The Ostrich Syndrome
The ruling PPP seemed to strike a discordant note at the hierarchical level at the beginning of this week. It is true that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the NA had been trying to establish their writ (in independence of their party position) by insisting on the sanctity of their ruling in bringing the arrested MNAs to the House. However, the surprising Presidential hint that he would not hesitate to use his Constitutional role if he had to in the face of the worsening law and order situation in Karachi as well as the need to bring in MQM from the cold was in direct contrast to the PM’s assertion that “MQM should rein in its terrorists.” Having been on the receiving end of foreign policy disasters one after the other since the beginning of her reign, PM Ms Benazir had put in all her well known potential for persuasion into the OIC at Casablanca and thereupon savoured the first foreign policy success of sorts in bringing Kashmir to world attention by getting the participants to adopt a resolution, though it may be said quite reluctantly, by the likes of our so-called friends, Hosni Mubarak, Yasser Arafat, etc. That the PM may have been waylaid by the misleading reports given to her by her aides is perhaps the only excuse one can have for her failure to acknowledge that disaster is facing us in the face at Karachi. Having her power-base in rural Sindh, Ms Benazir has to come to terms without any further delay with the urban majority MQM in a spirit of give and take.
Given the deteriorating circumstances, the launching of Operation Clean-Up in May 1992 was necessary. The situation in the Province was reaching anarchical proportions and the then military hierarchy surmised that the populace was fed up of the transgressions and would respond positively. In the initial stages Operation Clean-Up was extremely successful in both the rural and urban areas but the latter exercise became a victim of serving individuals in mufti (in contrast to their uniformed colleagues for the most part) misusing their authority to unleash ill-conceived vendetta targeted on the MQM (only) in trying to bring about political change by military means, a non-starter as any avid student of history can confirm. Fighting in built-up areas while keeping civilian casualties down is not an easy task, the planning of the Operation by the then Corps Commander Lt Gen Naseer Akhtar was outstanding and its execution by his Comd Corps Reserve, Maj Gen Malik Saleem Khan was brilliant. However, the joker in the pack was the ill-conceived organising of the MQM (H) into a potent anti-MQM weapon. The MQM(H) may have genuine grievances but these latter day Quislings have served only to create a backlash among the Mohajir community to absolute resuscitation of Altaf Hussain’s waning fortunes in self-imposed exile. The MQM(H) exists today as a tragic but sore bone of contention in the search for urban peace. Instead of allowing the law of nature to take its course in establishing detente between the warring parties, those who were sidelined, some even being subsequently forced into early retirement for various misdemeanours involving corruption, greed, misuse of authority, etc have re-surfaced. Having ruthlessly exploited the MQM(H) previously, they are now again engaged actively in promoting disorder and anarchy by remote control. What is their “connection” that they cannot be made to answer for their crimes against humanity? The PM gave a broad hint to this effect before she left for Casablanca and repeated it again in a party Parliamentary meeting, why is GOP not bringing them to book with the same alacrity they showed for Mian Muhammad Sharif?
The fact of retired civil and military personnel acting in connivance with misguided serving personnel of various law enforcement agencies (who were their former associates) to create mayhem for the State in not new. The most deadly example is that of the OAS, the French acronym for the “Secret Army Organisation”, that was founded to counter De Gaulle’s move to give independence to Algeria. As a first measure President De Gaulle had retired extremist elements in the bureaucracy, police and the Armed Forces, particularly from the intelligence agencies. The net result was a mini-insurgency against the State with terror bombings and assassinations as its primary weapons. OAS continued to operate for many years on the French mainland, long after Algerian independence, mainly because of many sympathisers among the French bureaucracy and law enforcement agencies. Several attacks were carried out on the person of De Gaulle himself, including a machine gun attack on his car and a hired assassin who became the model for the movie “The Day of the Jackal”. Though the same dedicated motivation for a “just” cause may be missing, disgruntled elements having false notions about misguided patriotism can turn a molehill into a mountain, little caring that at the same time they may be turning their country into a molehill. Their grievances may be camouflaged in the colours of patriotism but are usually based on personal frustrations at being removed from their service sinecures on various misdemeanours, or being summarily removed from their fiefdoms leading to early retirement. The formula of wine and women seems to provide the basis of their manhood, certainly not displayed in the field of battle. Where have they got the money (on their service pay?) to live in this world as “landed gentry”? Basically immoral, vindictive and parochial, they certainly have no qualms in furthering their own greed and narrow ambitions at a severe cost to the State as long as the end result perpetuates their individual and group dominance, a misguided concept of a form of Aryan hegemony in this day and age. The State has to cleanse itself of such criminals or the “great silent majority” of hard working individuals will remain in their thrall.
