The introduction

This is the report of the study into the causes of violence in the city of and also to how to have a peaceful resolution. The study is part of Oxfam Novib’s Scoping exercise on Peace as a Human Right. There had been four parts of the study including civil society consultations, cultural activities, community research and interviews with key informants. We have held two consultations one with the trade unions and labour, another with civil society organisations. We have also held three cultural activities two in the communities and one in the city on international human rights day. For the community research we have held eight focus group discussions. Two FGDs with the students, one each with women, minorities, old Karachiites in Town who are mostly supporters and voters of peoples party, another one in SITE town with the supportes and voters of Awami National Party and one in with the supporters and voters of Muthahida Qoumi Movement-MQM. For the Key informants part we had interviewed Architect Arif Hassan who is an authority on the issues of Karachi. We had also interviewed Dr. Jaffar Ahmad, who is the director of Pakistan Study Centre, , Bilquees and Abdul Sattar Edhi of Edhi Foundation, and Anis Haroon who is a woman activist and chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women. We have also interviewed Mr. Mjyed Aziz who is a business leader and social activist. All the data gathered in the above mentioned activities had been used for the report. Farhat Parveen and Imran Shirvanee had written the report jointly. The issues

Law and order The city of Karachi is hostage of violence for a long time. Whether it looms large in the form of strikes called by different ethnic, sectarian, and political groups, heavy firing, burning of vehicles and property, looting in broad daylight on the streets and bazaars and consequent deaths of innocent people and the conspicuous absence of law and order agencies on the crime scene is a common phenomenon. Target killing is another big issue in Karachi, which is used to settle the political, sectarian, ethnic and sometimes personal conflicts, but end up in spreading and maintaining terror among the inhabitants. Role of the law enforcement agencies A number of people interviewed for this study blame the situation to the role the law enforcement agencies play in maintaining law and order in Karachi. They point out that there is hardly any law enforcement to check the rising crime and violence in the society. Noted intellectual and architect Arif Hasan pointed out that 17 real estate brokers and three rights activists working on the issue of illegal encroachments had been murdered in the recent days and nothing was done to apprehend the murderers. “The empire of Dawood Ebrahim is being run from here,” he said. He said after the World Trade Organization-encouraged deregulation, the underground economy of foreign exchange and counter bank goods was no longer required to be hidden as the black money. Now, the old institutions are giving way to new, post-WTO institutions that encourage the black economy to establish itself as legitimate economy. “This is happening everywhere, in Mumbai, in Ho Chi Minh City, and in Seoul.” People who attended the focus group discussions said the law enforcement agencies themselves had a major vested interest in the city. Saeed Mazari of the Pearl Continental Workers’ Union said that the Rangers deployed in Sindh in general and in Karachi in particular would never want this lucrative assignment to end, and every time, the Sindh government decided that the Rangers should now leave the province, incidents of target killings would go up within days with the rumours of the situation worsening also started to circulate. He said he had read in a newspaper that the cost of making ice for them was about 100 million rupees a year. He said the total expenses of keeping Rangers was borne by the citizens of Karachi, and the Rangers know that nowhere else would they find such luxuries. “Even their headquarter is an elite building with round-the-clock air-conditioned rooms,” he pointed out. “That building was supposed to be a student hostel.” He complained that even police officials were now enjoying the lives of luxury, with official vehicles being used to take their children to school and bring them back home. On the other side, he said, the common people are still where they were ages ago, still victims of robberies and target killings. People in FGDs said police could play an important role in improving the general law and order situation. A real estate agent, Burki, said an honest police officer could help the nation undergo positive changes. “The SHO has a lot of authority; he controls his entire area,” he said. “If he decides to take the right measures, the society will definitely become a better place to live.” But they all agreed, this was not happening. Police or Rangers, however, were not singled out; generally, people blamed the entire system of governance for this situation. Architect Arif Hasan said the state system had degenerated to suit the vested interests. “Musharraf finished the system of control of power,” he said. “The residual control of power which people had in the bureaucratic system was strangulated by the present local government system. Nazim is acting like a king there is no restrictions on him previously commissioner was acting on some issues such as revenue but now Nazim has all the control over financial matters of the city. Devolution is a big cause of concern.” The concentration of power in the hands of the Nazim worries him. “All the fiscal powers are with the Nazim and except for a segment of civil servants in the Punjab nobody has contested these powers,” he pointed out. “Karachi is one big example where Nazim has all the power and there is no system of governance left, because Nazim’s Party is a very strong one. In a nutshell devolution took away whatever impartiality was left in the system of governance. Now we cannot control the populist pursuits of political parties because there is no accountability. “The present local government system is nothing but a nexus of corps commander and the Nazim to rule, something that was the basic objective of General Musharraf.” He, however, is also not in the favour of reversal of the present system. For him, that too would be a cause of concern. The best option before him is to have institutions with an empowered bureaucracy to act as a buffer between people and their representatives. Among the institutions that were established after the creation of the country, the most talked about, in terms of role it could play in betterment of the society, has been the National Commission on the Status of Women. Veteran women’s rights activist Anis Haroon is its chairperson. She, however, admitted that the role of the commission, at the moment, was very limited. “To begin with it is not autonomous,” she said. “We have held meetings with various representative groups to find out what they expected the commission to be like. We have sent our proposals to the authorities. I see the commission as an independent institution that can criticize the question the government and the law enforcing agencies whenever the occasion arises.” But she too knew this was still a dream, not a reality. Like all other government-run and state- established institutions, this too was not delivering the promised results. She said the problem lied with the conflict in interests of the government and the people. “The government never took pain to plan this city