Targeted Operation Or A Campaign To Take Over Karachi?

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called for greater transparency and due process in the Rangers’ operation in Karachi and expressed concern over actions that can undermine citizens’ right to criticise and question actions of state institutions.

 “HRCP has many concerns with regard to due process amid a perceptible rise in suspects’ killings in encounters in Karachi, as is obvious from official figures also. We cannot stress enough the need for transparency in security operations, and unequivocally state that people being picked up and their whereabouts remaining unknown for days is utterly unacceptable”, the reported further mentioned.

The HRCP`s concerns over the on-going operation in Karachi came up after the several complaints of enforced disappearances of MQM`s workers, in-custody torture and even extra-judicial killings by the Rangers and Police.

It should be kept in mind that it was MQM itself which demanded a military operation in Karachi against the criminals even if any of them might be found in its own rows too. Unlike other Pakistani political & religious parties, MQM`s this stance was of crucial importance in the scenario where any sort of political involvement or patronage of criminals had to be eliminated.

But surprisingly, the operation exclusively focused MQM and its voters. According to MQM, thousands of its workers and office bearers have been arrested since 2013 of which about 100 are still missing and dozens were extra-judicially killed by the law-enforcement agencies. The badly torture dead bodies of MQM`s arrested workers tell a horrible story of the law-enforcers` brutality in the custody. Further, humiliation of common people by the Police and Rangers in Karachi portrays a picture of an occupied area by any invading forces.

Question is, when the Karachi operation, as an extension of military operation Zarbe Azb, had to be mainly against the religious and sectarian terrorists and secondly when MQM was already co-operating with the government in this respect, then why did the paramilitary forces hit MQM below the belt that even the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had to express its concerns over their actions?

Recently the “Reuters” has revealed that the head of ISI (Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence) Rizwan Akhter is spearheading a campaign to wrest control of Karachi from MQM. It further stated that the civilian administration in Karachi had been sidelined, and that decisions were being taken by the head of the Rangers and the chief military commander for Sindh province for the purpose.

"If Altaf Hussain steps down, the MQM will live on; if he doesn't, the party will go down with him", Reuters also quoted the new strategy of the Pakistani military establishment about MQM and its founder. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/27/us-pakistan-karachi-insight-idUSKBN0NH0WK20150427 ). Factually, the way MQM is being victimized under the operation is proving each and every word of this report. It seems not only the Sindh`s political government, even the Pakistani judiciary has been sidelined for this purpose. 

The entire situation is endorsing Altaf Hussain`s claim that the real purpose of the Rangers` operation is not to restore peace, but to crush MQM like the 90`s military operation when then Army chief Gen Asif Nawaz had vowed to close Altaf Hussain`s chapter.

Question is, is there any transparency left in the Rangers` targeted actions when they, instead of bringing peace back to the port city, are trying to replace MQM with other parties by the use of guns?

At this point, it is necessary to recall that the present head of ISI Rizwan Akhter is the same man who, as the DG Rangers Sindh in 2013, initiated the story of 19,000 weapon-laden NATO containers from Karachi port and accused MQM of having stolen them (http://www.dawn.com/news/1039406). However, the US authorities altogether rejected the allegation and made it clear that neither any containers went missing nor was Karachi port ever used to transport the arms for the NATO forces in Afghanistan. (http://tribune.com.pk/story/600628/missing-containers-case-no-arms-shipments-made-via-karachi-says-us/)

This clarification not only once again brought to light the reality of the allegations on MQM in Pakistan, but also exposed the mala fide intention of the Rangers and government about the most popular political party of Urban Sindh. 

Very unfortunately, neither the Supreme Court took any action against then DG Rangers Rizwan Akhter over such a blatant lie under the Articles 62 & 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan, nor did it give any ruling for verifying claims and reports of the law-enforcement agencies before believing them.

Interestingly, the same man (Rizwan Akhter) has now been promoted to DG ISI and now-a-days, as per Reuters, is busy in sidelining MQM in Karachi to free space for establishment`s favorite parties especially including Imran Khan`s PTI. Taking into account these facts, would it not be a foul play with MQM to take the agencies` allegations as courts` verdicts and use them as a base to target it?

We cannot ignore the fact as well that the Supreme Court`s observation about having militant wings by different political parties (which is presently being used as a basis of operation against MQM), was not the result of relevant proof, evidences, arguments and counter-arguments in the court, rather was purely based on the reports and briefings that the same Police and Rangers` officials gave to the Supreme Court Judges privately in their chamber.  

Anyway, as a result of the on-going mission “Creeping Crop”, thousands of MQM` workers and office bearers have been detained by the law-enforcement agencies due to which most of party offices have been closed temporarily. In contrast to all this, pro-Taliban parties and even the banned terrorist groups are not only freely moving in the economic hub of Pakistan, but are also staging rallies to support the Rangers` actions against MQM.   

This important aspect was also highlighted by the HRCP in its report. The report said, 

“We believe that the security agencies are also familiar with reports of bands of Taliban and other similar groups, who seem to be flourishing in Karachi, holding their own ‘courts’ and deciding disputes. We hope the security agencies agree that any action to restore peace and security in Karachi would remain incomplete so long as such elements are not pursued.” 

This again proves that the law-enforcement agencies are deliberately skipping the extremist elements in Karachi, but are maliciously targeting MQM which has been the most vocal voice against the radical groups in the country.

Factually, the process of “wresting control” from MQM in the disguise of state operation is not helping the establishment to take control of Karachi, rather handing it over to the radical elements, as weakening liberals (MQM) would eventually mean making extremists strong. 

Moreover, the persistent anti-MQM policy from the military establishment and its resulted victimization has made Muhajir (Urdu speaking) community realize that there is no one in Pakistan who can stop their genocide. As a result, now they seem to be looking to the United Nations for this purpose that is a point of concern for all the powerful authorities in Pakistan.