Corporate and Individual Safety
Whether it is Shaukat Raza Mirza in Karachi or Siddique Khan Kanju in Multan, the elimination of human beings by violent means is almost always for a purpose, whether or not they have a standing in society. Except for those targeted by the totally insane, there is always motivation for murder. The assumptions for Siddique Khan Kanju (and his former MPA Joya) are reasonably straightforward, political violence created a blood cycle, for those who tend to live by the sword it is only a matter of time before opponents discover a chink in the armour. Shaukat’s was a far different proposition. Was it a cold blooded attempt to create economic disorder in the country given that before taking over as MD Pakistan State Oil (PSO) he had been a high profile executive of a US company? Was it a Shia-Sunni thing? Was it linked to employee unrest because of the downsizing of PSO? Or simply a hit ordered by a combination of overseas corporate entities with their local employee collaborators who stood to lose billions of rupees annually because they ran up against an honest man who tightened the rules of the game to their detriment? In picking Shaukat Mirza for a professional hit by what are almost certainly hired assassins at a carefully chosen ambush point, the perpetrators of the dastardly act not only covered their tracks but succeeded beyond measure in terrorizing a whole range of corporate executives, some of them expatriate Pakistanis who had left far safer (and better paid) jobs abroad to serve their country. Even if they should choose jobs linked to now be controversy they will be averse to rocking the existing boat. In Karachi, the nation’s commercial capital, the corporate individual is now a person besieged physically, in fending for his safety and that of his family, and psychologically, out of the apprehension of impending doom without any warning. Abraham Maslow’s theory of a hierarchy of needs of a human being includes self-actualization, esteem and love, but has at its very base, safety and survival.
Gunfight at the OK Corral
The Birth Anniversary of late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto the founder-Chairman of PPP, was celebrated with some fervour by his heirs and their supporters, principally in Larkana and at his gravesite nearby in Garhi Khuda Baksh. If he had been alive, the late lamented leader would probably have wished that the fireworks display would have been of the non-lethal kind and better targeted in the air than at each other between his surviving siblings. At least three innocent people lost their lives in the firefight between the police and Murtaza supporters including a policeman on duty who died a lingering death due to a bullet-inflicted stomach wound. What had been taken universally as a stage-managed farce in continuation of the drama (the incarceration of Mir Murtaza Bhutto) played out to placate the doubts of those who were turned off at the Prodigal Son’s terrorist connections (Al-Zulfikar, RAW, etc) has suddenly turned deathly serious. The entire exercise may or may not have been a “Noora Kushti” meant to distance the PPP hierarchy from the terrorist overtones acquired by extremists among the Party elements over the Martial Law years, the initiation of a cycle of bloodletting has created new dynamics, unleashing demons lower down the pecking order that may run totally out of control. Others may revel in the never ending misadventures of the Bhutto family as regards familial peace and harmony but this is a continuing tragedy that must come to an end. For the sake of the Bhutto family and the Pakistan Peoples Party, sane counsel must prevail to terminate this insanity. While the functioning of the government may not have come to a standstill, it has certainly been severely affected to the detriment of the people of Pakistan. Despite her personal travails (and possible anguish), Ms Benazir has managed an extremely brave front, essentially remaining a class act.