However, one must clearly and emphatically distinguish these despicable “adventurers” from the sincere though Quixotic efforts of the Gen Hameed Gul/Imran Khan combine to rope in Maulana Edhi into a genuine neutral third force in an attempt to de-polarise the widening chasm in our society on ethnic and sectarian basis. We should not mix up the two different breeds of men. While commending the honest thought and motives behind their actions they must realize that mobilisation of public opinion can rarely be separated from political overtones. The clandestine method adopted undercuts the credibility of such moves, however well intentioned.
We have repeatedly exhorted the Government of Pakistan (GOP) to close down the Indian Deputy High Commission (DHC) at Karachi. This den of evil is a festering sore in the body of Karachi and must be lanced forthwith. The Indians have used various means to frustrate the reciprocal establishment of the Pakistani DHC at Bombay, why should we allow them to use their diplomatic privileges in Karachi as a cover for their terrorism arm, RAW? Since GOP has given documented proof of their chicanery, of which there is no dearth, to various friendly governments, what moral imperative keeps GOP from closing down this hotbed of intrigue planted in the heart of this burning city? The Indians do not have any moral or ethical grounds for keeping their diplomatic enclave in Karachi. While terrorism will not cease altogether, the logistics problem for providing money and material will increase manifold thereby improving the chances for interdiction. Everytime, the MQM(A) – MQM(H) and the Shia-Sunni confrontation seems to simmer down, RAW trained terrorists execute bloody outrages that re-ignites the conflict.
When the Army “withdrew” its fig-leaf presence from Karachi, the actual elements that went back to the barracks (and almost simultaneously to the proximity of their battle locations for winter collective exercises) were only a handful of units as the majority had been withdrawn several months ago being replaced by 13 Wings of Rangers of the Mehran Force. With the upgrading of DG Mehran Force from Brig’s rank to that of Maj Gen, Mushtaque has been posted to lead the new set up. Maj Gen Mushtaque has considerable experience in Sindh having been Chief of Staff 5 Corps when Asif Nawaz was Corps Commander and later, after an interim posting in GHQ till promotion to the present rank, he served as DGMI when Gen Asif Nawaz was COAS. As an old Sindh hand who was involved in conceptualising and implementing of Operation Clean Up during its ab-initio stages he should take little time adjusting to the ground realities in the new security environment in Karachi. Kudos are due to the Commander 5 Corps for shedding the Army of the proverbial “blanket” that was giving the Army a bad name. One hopes that Mushtaque will be given such powers that he will not have to operate with one hand tied behind his back as his predecessors had to do.
By the middle of the current week, the early promise of the President’s utterances had fizzled out into nothingness as he returned to parroting with great eloquence the decade-old cliche phrases that had not stopped Karachi from sliding into the nightmare in the first place. To quote, “Karachi will not become HK, more police are being trained, more equipment has been sanctioned, Karachi package is being implemented, we will take on the challenge of eradicating terrorism, other measures are under review, etc, etc.” After displaying some flashes of impending greatness a la Yousuf Raza Gilani and Zafar Ali Shah, the President went back to burying his head in the ground, discretion being the better part of valour. One may well ask the respected President what about democracy at the grassroots level in the form of Local Bodies Elections? Indeed what about Provincial and National Assembly elections in those seats traditionally belonging to MQM? Our esteemed President may have exceeded his party mandate (a testing of the waters?) in talking about his Constitutional role but in retrospect it seems he did not mean a word of it. The President’s own power is derived from the people, however indirectly and however flawed the electoral system, it is still democracy. Being a product of democracy how can the President deny that it is that denial which is the basic cause of misery to millions in this city? Karachi’s only solution is a rapid and unrestrained return to democracy and anyone who thinks otherwise is suffering from an acute case of “the Ostrich Syndrome”.
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