president Asif Ali Zardari had visited the Masan Road area of Keamari on March 24 and met with a delegation of Pashtun elders of the city at the residence of former provincial transport minister Akhtar Hussain Jadoon.
Zardari had assigned Jadoon the task of roping influential Pashtun people into the party and recently appointed him as an advisor in the local government department to address the civic issues of Pashtun neighborhoods in the city, said PPP insiders.
Amanullah Mehsud, a former ANP MPA, and other key leaders have already joined the PPP.
The JI has formed a Pashtun jirga, headed by Abdul Razzaq, its West district chief, in the city. It has also organised several programmes in Pashtun areas, in which the JI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leadership, especially central chief Sirajul Haq, provincial chief Prof Ibrahim and senior minister Inayatullah, have separately participated.
The PTI too already succeeded in garnering the support of the Pashtun pockets in the city.
Taliban attacks
The Taliban’s unabated killing of ANP leaders and attacks on their houses and businesses in Karachi have compelled the party to stop all its overt political activities in the city.
Syed and other party leaders say that over 100 party activists have been killed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban in the city, mainly in the West district. The terror outfit’s Swat faction that is loyal to its central chief Maulana Fazlullah is behind the killing campaign.
In June 2012, TTP operatives had sent a message to the ANP’s leaders in the city to quit the party, remove its flags and slogans from their homes and businesses, and close their offices.
Many key leaders and activists left the city and moved back to their hometowns and Islamabad. Others have joined right-wing political parties, including the PTI, the JI and the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat.
The TTP attacks also affected the party’s campaign in the 2013 polls in the city. In the 2008 general elections, the ANP won two provincial seats in Karachi’s largest Pashtun-populated areas – SITE Town and Landhi Industrial Area.
But in the 2013 polls, the TTP targeted the rallies and offices of the ANP candidates Bashir Jan and Amanullah Mehsud, killing and injuring several of its activists.
The Taliban had also claimed responsibility for the killing of Sadiq Zaman Khattak, the ANP candidate in NA-254 Korangi, Bilal Colony, on May 2, 2013.
However, police officials and ANP leaders believe that the ongoing crackdown against criminals in Karachi had shattered the TTP network as many key Taliban commanders in the city have killed.
“The TTP has been weakened in Karachi, the party has decided not to stage rallies in West and Malir districts over security concerns,” said an ANP leader.
“The party leadership will meet the officials of the law enforcement agencies for the provision of security to the participants of the May 12 rally,” he added.