SPY EYES

USIP Report by Human Yusuf
Spearhead Research

A very comprehensive report on the situation in Karachi which is the economic heart of Pakistan. The main contributors to violence in Karachi have been identified as the parties within the ruling alliance along with Sunni Tehreek, Sindhi nationalists and influx of Taliban. The Government has not and does not seem to have the will to solve the problem which goes on aggravating and may go beyond even a military action if remedial measures are not initiated. The police remains politicized and the only focus is on next elections while Karachi burns. Modern day Neros? The Sindh Government is paralyzed with an aged Chief Minister while some other personalities within the ruling party keep calling shots. Unfortunately the Government is allowing situation to worsen with each passing day. It has become impossible for any business to work and traders are virtually in revolt. Pakistan is becoming ungovernable and Karachi may become the trigger for a bloody uprising. Please read this report from end to end and give a thought to the future of our homeland.

Summary

││ Violence in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, is multifaceted. Different types of violence-including ethnopolitical, militant, sectarian, and criminal-have claimed more than 7,000 lives since 2008.

││ Violence in Karachi threatens to destabilize Pakistan for both economic and political reasons. The city contributes more than 25 percent of gross domestic product, and disruptions in urban economic activities necessarily affect the national economy. Moreover, the ethnically diverse city is a battleground for major political parties and thus key to domestic political stability.

││ The armed wings of major political parties, including the MQM, PPP, and ANP, are the main perpetrators of urban violence. The parties clash over city resources and funds generated through extortion.

││ Historically, Karachi’s ethnopolitical violence has pitted Urdu-speaking mohajirs (migrants) of the MQM against Pashtuns represented by the ANP. But clashes between the rural, Sindh-based PPP and Karachi-centric MQM are increasing as part of a broader power struggle between the city- and provincial-level governments.

││ Militant groups, including the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and extremist sectarian organizations, have consolidated their presence in the city. In addition to drawing new recruits and generating funds through criminal activities, militants increasingly attack state and security targets in Karachi.

││ State initiatives to stem violence are superficial and ad hoc, and routinely fail to address the underlying causes of Karachi’s violence, including poor urban planning, politicization of the police, proliferating seminary networks, and a flawed criminal justice system.

││ High-level interventions by the Pakistan Army and Supreme Court have helped temporarily disrupt cycles of violence but do not offer sustainable solutions to Karachi’s violent politics.

││ The key to Karachi’s stability is a representative power-sharing agreement among the major political parties that reflects the city’s evolving demographics. However, the delay in conducting a transparent census and the failure to establish an uninterruptible platform for political negotiations continue to fuel violence.