Over 40 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in Karachi and surrounding areas since Monday evening's assassination of the Sindh Assembly member from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Raza Haider, with members of his party allegedly turning their ire at the Awami National Party (ANP).
Mr. Haider was gunned down along with his guard in the Jama Masjid in Nazimabad on Monday evening. Apprehensive of the kind violence that Karachi witnessed since the MQM legislator was shot dead, federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday evening itself had said there was enough indication of the involvement of the outlawed Sipah-i-Sahaba in the killing. He also urged MQM members to avoid attending the funeral as security agencies had got information of a possible suicide attack on the gathering.
According to Mr. Malik, the legislator was on Sipah-i-Sahaba's hit list; a fact he reiterated in the Senate on Tuesday. While the funeral proceedings remained incident-free, Pakistan's commercial capital was on the boil all day as shops and vehicles were set ablaze by workers of the two warring parties. As a measure of precaution, the authorities decided to keep all educational institutions in the city closed for the day.
Stating that the assassination was aimed at triggering violence in Karachi to destabilize Pakistan, Mr. Malik said the legislator had received threats from Laskhar-e-Jhangvi also for speaking out against it like the Sipah-i-Sahaba.
He urged the leaders of the MQM and the ANP to stop their workers from fighting each other because this would be tantamount to playing into the hands of vested interests which want to destabilise the country by keeping Pakistan's commercial capital on tenterhooks.
Historically prone to violence with various faultlines common to any urban centre that doubles up as a melting pot, Karachi in recent weeks has seen a spurt in targeted killings that have been blamed on the land mafia and strains between the MQM and the ANP which has of late made inroads in this area. Many see the violence as part of a turf war as Karachi is MQM's main stronghold despite efforts to move into Punjab and the ANP is gaining strength here because of the Pushtoons who have moved into the city in large numbers in search of a livelihood.
Source http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article549466.ece
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