properly,” she complained. “The budgets were misdirected towards making plazas and overhead bridges. Water fountains were erected to beautify it when the citizens were not getting water to drink.” The ruling elite of the city including the political parties, she said, was also behind the criminal elements—land mafia et al. One major factor for the decline in the law and order has been highlighted as availability of arms and ammunition in Karachi. Anis Haroon termed this as an important issue for peace in the city. “Even mosques are not safe anymore,” she said. “The common man does not want arms licenses. The common man wants that state institutions to be strong enough to provide him or her with the protection.” Mafias But the political and administrative will to protect the lives of the 18 million citizens seems to have eroded. The city has been left to the mercy of various gangs and mafias. This study found that inflow of arms to Karachi has a lot to do with the issue of migration. According to the UNHCR, hundreds and thousands of Afghan are living in Karachi. Members of this group are reportedly involved in businesses of land, arms, transport, and drugs. (This is apart from their other members’ involvement in the working for different industrial and commercial enterprise of the city.) Several people that were interviewed during this study acknowledged the fact that a number of gangs have sprung up in the city due to various migrations. Dr. Jaffar Ahmad, director of the Pakistan Study Centre of the University of Karachi, in his interview, pointed out that a number of such people had no sense of ownership for this city or the country. He also pointed out that the global economy had also had a great impact on the lives of the people of the city. Pakistan has rapidly transitioned into a consumer society with very commercial values. People find it hard to survive in such a society without financial stability and may look for negative short cuts. Another aspect of this phenomenon, as Dr Jaffar Ahmad pointed out, is that people from other parts of the world migrate to Karachi as cheap labour is needed here. Such people include Burmese and Bengalis. Their arrival in the job market created a local conflict of interest. Matters were further complicated when Pakistan opened its borders to Afghans running from a civil war in their country that started towards the end of the 70s and has continued ever since then. Over 30,000 people arrived in Karachi as a result of that migration, wreaking havoc on the social fabric of the city, since these people brought with them their own way of living and attitudes that were very different from the local population. Drug smuggling brought in black money as well as the disease of heroine addiction that became rampant among the youth. Burden on economy Among the topmost results of this situation that was described to us in this study was the adverse economic impact of mass immigration and criminal infiltration on Karachi. Dr. Jaffar also pointed out that the global economy had also had a great impact on the lives of the people in the city. “Pakistan has rapidly transitioned into a consumer society with very commercial values,” he said. “People find it hard to survive in such a society without financial stability and may look for negative short cuts.” Business leader and second-generation industrialist Majyd Aziz, agreed to this perception. In his interview, he said that investment climate had been devastated by terrorism and violence. He gave examples of the Day blast, the murder of Benazir Bhutto and consequent mayhem, and the Marriott Hotel terrorist attack after which the foreign investors decided to back off their commitments. He pointed out that the budgetary deficit for the country this year (2009-2010) stood at 87.5 billion rupees. This, he mostly attributed to the deteriorating law and order situation in the country in general and in Karachi in particular, even though he believed the city still had a lot of potential. He said he would trust the major political party of the city, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), to help Karachi bounce back. Struggle for political space A number of people this study group approached presented an analysis of the political parties of Karachi that was not dissimilar with each other. The largest among these parties, in Karachi, they all said was the MQM led by self-exiled politician Altaf Hussain. The party started as an ethnic student party, turned into an ethnic party to participate in the 1988 general elections, and then in 1997 officially opened itself for other ethnicities too. But many of the people interviewed believed that the ethnic roots of the party are still in the - speaking community of the city, even though some of them questioned the basis of such roots. Without naming the MQM, Dr. Jaffar Ahmad says a particular ethnic party had a strong loyalty base in its constituency, and it had also used many pressure tactics including harassment and mass paranoia to maintain its support base. He further said that this party works under a strict code of discipline. He also acknowledges that MQM was the first party that actively mobilized its women workers and involved them in politics. Many developmental projects have been completed by the city government of the MQM something that do not fail to impress outsiders. Dr Jaffar Ahmad, however, said that the people must also see whether this development is public-friendly or more for the benefit of contactors and builders. Ninety percent of the population in the city, he pointed out, was poor and could not derive any benefit from the various newly built bridges and underpasses. He accepted that since MQM had a political monopoly over the city, people saw no other options. Other political parties needed to organize themselves and worked at the grassroots’ levels to create more diversity and break the hold of a single party. The other big party in the city is the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) (three National Assembly seats and six provincial assembly seats against MQM’s 17 NA and 34 PA seats). The third largest party in the city, as per the 2008 elections results, is the Awami National Party (ANP) (only two PA seats). There is a general belief that due to inter-party tensions in the city, there is hardly any political space left for those who differ from any of them on major issues. Also, it was often suggested in Focus Group Discussions as well as in interviews that almost all the parties align with the vested interests of the city, rather than the common citizens. Anis Haroon said that the political process in the country as a whole had never been allowed to take a full cycle. Democracy has perpetually been derailed in the country and political parties are never allowed to deliver. She agreed that democracy did not mean that political parties could get away with any thing. Rather, she said, it meant that political parties should pay heed to the needs of their voters and respect their wishes rather than follow the agenda of the establishment. But this, it was generally accepted in all focus group discussions as well as in interviews, was not possible because of the way the establishment operated. The role of foreign powers in destabilising Karachi was also highlighted. Anis Haroon said the internal dynamics were more important, even though she was quick to add that the international politics also had a definite role in this crisis. She said Pakistan had been pushed into an international war and made into a frontline state but