Karachi in the Aftermath
By Dr. Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
It was an ordinary Thursday night, but the sights in Karachi were surreal. The wide boulevards of Defense Housing Society that normally bustle with traffic, both human and vehicular, were completely deserted, presenting a ghostly look in the dim, flickering orange light. One could see the burnt out skeletons of cars on the road, alongside piles of broken glass, and traffic lights that had been scorched and functioned no more. The few cars that were still on the road moved cautiously as if trying to dodge potential arsonists who might be lurking just around the corner. There was no evidence of police or any other law enforcement personnel in the area.
I had landed at Karachi airport earlier in the day after a long journey from Washington, and a few hours later watched on the TV the tragic events as they were unfolding of the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. As the news and fear spread, shops in the city were quickly shuttered, the merchants following their survival instincts developed from long experience. One of the most populated cities of the world was descending into virtual anarchy and the functionaries of the state seemed to be powerless to stop it. Later President Musharraf made a brief television appearance, appealing for restraint, but his presentation came across as insipid, neither reassuring to the populace nor intimidating to the rioters.
Late that night, I had to venture out along with my nephew and his son to extract my niece who had been stranded at a local TV station where she worked. Her colleagues had been kind, making sure that she and another female employees were safe and well taken care of until rescued by their relations. The male employees, however, had no safe means to get home to their families and wisely decided to stay put. My experience that night was strangely evocative of the events that I had seen long ago as a young student in the fifties at Aligarh Muslim University. Aligarh in those days was frequently ravaged by communal violence that spawned fear, especially among Muslims. However, it was hard to imagine that Karachi would witness a similar upheaval more than six decades later.
Besides human suffering, the City suffered staggering financial losses amounting to billions of rupees. It remained in a paralyzed and dazed state for several more days, as no one seemed to know who the saboteurs were and where they came from. The reaction of the politicians and the news media in the aftermath of the Bhutto assassination was, however, striking. For days, the coverage of the assassination saturated the airwaves and the printed pages. Unfortunately, much of it was rhapsodic, lacking in objectivity, and failing to provide a balanced assessment of the achievements of the former PPP leader. Benazir Bhutto was a highly educated, charismatic, and enlightened politician, the like of which Pakistan has not seen in a long time. Nevertheless, her two terms as prime minister had not been an unmitigated success. Yet, it would be impossible to glean this from the press coverage.
Many wild stories and a variety of conspiracy theories are rife as to who was responsible for Bhutto’s murder. Her killers may never be identified definitively, as unfortunately much of the physical evidence was eliminated in the first hours after the event. However, we can speculate. It is highly implausible that any leader in the government orchestrated the murder. They had little to gain and a lot to lose. All logic and reason suggest that her murder was planned and carried out by experienced and ruthless elements, most likely the religious extremists who have been ascendant in Pakistan for months. They have been engaged in destabilizing the institutions of the state in the hope of replacing it with a medieval-style regime, rooted in their own interpretation of Islam. Presently, under pressure in Afghanistan, they have directed their attention towards Pakistan, where suicide bombings went up from five in 2006 to 60 last year, an increase of over ten times. Regardless of whatever government comes into power in Pakistan after the February elections, it is most unlikely that the extremists, whether Taliban or al-Qaeda, will abandon the pursuit of their objectives.
Thus far, the government’s attempts to expel the insurgent from areas they have taken over in the tribal regions have not been successful. For six decades, our policies have been centered on India, anchored firmly in the belief that the danger to the integrity of the country came from that direction. While it may have been true in the past, it is certainly no longer the case; India has surged ahead and is competing with China for global leadership. However, we have yet to reorient our strategic priorities in view of new perils.
Today, Pakistan is not alone in facing the threat of extremism, even though the terrorists have found conditions favorable in our country to regroup and organize. The emergence of Taliban and al-Qaeda-like radical religious movements is not unprecedented in Islamic history. In the first two centuries, the Kharijites engaged in campaigns of terror and bloodshed against other fellow Muslims who did not subscribe to their rigid interpretation of the religion. Their first and most prominent victim was Hazrat Ali. Kharijites and their fanatic ideology eventually disappeared, both consigned to the dustbin of history.
