May 12th: 'Organized Chaos'

As you all know by now, at least 30 people have been confirmed dead officially. More than hundred are injured. Unofficial sources claim that more than 57 people have died and around 200 people have been injured on this day of 'organized chaos.' Let us not forget the driver, who was shot because his crime was that he was carrying the injured to the hospital. First of all, I would like to offer my condolences to the victims as we are all related to each other in some way or the other. It is indeed a sad day in our history.

Now, I would like to state my views on this 'organized chaos' which was created today by the ruling party of Karachi. There is no doubt in my mind, that this violence was planned way in advance and was executed to near perfection. Firstly, there were three parties involved who were engaged in violence today. They were the PPI (Punjabi Pakhtun Ittehad), ANP (Awami National Party), and MQM; without whom today was not possible. 11 workers of the MQM party also got killed in this pointless chaos, for whom I condole with their families and friends. It is indeed sad, that our leaders use the poor people of Pakistan to carry out unnecessary operations against their brothers who are also misguided by their leaders. In the year of 2007, this was not thinkable but it happened today as if it was an 'everyday affair.'

It is sad to see that all this chaos had the approval of the most powerful man in Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf. We, as a nation, have always had hopes attached with this person. But today, he has not only failed us but showed us our worst nightmare; which happened a decade back. Again, the youth of Karachi were armed and told to kill anyone who they deemed against them. One night before the violence, 1000 plus containers were brought in to Shara-e-Faisal and everything was organized to make it impossible for Iftikhar Chowdhry to proceed. Then when one of the darkest morning arrived, it was bloodshed at the streets of Karachi. After the whole drama, the governor claims that it was the opposition. Not only this, they say that opposition people continuously attacked them first. Is it that the governor thinks that we are watching a soap opera? Or maybe, he thinks that we are just not sane enough to understand anything anymore? What benefit did the 'opposition' get by attacking Aaj TV? Why would the 'opposition' attack the institution which is clearly turning against the government over the last few weeks?

Now let me illustrate the real story. If someone was following the Aaj TV they would have seen that in the morning the channel showed some footages of ANP workers being injured and shot at. In the interview of the victims, they said that it was the MQM which attacked them with bullets. This was the turnaround. ANP workers which were few in numbers were not able to sustain for long. Within an hour, more reinforcements of the MQM party arrived and started shooting at the new enemy, Aaj TV. MQM is known to have the most organized media monitoring team amongst all the political parties in Pakistan. The footage of the injured ANP worker initiated the onslaught which was not meant to be. For hours their office was attacked with no signs of Rangers or law enforcement agencies. After nearly 5 hours of discriminatory firing a vehicle of Rangers came only to leave the area. All calls for help by the Bureau Chief, Mr. Talat Hussain, went to despair. He was not aware that he was just a victim of the 'organized chaos' which was planned way before. The federal government had given a free-hand to the ruling party in Karachi to do what they do best; create terror.

The party which had gained credibility and sympathy for their work over the last few years in Karachi lost everything in one go. There is no doubt that MQM worked well to regain the trust of the people of Karachi when they started developing Karachi at such a rapid pace. But, today that sympathy is not only lost but it has brought back the terror in Karachi'ites.

After all this, came the rally of Mr. Musharraf which was nothing but a shocker. How could a person with so much will and determination become so weak? The President addressed a bunch of less than hundred thousand people, who were paid guests, with the most un-purposeful speech ever made. How can he support the idea of talking to people who did not even know the reason for being there? If there was ever a literal example of the notion 'power corrupts' then the President's rally was it. The Chowdhary Brothers Inc. once again blind-folded their leader into the dark well. After all, they are experienced in this since the Supreme court attack in Nawaz Sharif's government.

The way I see it is that, President Musharraf has got limited options. I think that he will eventually move into negotiations with the biggest political party in Pakistan, PPP. But, this will happen only if the Supreme Court shows its strength in the coming weeks. There is a strong belief that the President is still wary of two top judges in the SC. As we all know, more than 70 percent of the top judiciary is against the man who promised so much. I believe that if the Supreme Court keeps its nerve and makes it all the way, then this will go a long way in establishing a system in Pakistan. A system which will also keep these political parties in control which only come forward to achieve their own interests.

Lastly, if the above statements hold true then I believe that one more round of chaos will engulf Karachi in the coming years. But this time the difference will be that it will be final 'cleanup' of those who believe in 'organized chaos.' I am sure that PPP will not repeat its mistakes by leaving the top leadership and killing the brain-washed workers below. The workers below just carry out the orders of their leaders. This leader claims that the people who went against him in the past will face a slow death. But, he forgets that if our agencies are most uncomfortable with someone, then it is him. The same person, who resides in London and is still not able to come back to the city which he rules. Now, this is what i would refer as the 'hollow power.' Let us hope that whatever the case, one day soon the masses of Pakistan which include the Mohajirs, Memons, Sindhis, Pathans, Punjabis and Balochis, and all others are able to come together to bring a real change in the country. If around 20,000 people attended the MQM rally in Karachi and around 80,000 attended the rally in Islamabad then I am sure that it does not even represent 0.1 percent of our country. So all we need is just 1 percent of Pakistan to come out and silence the short-sighted leaders. And like any other Pakistani, I have that unrealized hope.