at the same time it was the country’s own internal conflicts that were harming the public the most because the ruling classes were not catering to the needs of the lower classes. She pointed out that all the ideological groups and parties in the country who were anti-imperialist and shared such common values were systematically wiped out by the state agencies. She also partly blamed such groups saying these groups also failed to come up with a local agenda according to the local scenario, and often just tailed behind other political parties or foreign patrons. Arif Hasan also pointed out at the international players in Karachi situation but added that these problems were not Karachi-specific. The conflicts found here are mostly those that the country is faced with. The basic issue, according to him, is that Pakistan is today the hinge of the region. “All important actors of the region, every country from America to China to Saudi Arabia, India, Russia, Iran, Israel; they all have interest in Pakistan,” he said. “India and America are enjoying close relations, America and Saudi Arabia are very close but as far as Pakistan is concerned they do not agree on all the issues because of the clash in interests. China and Iran have very close relations but on the issue of Pakistan they have differences over their interests in Pakistan.” He said the basic conflict was between China and America. Americans, he said, wanted the Chinese to stay away from this region, so that the oil route of Iran and China could never be established. Karachi exists right at the spot that is strategically important for all those foreign powers. That is why all collateral damage of this conflict can be seen here in Karachi. “Had there been a Pakistani government sensitive to such realities, it would not have tried to take petty advantage of this conflict,” he added. “It would not have tried to become a big power to fulfil its ideological expansion. There was an attempt to make Pakistan a fort of , and this attempt failed. In this effort, the democratic process, which had been started in 1954, was undermined. The ruling actors in Pakistan are the armed forces; any other factor may only be a collaborator.” In these circumstances, almost all the people that were contacted for this study showed a need for more democracy, especially in the city of Karachi. In her interview, Anis Haroon said, “No matter if we take this solution to be bad or good, we should let the democracy work. Local government systems should be encouraged so that people can find quick and convenient solutions to their problems. Local administration should be empowered and at the same time the system should be improved to remove the existing flaws.” There was a general mistrust on electoral politics and the democratically elected governments at all three tiers were considered as not representative of their electoral colleges. Almost everybody said that parties with muscle power manipulated the voting process before and during the polling. They all said that the people hardly voted by their freewill. Ethnic composition The lack of a democratic process has resulted in disintegration of the society on communal lines, and in Karachi, ethnicity, instead of issues, has played a major role in creating the political divisions. Almost all the participants in the focus group discussions as well as those interviewed acknowledged this fact. This study found ethnic colour rising in the political parties of Karachi, with party leaders issuing statements that reflect their ethnic identity and a commitment to it rather than to any ideology. The Sindh president of the Awami National Party, instead of adhering to the non-parochial objectives and peaceful means that his party espouse in its basic documents, has been acting as the leader of the Pakhtun community of Karachi. He is on record of having said that he has formed a Pakhtun youth force of 10,000 that is fully capable of and ready to fighting any force that may try to expel them from Sindh, against their constitutional right. All ethnic groups who attended our focus group discussions said they were persecuted. The people who support the MQM said the ethnic group that had founded this party suffered mostly because of the quota restrictions on government jobs. They also complained that they would not get any jobs in other provinces as well. They also complained that because of the quota system, they also did not get admissions in professional educational institutions on merit. But jobs and educational opportunities are not the only concerns of the Urdu-speaking community of Karachi; they are also concerned about the increasing land grabbing in the city, something they blame on Pakhtun clerics. They also blame Afghan Pakhtuns along with a few local ones of indulging in the trafficking of drugs and arms, as well as in land grabbing. The Afghans had come here in the 1980s as refugees from the Afghan war, and have not returned. There is also a lack of trust among this population for the law enforcement agencies. “The police is not under the city government,” a participant in a Focus Group Discussion pointed out. “They are not even locals. Their behaviour with the locals is quite humiliating.” The ethnic discord could be seen in the way people described their grievances. An elderly woman in one of the FGDs claimed that during the lingual riots in General Ayub Khan’s rule, the Pakhtuns had kidnapped, tortured, and raped a number of Urdu-speaking women. Political division of the city could be seen on ethnic basis. The MQM, despite official claims to the contrary, was admitted by all those who came to the FGDs (including those who belonged to the party itself) to be defending the rights of the Urdu-speaking people. The Awami National Party mostly represented the Pakhtun community of the city. The PPP, FGD participants said, represented the Balochs, , Saraikis, and the Punjabis of Karachi. There were, however, exceptions in every party, with Urdu speaking members of the ANP and the PPP and Baloch, Sindhi, and Pakhtun members of the MQM providing a different view, albeit only as ethnic minorities in their respective parties. Most political workers showed grievances against those from the other. The ANP workers said the MQM-led city government did not provide stipulated funds to areas where supporters of the ANP lived. They pointed out that there were many overhead bridges and under passes made in the pre- dominantly Urdu-speaking areas while nothing concrete had been done in the Pakhtun areas. They said if they had been given the same share of development they would have loved to join the MQM. They said there were no schools, hospitals, proper sanitation system, roads, and job opportunities in Pakhtun areas. They also said those areas did not get safe drinking water while people in other areas would use such water on gardening and other luxuries. Citizens from Lyari, mostly Balochs, many of whom had voted for the PPP in the past many elections, said they had been marginalized in the new system that divided the city in 18 towns. The previous system had placed their in the South District with commercial zones like and Mithadar providing revenue for their locality. They believed they too had been targeted on ethnic basis. They also complained that the division of into Malir and Gadap Towns had deprived the Baloch and Sindhi population of the latter area of revenue from the industrial and airport areas. Ethnic tensions are complex in this city where migrants keep pouring in every day. Uneven economic development of the