The Province of Sindh
In May 1992, Sindh was in the grip of severe lawlessness. On the prompting of numerous intelligence reports about the helplessness of the Sindh Administration to prevent crime in both the urban and rural areas, the Pakistan Army brought it to the attention of the Federal Government. They feared that anarchy was around the corner. While reluctant to get involved, the Army hierarchy had concluded on the evidence at hand that no other option existed. The Federal Government mandated the Pakistan Army to restore the rule of law in the Province “at the request of the Sindh Government”.
The problems in the urban and rural areas were of completely different nature. The MQM had been formed in the urban areas of Sindh as a defence mechanism for the Mohajirs against the excesses of Sindhi ethnicity, local police, public transporters and militant gangs of other political parties, etc before its evolution as a political organisation. Essentially it adopted militancy to fight transgress from various quarters, the militants within MQM ultimately became a law unto themselves. On coming to power the MQM’s own militants resorted to bullying and intimidation, mostly against their own community. Such are conditions of anarchy created, the result was a free for all wherein the criminal elements on the fringes of political parties infiltrated the body politic itself and mixing with the militants replaced genuine political activity with criminal intent. With the police either helpless or collaborating or in a combination of both, the rule of law disappeared.
