pkpatriotic
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Political carnage
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Politics is a dirty business wherever you are in the world, and Pakistan is no exception. Skullduggery and mudslinging are very much the order of the day and some politicians change their allegiances as often as they change their clothes. All this we expect, indeed the political scene would be the duller were it not for the shenanigans of those we vote to represent us; but less expected is the physical death-toll, particularly in Karachi, that accompanies the business of politics. Becoming a politician or an active supporter of any of the political parties, large or small, is a dangerous occupation if you are a Karachi-ite.
There have been 88 separate incidents of politicians or political workers being murdered in the ten months to October. Unsurprisingly given the laxity of the Karachi police force when it comes to following up political crimes, over 90 per cent of the killers remain unidentified and roam the streets to kill again at the behest of their masters. There have been three high-profile killings Fazlur Rehman Akakhail of the ANP; Tariq Khan of the PML-N and Khalid Shahenshah of the PPP. Assorted activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the Sunni Tehreek (ST) and the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) have died as well. The MQM has been hardest hit, losing 34 party workers in 32 incidents closely followed by MQM-H that has lost 27 in 21 incidents. PPP has lost 13 in 12 incidents, ST 15 in 13, ANP 4 in 4 incidents. The list stretches into the smaller parties and is the grimmest and clearest evidence yet that murder has become an acceptable political tool. The killings took place all over the city, were planned and executed with deadly efficiency and there seems little sign of this political carnage abating in the foreseeable future.
The political parties and those within them who sanction and commit these crimes have suffered a collective failure of their moral compasses, the internal limiters that should constrain them from using casual street execution as a weapon in their battle with their political foes and rivals for power. We see this failure of the moral compass in other parts of civil life in Pakistan the burning on the roadside of alleged robbers, the butchery that is cloaked under 'cultural' guise as 'honour killing' and life appears to be deemed cheap, a throwaway disposable item, by many. We need to repair our moral compass, and quickly, if we are to make the turnaround that is needed to restore honour and dignity to ourselves.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Politics is a dirty business wherever you are in the world, and Pakistan is no exception. Skullduggery and mudslinging are very much the order of the day and some politicians change their allegiances as often as they change their clothes. All this we expect, indeed the political scene would be the duller were it not for the shenanigans of those we vote to represent us; but less expected is the physical death-toll, particularly in Karachi, that accompanies the business of politics. Becoming a politician or an active supporter of any of the political parties, large or small, is a dangerous occupation if you are a Karachi-ite.
There have been 88 separate incidents of politicians or political workers being murdered in the ten months to October. Unsurprisingly given the laxity of the Karachi police force when it comes to following up political crimes, over 90 per cent of the killers remain unidentified and roam the streets to kill again at the behest of their masters. There have been three high-profile killings Fazlur Rehman Akakhail of the ANP; Tariq Khan of the PML-N and Khalid Shahenshah of the PPP. Assorted activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the Sunni Tehreek (ST) and the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) have died as well. The MQM has been hardest hit, losing 34 party workers in 32 incidents closely followed by MQM-H that has lost 27 in 21 incidents. PPP has lost 13 in 12 incidents, ST 15 in 13, ANP 4 in 4 incidents. The list stretches into the smaller parties and is the grimmest and clearest evidence yet that murder has become an acceptable political tool. The killings took place all over the city, were planned and executed with deadly efficiency and there seems little sign of this political carnage abating in the foreseeable future.
The political parties and those within them who sanction and commit these crimes have suffered a collective failure of their moral compasses, the internal limiters that should constrain them from using casual street execution as a weapon in their battle with their political foes and rivals for power. We see this failure of the moral compass in other parts of civil life in Pakistan the burning on the roadside of alleged robbers, the butchery that is cloaked under 'cultural' guise as 'honour killing' and life appears to be deemed cheap, a throwaway disposable item, by many. We need to repair our moral compass, and quickly, if we are to make the turnaround that is needed to restore honour and dignity to ourselves.