country forces hoards of unemployed people from different cities and village to find work in Karachi every day. Due to Pakistan’s involvement in the Afghan war millions of Afghans have also taken refuge in Pakistan and a large proportion of them are now settled and doing all sorts of businesses in Pakistan including Karachi. Since Karachi is the capital of Sindh, Sindhis also have grievance that there capital had been taken away from them. Karachi’s original Baloch population have also complains of being sidelined by the Urdu-speaking population that had migrated here first in the 1947-50s and then in 70s when East Pakistan became and independent Bangladesh and non-Bengalis had to leave Bangladesh. Pakhtuns also make a significant proportion in the population since they came here in the large numbers during the days of Field Martial Ayub Khan’s martial law. Pakhtuns were not the only people who came to Karachi in those days. Punjabis, Saraikis, Kashmiris, and Hazaras all came here, looking for jobs as large number of industries and commercial enterprises were set up in Karachi. The first Punjabis had come here in 1947 from the East Punjab. West Punjabis, Kashmiris, and Hazaras started coming in the Ayub Khan days, while Saraikis mostly came here in the 80s. Another Pakhtun migration from happened during General Zia’s regime in the early 80s when Pakistan got involved in the Afghan War. According to the UNHCR, sizeable hundreds and thousands of Afghan refuges are living in Karachi. 1980s could particularly be singled out as a decade when a large number of migrants came to Karachi. Bengalis and Burmese came to Karachi mostly in those days. Of the older communities, the Sindhis were the original population of what was once a small fishing village. Balochs have lived here for at least 300 years. Gujrati-speaking Parsee community too can boast a century-old association with this city. The interaction of these different communities has made Karachi quite a unique city. The competition in the labour market has resulted in declining income for the working people, who belonged both to the migrant communities as well as to the locals. Members of various FGDs as well as key informants pointed out that these competitions had resulted in ethnic tensions rather than any issue based politics in the city. On top of that, many said, was the difference in educational background of various communities. The Urdu-speaking people had a sizeable middle class in the city, and thus dominated the white- collar job market. Members of other ethnic groups who attended the FGDs said their communities felt a lingual and cultural hegemony of the Urdu-speaking community. Lack of educational facilities as a right also played a major role in dividing the city on such lines. Key informants also said that the media also did not play a very positive role in these circumstances. Role of the media A lot of people were critical of the media. Anis Haroon said that the media had developed tremendously in the past few years, and many new channels had sprouted. She said one should, however, not forget that the media were at the end of the day corporate media, and this their interests were not people’s interests, but rather the interests of the elite. “Our media are very cleverly being manipulated by such elements with vested interests,” she said. “Woman’s role is being stereotyped in the media. She is being projected as a supposedly empowered woman who has a career but at the same time she has a perfect figure, pleasant personality, and manages home and work brilliantly. Such species only exist in fiction and media are reinforcing such beliefs dutifully. Many religious channels portray women as a very holier- than-thou type of beings with their scarves set perfectly on their heads and patronizing manners. That too is dangerous.” Dr Jaffar Ahmad said it was not a good idea to straightaway label the media as good or bad. “Political debates have now become open; people have gained more confidence and acquired the courage to talk about issues relatively fearlessly,” he said. “On the other hand these very media are also promoting religious extremism, superstition, and rituals.” Many people who participated in the FGDs said the media should play a responsible role in the society; something they believed was missing. Impact on the women The resulting impact on the society was primarily gauged by how women fare here, owing not only to the doings of the media but also because of the overall performance of all institutions of the state as well as that of the civil society. Lecturer and doctor Tabninda Sarosh said that as far as the recent events were concerned, as a mother, she was very concerned for her children who went out and were constantly exposed to numerous security threats. “Few days ago the government had shut down all the schools nationwide due to terror threats,” she recalled. “This was a great mental trauma for every body as we had never dreamt that primary school going children could one day become the possible targets for terrorists.” In that particular focus group discussion with women, all the participants said they would describe peace as a situation where they could send their children to schools and playgrounds without having to worry about their security. They also said that there was an imbalance of power in the society whether it is home, community, work place or some other place. They said the struggle to balance that imbalance was bound to create unrest. They said now people always feared that they would to be subjected to terrorism. This was also the way the majority of the people that were interviewed felt. Most of them said they did not feel secure even in their own homes. In that particular FGD, Mahnaz Rahman, senior journalist and currently head of Sindh chapter of Aurat Foundations said that during the fifties, the sixties, and the seventies, Karachi was the most modern city of Pakistan. There were many non- living in Karachi who were practicing their dress code. Muslims never had any problems with that. But in the seventies Urdu-speaking people were terrorized by the government that their language could be marginalized and their women would be humiliated if they did not accept the hegemony of Sindhi majority. This, she said, created a negative impact on the women in Karachi. She said General Zia ul-Haq’s period was the worst for women. They had been tortured and humiliated not only on the streets and at their workplaces but also victimized by the state when the then government passed Hudood ordinances in 1979 which were on the one hand about proving women a lesser human being and on the other about exclusion of women from the public space. “Talibanisation had also had a negative impact on these women as the men on streets harassed them into observing pardah, to denounce their modern life style,” she said. “Now one can see many women wearing burqas and hijabs as compared to the seventies and the eighties.” A woman from SITE Town said that the last year, Pakhtun women were humiliated by the Urdu- speaking men by stripping of burqas and chadors while Urdu-speaking women had been humiliated by Pakhtun men by stamping on their backs. They also said that there had been instances when women from both the ethnic groups had been molested and raped by the other community. Hameeda Ali, a community organizer, said that during the strikes and riots, women workers found it difficult to reach back home. They had to stay in their factories and offices for longer periods or stay outside their workplaces to wait for the