ISLAMABAD: MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s frontal attack on Army and ISI, charging the establishment of killing Muttahida’s men, is both unfortunate and dangerous. Whether or not the charges levelled against the military establishment by Altaf Hussain have any grounds, such a naked attack on the institution of Pakistan Army by a political leader who enjoys massive following of millions in Karachi and Hyderabad should not be ignored or taken lightly. What the MQM chief said is bound to raise tempers within the military establishment, but the situation demands cautious handling of the matter to avoid any harm to Pakistan, its institutions or the people. For this, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should intervene and ensure, firstly, that there is no protection from any political party to any criminal, and secondly, there should not be any extra-judicial killing and those detained should be brought before the court of law. The MQM might have genuine grievance that its men are being killed extra-judicially either by the police/rangers or the agencies, but this is also a fact that criminal elements within the party are involved in target killings, extortions, kidnapping for ransom and in other criminal activities. In the past, the MQM was squarely blamed for all such crimes in Karachi. However, during the recent years, the militant groups in other parties also emerged to completely ruin the law and order situation of the city. However, the MQM is still believed to have greater share in the city’s lawlessness and crime chart. The MQM feels that it is being pushed against the wall. It alleges that hundreds of its workers have been killed in the military, police or rangers operations, both present and past. What Muttahida or, for that matter, other groups or parties, alleged to have militant groups, need to understand is that no state in the world could tolerate the kind of terror the city of Karachi is faced with for many years. Karachi has to be cleared of killings, extortions, kidnappings and other crimes. For this, if there is a responsibility of the government and the law enforcing agencies, still much depend on the cooperation of the political parties. The MQM, being the largest political entity of Karachi, has the greater responsibility to help bring back durable peace to the city. The law enforcers and agencies have to be careful in their operations in any urban city like Karachi. Without any bias against any particular group of political, ethnic or religious background, their target should be criminals only. You may have complaints against any political party or its leader(s), but it would be unjust and unfair to treat all members of any party as criminals. The MQM is no exception. Otherwise, the situation may lead to a confrontation between law enforcing agencies and the local population. Such a scenario would be scary in the case of Karachi particularly after Altaf Hussain has named Army and ISI as his opponents. He said that the establishment wants him to step down as party head. He charged them of killing his men and warned that his men may also retaliate. This is dangerous thus should be avoided at all costs. Sanity must prevail.
