Our Karachi --- citadel of peace

Majyd Aziz


HOLY QURAN: 6:123 - And thus We have placed within every city the greatest of its criminals to conspire therein. But they conspire not except against themselves, and they perceive [it] not.

The escalating volatile situation in Karachi has exposed the law enforcing agencies’ lack of expertise in controlling crime and terrorism. At the same time, the failure of the politicians to evolve a workable solution has also showed their lack of will and command in persuading the warring factions to come to terms. Moreover, the protagonists in Karachi’s own “War of Terror” have exhibited no desire to encourage a truce among them nor have they displayed any serious and sincere remorse in the multitude of deaths and injuries.

Daikho Gay To Mil Jayen Gi Har Mor Pe Laashain
Dhoondo Gay To Is Shehr Mein Qatil Na Milay Ga

In the mayhem and anarchic condition of Karachi, the brunt of all these have been borne by the innocent 20 million denizens who have no say whatsoever in this whole sordid affair. The dead victims of this mindless war have been transformed from faces and names to just numbers. The media just highlights the number of killed and, except for the victims’ families and friends, no one knows who these victims really are. For everyone else, they are just numbers. Period.

However, the real stakeholders of Karachi cannot claim genuine concern if they show apathy or complacency. In fact, Karachi’s stakeholders are not just residents of Karachi or those who venture into the city looking for employment or earning opportunities. The stakeholders of Karachi are 180 million people known as Pakistanis living in this country or for that matter those who are the Pakistani Diaspora.

The Karachi Wars have become an albatross around the neck of the business community since this explosive and dangerous situation has compelled foreign buyers to revisit their business relationship with Pakistani businessmen. The hardhearted intransigence of political parties (including ethnic and religious oriented) has outshone whatever flicker of hope the businessmen had that better sense will prevail.

The reason for the businessmen’s frustration and exasperation is that it is Karachi that is the prime contributor to the nation’s Treasury and is the major source of meaningful employment. Karachi is also a two-port city as well as having the most literate population among all cities of Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan is known because of Karachi and thus, net-net, Pakistan suffers if Karachi breaks down.

Thus the time has come for Karachi’s businessmen, spearheaded by Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to initiate a campaign for peace. When the going was tough in Karachi many years ago, KCCI organized the My Karachi --- an oasis of harmony Exhibition that has now become an iconic annual event. It is time to initiate another such campaign that should be called Our Karachi --- citadel of peace.

The salient features of the campaign would be:

1. Letter campaign. Millions of letters (someone should draft in English and Urdu) addressed to COAS General Pervez Ashfaque Kayani and Chief Justice Supreme Court Justice Iftikhar Chaudary.

2. SMS campaign. Millions of sms to one another, to ministers, to judges, to media, to uniformed people, and to politicians.

3. Diaspora campaign: Pakistanis living in alien lands be encouraged to join the campaign and also bombard Pakistani embassies, high commissions, and honorary consulates with emails and letters.

4. Disclosure campaign: Difficult but doable. People should come forward and relate to a central hotline, thru sms, emails, and letters, how much and to whom they paid graft.

5. Media campaign: Concerned citizens, chambers, associations, and NGOs must issue advertisements appealing for sanity and stability.

6. Neighborhood campaign: Social activist residents must organize corner meetings and get-togethers where residents would assemble and formulate concerns and consequences.

More importantly, instead of inviting Interior Minister Rehman Malik every week, KCCI should organize an All-Parties Conference and come heavy on the hierarchies of these parties that if they do not bring about peace and harmony in Karachi, these politicians might as well let non-democratic forces, with full support and cooperation of the business community, take over command for a real long time.