public transport. She said that there had been instances where women workers had been molested and raped in their workplaces and by other men on the street and in public transport. During our discussion with students, girl students confirmed that the men of opposite parties and ethnic groups had also harassed them. In her interview, Anis Haroon, women rights’ activist and chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women, said that religious extremism had made women far more vulnerable today than what they were 30 years ago. “Around ten to 15 years ago, numerous chalking appeared on the walls of the city denouncing the women who went around without purdah, and urged them to stay indoors,” she said. “Unfortunately, religious extremism has not sprung from the people but rather from the state. The majority of the population does not support these groups. When the state expressed its support for the Taliban in Afghanistan, it indirectly endorsed their unjust and oppressive attitudes towards women.” She pointed out that when the women were granted 33 percent representation in the local government bodies, many women took up the challenge and asserted themselves. There, they proved their worth in more ways than one, she said. “I do believe that religion and women’s rights issues cannot always go hand in hand,” she said. “The majority of people in this country are, however, Muslims and hence religion should be used positively and strategically to mould attitudes and laws for the betterment of the women. This means a modern interpretation of the religion.” She recalled the times of Genaral Zia ul-Haq and said more women would take to streets in Karachi whenever women were to protest against Hudood ordinances and other practices of so-called Islamisation of the country. She said women workers had been adversely affected during that time because of their image did not confirm to the official image of a good Muslim women. As a result majority of working women opted for burqas and hijabs. Women students also had to opt for purdah due to those pressures, she said. She also recalled that women activists and female members of political parties too had been terrorised by different governments in different times. She stressed the need for women to unify under a banner and than raise their voice together. They should direct their protest everybody who subjugated women’s right. “Many a times in the past women organizations have closed their eyes towards unjust behaviour against women when the person inflicting the injustice was ideologically their leader,” she said. “A famous leader had married many times but women’s groups did not criticize his polygamous conduct.” Democracy, she said, was also needed in the homes of political leaders and not just stay in the parliament. Impact on the youth Depoliticization of the society had also affected the youth of the city, key informants as well as participants of various focus group discussions said. Dr Jaffar Ahmad said that the youth of the city was divided in to two clear classes: the upper and the upper middle class youngsters always had this option of leaving the country and its problems behind. He said this was why they did not take any interest in the political affairs of Pakistan. Youth from the lower classes, he said, were divided on gender lines, with boys being more privileged in comparison with the girls. For such youth, the lack of quality educational opportunities was a major issue. This results in a number of youngsters not attending any schooling beyond a minimum. Such youth easily fall prey to organizations that indoctrinate violent attitude and practices in their minds. Arif Hassan, Anis Harroon, and Dr Jaffar Ahmad said that students’ depoliticisation was an offshoot of the depoliticisation of the entire society. This they blamed on the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971, when politically more active wing of the country, East Pakistan, was lost. They pointed out that East Pakistan was responsible for providing a major thrust to democracy in the country, and their middle classes, labour unions, and well organized students unions played a big role in creating a democratic environment in the country. Later, in the 70s, the best of the labour force, our artisans, and technical manpower migrated abroad (mainly to the Middle East) leaving behind a political space that could not be filled. To top it all in the era of Zia ul-Haq, student unions were banned and trade unions were weakened systematically. All these steps cut off the common man from politics so much so that many students now believe the unions to be a violent institution, and most are likely vote in favour of the ban on student unions. The student unions gave this country various political leaders that actually emerged from the middle classes and thus after the ban, the middle classes were no longer represented in the political system of the country. The focus group on youth consisted of about ten youngsters from SITE area, a neighbourhood of the city, and another group from middle class localities. The middle class students, from the City School, were given a talk on peace. A discussion was also held with them in which they expressed their deepest concerns regarding the conditions of Karachi. They questioned the political parties as to why they were not taking care of the worsening situation of Karachi’s peace. They said that they felt threatened that the extremists would cause harm to their schools and to their lives. They were also concerned that their lifestyle could be jeopardized if necessary measures were not been taken by the administration of the city. The SITE youth group, on the other hand, said that it was saddening that the Pakhtuns were treated as terrorists by the other ethnic groups of the city. They said the police and people from other ethnic groups question them if they were part of any terrorist outfit. In collages, as well, they said, fellow students from other ethnic groups termed Pathans as Taliban. They were of the opinion that this assertion came from the political doctoring of MQM that wanted all the Pakhtuns to leave Karachi. They complained that their parents were residents of Karachi for a long time but their ID card and domiciles were not being made here. They said MQM wanted to turn them into a minority in Karachi to maintain its political hegemony. They said in poor neighbourhoods like theirs, there were no government collages and schools. If there were some, they were not working properly or there were not enough teachers to provide education. There is a total absence of extra-curricular activities in their collages and schools. Play grounds, music, arts, and crafts were distant dreams for the majority of the youth in SITE town. Two young women who belonged to Bengali community told the FGD that they also felt threatened by the majority. They said their parents had been Karachiites but were not treated as equals by the members of the other ethnic identities. Even now, they said, they had to prove their identity as Pakistanis. The police and other authorities in government office also harass them. The young women recited her experience during the riots in the city in the recent riots. One of them was working for an NGO and had to work in both Urdu-speaking and Pakhtun areas. “During the last riots I had been in a Pathan (Pakhtun) area,” she said. “There were Pathan boys who said that we would not let me go because their women were stuck in Mohajir (Urdu-speaking) areas. My Pathan friends arranged for my safe exit from