says that there is evidence that those causing trouble in the city have links to the Taliban. Political killings have recently been escalated. Members of the ruling alliance of three parties been shot dead.
A couple of weeks ago, the mafia made their presence felt once again in Karachi when they killed a political figure Raza Haider, senior leader of the city’s dominant political party, along with two guards. After this sad incident , government claimed to bring the cold-blooded culprits to law. This incident triggered the chaos and violence deteriorating the law and order situation throughout the city. Outbreak of violence following the deadly attack resulted death of several innocent people.
Federal Interior Minister stated that this assassination could be the work of Taliban-linked militants. But MQM, representing the city’s majority Urdu-speaking community, blamed the attack on a rival political force, the Awami National Party which is a representative of Karachi ‘s ethnic Pashtun population. It has been seen that these two major political forces have routinely blamed each other for deadly attacks on their activists. It won’t be totally wrong to say that these outbreaks of violence in the city has exposed the helplessness and inability of the government to perform its basic duty which is to protect its citizens.