Karachi chaos
n Pakistan's largest city and political hub Karachi has faced the worst wave of target killings this year. Due to political benefits, the ruling class has been turning a blind eye and doing nothing to bring to book those responsible.
Recent media reports suggest that people losing lives in target killings this year in Karachi far exceeds the number of casualties in drone attacks in North West Frontier Province. According to seniors police officials, 1,343 people have been killed in target killings in different parts of Karachi this year alone and 905 people lost their lives in 105 drone attacks in NWFP.
Addressing an event at Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industries, Zulfiqar Mirza, Interior Minister of Sindh, shocked the nation by revealing tragic information regarding the wave of target killings. He revealed that his government has arrested 60 target killers out of 30 belonging to MQM (Altaf), his allied party in the ruling coalition. This allied party, he further said, was also involved in collection of force donations from different parts of the city. The minister also accepted that political pressure has tied his hands and despite his willingness he can do nothing to stop incidents of target killings.
The situation is becoming more gruesome. Peoples' peace committees are controlling most parts of the old city which are also strongholds of the ruling party. The MQM (Altaf) also controls most parts of city and ordinary people are paying high price due to selfishness of these parties.
Khawaja Umer Farooq, Jeddah
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