Ethnic tensions grip Karachi

This incident sowed the seeds of dissension between the Mohajirs and the transporters, who belonged to another ethnic group. This incident also proved to be the harbinger of another incident that took place on October 31, 1986 at Sohrab Goth when the motorcade of MQM chief Altaf Hussain was on its way to Hyderabad.

The so-called clean up operation in Sohrab Goth against the drug mafia in December 1986, which was the most ill-planned operation and the information about which had already been leaked out, proved to be counter productive and disastrous. It yielded nothing but the consequences were simply cataclysmic. An armed attack was later on launched against the people of Aligarh and Qasba Colony which also gave disastrous consequences. The rampage had continued for four hours, but the police did not intervene though the police station is located only at a distance of 1,500 yards from the place where the incident had taken place. According to some reports, over 100 persons were killed and several others injured.

Though being a majority party, PPP did not need support from any political party or group in Sindh but the party high command showed political maturity by inviting all those who won seats in Karachi to join the government. However, it has to deal the current situation and the rising tension in Karachi and elsewhere in the province with firm hands.

There have been lone voices coming out of the interior from nationalists’ party like Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) in which it has expressed its concern on the large scale of people migration from troubled areas of NWFP to the towns of Sindh. This is a disturbing factor which should be addressed as quickly as possible.