their area, but it took hours.” Her father had to wait for her at the border of the neighbourhood for hours. Impact on the labour In most of the FGDs, it became apparent that the worst-hit of the deteriorating security situation were the labour class people. In one of the discussions, young lecturer and doctor Tabninda Sarosh said terrorism was definitely a burning issue and the war on terror was also a reality but well before this fiasco, Karachi was not exactly a peaceful place. “The problem is basically that Karachi is a big city and the divide between the haves and the have- nots is enormous which leads to frustration amongst the masses impelling people to resort to criminal activities,” she said. “So even in the absence of bomb blasts, other things like thefts, armed robberies, and killings go on. When people don’t get job they start blaming the people from other ethnicities having robbed them of employment opportunities, which actually is a symptom of economic deprivation. The fault lies with the government that has been neglecting the needs of Karachi, which is at the moment the city that is providing revenue for the rest of the country.” This, she said, had long been the dilemma of the city. Representatives of various labour organisations also spoke of the similar situation in other focus group discussion. Labour leader Khaista Rehman presented a case about the impact of lack of peace on the labourers. He said that going to and from work especially for women, cessation of social activities and entertainment, decreased educational activities, inability to reach hospitals in times of emergency, lack of job opportunities, losses in terms of life or injury to security personnel were few of the main issues that the labour classes of Karachi confronted today. “ Small vendor or stall owners also suffer from grave losses when mobs burn or damage their goods,” he pointed out. “Their losses are never recovered and they get no support from the state. Labourers who work on daily wages also suffer from financial problems when the city businesses shut down in times of unrest. People who have a job also have to take leaves without pay and end up in financial crises as well as facing show-cause notices and warnings from the authorities. Lack of peace leads to lack of investment and lesser job opportunities, which leaves the labourers without any hope for better prospects. “Lack of peace also causes political turmoil and political parties regularly give calls for strike implying that a labourer loses his wages for that day. Gang wars and ethnic tensions also make it very difficult for a labourer to earn his living. Many groups block roads and traffic, and commuting become a major challenge of everyday life. Political parties also extort money from small businessmen and that is a real headache for a person who wants to earn his livelihood in a peaceful manner. When labourers protest against policies or other changes, political workers who happened to be the employers’ people torture them. Impact on the minorities The worst to suffer among the minorities in Karachi are the . Due to constant rattling with the neighbouring India, the fear of being targeted by religious zealots have made them more and more isolated in the pre-dominantly Muslim society of Pakistan. With a large majority of this minority being very poor, members of this community who attended focus group discussion on the issues of minorities complained of being singled out for menial jobs. “Lower caste Hindus and are always considered for sanitary workers’ position,” said a participant. “This results in further lowering of their social status.” Zahid Farooq, social activist and representative of Christian community, said minorities were particularly concerned about their worship places and often postponed their religious ceremonies due to fear of unrest and possible attack. He said in the past, members of the Muslim majority used to provide the minority with protection, but now he feared this was not the case any more. Consequently, interfaith intermingling has suffered, so much so that the minorities now prefer to live in their own community neighbourhoods. All the participants, however, admitted that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had been a great supporter of their cause. “The MQM has done a lot for us,” said a Christian participant of the discussion. “So much so that I think they are now our true representative in the national politics.” Members of other minorities present there also seconded his views. According to the 1998 census, roughly three million Hindus live in Pakistan. Christians are the second largest religious minority community with approximately 2,800,000 in 2008, or 1.6% of the population. Of these, approximately half are Roman Catholic and half Protestant. There also is a sizeable minority of the New Apostolic Church. Most of the Hindu community members had preferred to live in Pakistan after the partition of the British India, instead of leaving their homes to go to India. But their lives had become quite troubled, especially since the pseudo-Islamisation of General Zia ul-Haq. Members of the minority communities also complained that their girls were being kidnapped and forcibly being converted to Islam in the name of marriage. This, they said, was not possible in case of a minority boy trying to marry a Muslim girl. The biggest fear for the minority members was from Talibanisation. They all said they feared their places of worship might become target of terrorist attacks. They also complained against the media who they said were dominated by mainstream thoughts. Gojra incident, they pointed out, was not covered in as much detail as was needed, just because it was an attack on a Christian neighbourhood. They said it was possible to have extremist Islamist TV channels spreading hatred against the minorities, but a Christian channel was not being allowed to telecast from here. A Christian girl at the discussion said she had been hearing about a Christian TV channel being planned but it was only now that she had heard that it would be on air soon. In her interview, Anis Haroon also said that this global attitude against the minorities was encapsulated in the universal motto of ‘majority is authority’. She said even though our constitution promises rights for the minorities, still it does not allow a minority citizen of this country to head the country as president. “This is quite outrageous,” she said. Role of the civil society Key informants were quite critical of the role the civil society was needed to play in these circumstances. Dr Jaffar Ahmad said that the role of the civil society had not been a very great one. “Lawyers are right now only working within their professional limits and same goes with the doctors,” he said. “But these people do not usually come out of their circles to work in the social sector. Even the NGOs are not working at the grass root levels. In my eyes, a social reformer always works from among the people and not by holding seminars in five star hotels. Whenever reformers have actually mingled with the society they have been able to bring about positive changes and a good example is that of Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan and his project in Orangi.” He further said that the commitment levels of these bodies also needed to be evaluated. “Some of these organizations are influenced by outside factors and the establishment,” he said. “If these groups really do attempt to connect with the masses then a positive change is bound to occur.”

