Mohammad Zubair
One positive aspect of the recent spat between the PTI and PPP over the authenticity of the JIT is a bitter reminder of what Karachi looked like prior to 2013.
Remember the much dreaded MQM headquarters famously known as nine zero in Azizabad or the headquarters of the famed lyari gang headed by Uzair Baluch in lyari and many other no-go areas. Recall Karachi with daily murders, extortions, bank robberies, car snatching, kidnappings, and other heinous crimes being part of daily life. Even though the culprits were generally known but no government would dare challenge them and take them to the task – not even the military government that ruled Pakistan between 1999 to 2008.
Before the election 2013, there was a clear understanding that until the law & order situation is fixed in Karachi, any chance of economic turnaround will remain a dream. It is not just the largest city in the country but more importantly the financial hub of the country.
It, therefore, made sense that peace must be ensured in Karachi. It wasn’t easy. Karachi had gone from bad to worse over the years – in fact over decades especially post-military take over in 1999.
Karachi was a vibrant and peaceful city till the mid-1980s. it remained a major contributor to Pakistan’s economic progress since the birth of Pakistan. All that started to change after the emergence of MQM.
MQM truly represented the aspirations of the Muhajir community which had serious grievances in the context of economic issues confronting the community. Nothing wrong with that except for the brutal methods adopted by the party leadership in achieving those objectives. Whether it was done deliberately or not, one ethnic community was pitched against another ethnic community resulting in the kind of violence never witnessed in Pakistan. It became almost impossible to continue business in such an environment and many major businesses shifted their operations from Karachi.
The first serious attempt to restore peace in Karachi was made in June 1991 but it could not be sustained and had to be called off.
The operation was not targeted towards the muhajir community as was wrongly perceived & claimed by the MQM leadership. In fact, the operation was also conducted in interior Sindh against dacoits involved in loot & plunder. However the operation did not succeed and Karachi returned to the same lawlessness witnessed before the operation – in fact with more vengeance.
There was another operation launched during the period of the second government of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. This operation conducted by Gen (retd) Naseerullah Babar was more effective. After the brutal murder of Hakeem Saeed in 1998, Governor’s rule was imposed with another serious crackdown to clean the city. All these operations were not entirely successful but they did restore some semblance of peace and showed the willingness of the state to impose its writ.
Unfortunately, all the gains were lost following the imposition of martial law in 1999 and the full backing provided to Altaf Hussain’s MQM by General Musharraf.
MQM was back and back with impunity. How Altaf Hussain spread fear with the most serious crimes including murders, kidnappings, extortions, etc was later acknowledged by the top MQM leadership which distanced itself from Altaf Hussain at different stages. There was so much fear that even the private channels would not dare to openly criticize MQM for its activities. One can recall an event such as May 12, 2007, when 60 people were gunned down in broad daylight and General Musharraf himself took credit the same evening for the power shown by his supporters. Several similar stories are well documented and part of our shameful history.
This was fertile ground for the emergence of groups such as the Lyari gang led by Uzair Baluch. Karachi was now a full-time gangster city with murders, extortions, strikes, bank robberies, etc a normal daily routine. The city of 20 million people could be completely shut down on a 10-minute notice.
The PMLN government under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recognized the gravity of the situation and the urgent actions required to fix the city. Within weeks of coming into power, PM Nawaz Sharif took all the major stockholders on board. That included the military leadership, relevant political parties especially MQM, the provincial Sindh government, law enforcement agencies, religious groups, businessmen, media, and civil society. The idea was to build consensus for the operation. To support the operation, necessary changes were made to provide additional powers for Rangers. Those additional powers allowed the Rangers to effectively undertake the operation along with the police force.
In the presence of all the stakeholders, PM Nawaz Sharif announced the launch of the operation in the first week of September 2013 – within 90 days of the coming into power. Most important, the PM also announced that no one from the federal government would interfere in the working of the law enforcement agencies. This was a major step in ensuring the success of the operation. Indeed in the entire period of the operation, not even once there was any interference from the federal government.
The operation was an outstanding success that transformed Karachi from one of the most dangerous cities in the world to a reasonably peaceful city. It restored Karachi not just from a law & order standpoint but also helped restore its economic, social, cultural, and sporting activities. 2016 was the first year in 22 years that Karachi was not shut down even for a day under pressure from any criminal group. Nine Zero, the MQM headquarters was no more a functioning place. The Lyari gang had been busted. The city no more witnessed the brutal murders, extortions, bank robberies, and similar criminal activities. But it’s a continuous process requiring the full support of the federal government.
Working in coordination with the law enforcement agencies and the Sindh government, Pmln was able to deliver on its promise to make Karachi a peaceful functioning city.
Karachi’s turnaround story is a great lesson for the present rulers in Islamabad. You can fix the most serious challenge with a problem-solving approach rather than blaming the previous governments to justify your failures. Hard to imagine if the PTI leadership will ever change its approach.
The writer is former Governor of Sindh and has also served as Chairman of privatization Commission with the status of State Minister from 2013 to 2017
—Twitter: @Real_MZubair