Conclusion

Common Grounds The most striking conclusion of this study has been the fact that only a small minority community in Karachi has the experience of living here for over a hundred years. The biggest communities of this city have a newer relation with Karachi, and even though for many, this is their only home, the ties to this home are not very deep rooted in history. This results in people forming a strictly working relation with this city, rather than having any emotional attachment, which would have made them feel more committed to resolving the issues they face here. Most of the communities (and the city is indeed divided into communities), want a solution to the problems they perceive to be real. Even otherwise, there are ways that the problems faced by the people of Karachi could be solved, with consensus. Most of the people are here because either they, or their ancestors had come here looking for work. The Urdu-speaking community is in Karachi because after the partition of the British India, when they migrated from their Indian hometowns, it was here that they were promised a safe haven and employment opportunities. The Punjabis, the Pakhtuns, the Saraikis, the Kashmiris, the Hazaras, the Bengalis, and the Burmese have all come here looking for work, mostly as industrial, port or construction labour. Even the Balochs, one of the older communities of the city, had come here from far away areas of Iranian Balochistan because it was here that they could find some work. This means that most of the people are working people, with a common desire for an improvement in the work situation here. This study learnt from almost all focus group discussions, and from every key informant, how important it was for the people of Karachi to restore peace so that they could go to their workplaces in safety and security. Social organizer and political worker Nawab Ali, in one of the FGDs, pointed out that despite all the differences between workers of various trade unions, it was far easier for them to work together since they all belonged to the same class background. “A common man knows that peace will for work for him, and he needs others to survive,” Ali said. “Only when people try to dominate each other, the problems arise. The majority is formed by the labour classes and only a successful labour movement or a labour party can work towards peace in the city.” Another working class representative and political worker Umer Din said the labourers should come out to protest against the present conditions. “It is useless to expect honesty from our present leaders,” he said. “In fact, it is impossible.” This close interaction means that there is a bigger chance for these people to learn from each other. Various communities are in with this chance, provided they opt to look for virtues in the other communities to learn. Karachi is essentially a working class city, even though the rights that these people get in this city are at the minimal. Most of the people are poor and cannot afford even safe drinking water. Still, people believe that the human rights situation in Karachi is far better than that in other cities or towns of the country. What a number of people said in FGDs was that only a small minority was in a position to get away from the problems the citizens of Karachi face. For the rest, it was here forever. This made them realised that it was in their interest to look for solutions here, rather than waiting for any opportunity to run away, either back to where they (or their ancestors) initially came from, or onwards to some western country for greener pastures. But the depressing reality was that as of now, they see no quick-fix solutions. Presently, a number of people suggested, only gangs and mafias could run this city. Unless there was a group of strongmen militantly pushing for their version of solutions, no solutions seemed possible, many of them said. What, however, was not supported by any group, on either side of ethnic and political divides, was religious extremism. So strong was the reaction to religious politics that some of the people wanted zero tolerance level against this kind of extremism. In and FGD, Aslam Khawaja, renowned activist of Sindh, said the judiciary had behaved in a very disappointing manner in cases dealing with terrorism. “The terrorists involved in the attack on the team of French engineers near Sheraton hotel were released by the Sindh High Court, Hafiz Saeed and others were released by the High Court,” he pointed out. “The leaders of the lawyers’ movement have also not criticized this trend. State institutions like the army itself have been shying from blaming the religious extremists and end up accusing India for all the unrest in the country.” Generally, this study found that the people would accept the religious seminaries only in a reformed manner, once they are modernised into a peaceful institution. Otherwise, they all said it would be better to get rid of these madaris. The cosmopolitan culture of Karachi, the way it was remembered by many of the FGD participants and almost all key informants, was considered the desired future of Karachi, rather than any Talibanisation. And even though many of the participants of the FGDs supported various political parties that used firearms to pursue their political ends, the consensus remained that firearms were no solution to the problems of the city. So much was the desire to get rid of the Kalashnikov culture, that it was a general consensus that Karachi needed to be de-weaponised. People generally showed the realisation that the solution lies in dialogue processes. Arif Hasan said when the space of informed discussion is eradicated one could not have consensus. “It was decided in Zia’s time that all the extracurricular activities should be stopped, so the place from where debate starts was vanquished,” he said in his interview. “Multi-class place for debate was vanquished. Cinema was wiped out. Forced observance of Namaz also sharpened the religious differences. Student unions and trade unions were banned so the space for the discussion was taken away, which had created a vacuum and resulted in lack of positive thinking, and intolerance.” One aspect of Karachi’s relations with the political leaderships of the country is the fact that all political parties have interests in Karachi. For this reason, none is willing to ignore this place. Every one of them would want a stable Karachi. As Dr Jaffar Ahmad pointed out that it was not in the interests of anybody living in Karachi to destabilize the running system no matter what ethnic background they have. On the other hand mafias that are active here have no sense of ownership towards the city or the country and they are oblivious to any deterioration of circumstances or legal boundaries. Even though there is a deep desire for the things to improve, generally people believe the internal tensions would take time to evaporate. They also believed that the Pakhtuns would now assert more for a larger share in the city and provincial politics, especially because of their experience in the local government system has taught them a newer role. It was also found to be a common belief that the vested interest would continue to resist any change. The people agreed that this would mean more violence. People showed belief that there was a bigger chance for social movements now in Karachi. Such movements would focus on issues such as education, health, development, infrastructure, human rights etc. There was a general perception that such a movement would not be from the NGO sector. It was also agreed that the NGOs should use their research, community networking, and their perspective of peace to bring together the diverging political forces As Anis Haroon said, “The people need to be told that violence is not going to solve their problems. The road to peace should be a peaceful one. This points towards a possible compilation of civil rights manifesto that illustrates the need of our basic rights. People should also have the faith that all institutions of the state are accountable and answerable to them.” This means that such institutions should be reformed. One such institution, for which it was often said that it should continue, but also that it should be reformed, has been the institution of the local government. A number of changes were suggested for making this system better for the people, but nowhere it was suggested that it should be scrapped. The people want the local governments, but more responsible, and more accessible. There was a breeze of general optimism found among almost all the persons contacted for the purpose of this city, when they all said that Karachi was too important a place for everybody to be left to deteriorate. They believed the strategic importance of this city would continue to ensure the situation would not deteriorate further beyond a point. The business community here believed that the Afghanistan situation was now going to improve and this would bring about positive changes in the situation of Karachi. They also believed that now, the city of Karachi would get more business opportunities, resulting in an expansion in the job market here. They said they believed so because the Americans and their allies would now need the ports of Karachi, including , more and more. The Projections  The desire for a cosmopolitan culture would also influence the rest of the country through the Karachiites with roots there.  There would be political realignments on ethnic basis.  The people from the interior of Sindh would have little role to play in the politics of Karachi.  Sindhis, Balochs, Seraikis, Kashmiris, and Hazaras would seek closer ties for common political platforms.  The PPP would support such a unity for a greater share in the city.  There would be little role for the PML-N in the city, except for in traditional Punjabi- dominated areas.  ANP is becoming more and more a Pakhtun-only political party.  The business classes align themselves more with the MQM.  MQM may lose grounds among non-Urdu speaking populace of the city, and thus would want to expand elsewhere.  A lot of political work done by the NGOs would now go to political parties.  Sub-divisional structure of Karachi would be redone in the mid-to-long run.  Religious extremism would now go down, with a modernisation of seminaries etc. Recommendations 1. Though the traditional dialogue and consultation is needed to improve the deteriorating law and order situation, NOWCommunities thinks that use of media, culture, and campaigning is the answer to the worsening situation of peace and ever-increasing violence in the city of Karachi. Only in the month of January 2010, more than 70 people have been killed in target killings and other incidences of violence. All the law enforcement agencies including the Rangers and police have nothing to explain their position. Most of the dead are young political workers and inhabitants of different towns where poor working class people live such as Orangi, Shah Faisal Colony, Gulshan-e Iqbal, and SITE Town. Their political parties also have nothing concrete to suggest to improving the situation. 2. Most important recommendation should be to root-out the gun culture in the city. Karachi should be deweaponised. Army areas, Rangers installations, and influence of the two should be eradicated. Without limiting the role of the army and Rangers, Karachi could never breathe a sigh of peace. 3. After the US and allied forces change of strategy towards Afghanistan, we should demand from our government to divert its funds towards development including employment, education, health, and infrastructure. Afghan refugees should go back to their country and ‘no go areas’ of Karachi under any of the so-called mafia belonging to any of the different parties should be rescued. 4. Karachi’s Strategic Development Programme 2020 is also very important in which new industrial, commercial, and housing areas would be build. We suggest to holding town-wise consultations for the full and fair participation of all the groups living in Karachi. Increase in the rate of employment would be pivotal in bringing down the violence in the city. 5. Police should be under the city district government; all the towns should have their own set of police force where only local people should be hired. They should also be given training to handle a cosmopolitan population. 6. Educational institutions that were once Karachi’s pride possessions now present a gloomy picture. Steps should be taken to ensure that academic atmosphere returns there. 7. Government should be given special funds to provide free education till high school. Revival of collages education is also important to save the youthful energies and to divert them towards the right direction. Short-term assessments should be done to know the present situation of government collages in the city; more funds and appropriate management should be appointed in this regard. 8. Student unions should be revived and role of political parties in the educational institutions should be stopped immediately. Appropriate legislation should also be done in this regard. Consultations should be held with the stakeholders, and media should be used to campaign for it. 9. Special emphesis should be given on including harmony and tolerance in the syllabus so that a true and tolerant cosmopolitan culture could emerge. Not many people know about the history of our great city, which should be inculcated in the syllabus, and important people like architect Arif Hassan should be asked to provide their expertise to benefit the people in this regard. 10. Karachi should be demarcated according to the wishes of the people living in the city. Lyari and Malir Towns should be demarcated again to accommodate the rightful concerns of the people in the towns. 11. The City should be run by the City District Government along with the provincial government. Cantonments and other agencies should also work under the above-mentioned authorities. 12. Reforms should be made in the local government system and all the posts should be filled through direct election. Peace building and peacekeeping should be the role of local government. 13. More action-oriented research would also help to design and understand the campaign and cultural activities. 14. We suggest holding research on the role of political parties, law enforcement agencies, and local and provincial government system in Karachi. We also suggest to demystifying the role of mafias in the ongoing violence in the city. 15. Cultural activities should be used to bring down the social temperature in the city. 16. Culture exchange among different ethnic and religious entities should also be used for cultural harmony of the city. 17. A campaign should be launched to find the commonalities rather than the differences among ethnic groups living in Karachi. Media should also be used for this purpose. 18. Since the future belongs to the youth, forums and groups of youth should be organized to create cultural harmony and to demand not only peace but also all other human rights. 19. Women groups should also be organized to fulfil the above-mentioned purpose. 20. Labour unions should be effectively revived and labour rights should be discussed and implemented. A campaign is also suggested in this regard. 21. Role of Madaris should be reformed and limited. Fruitless discussions on the importance on religion should be stopped. Research and campaigns should be held to do away with the discriminatory laws against women, labour, religious, and ethnic minorities. 22. Role of media should be discussed publicly and there should be public platforms to regularly discuss the performance of the media. 23. Demands should be made to limit the role of religious indoctrination on media. 24. Media should report facts and not the perceptions and opinions of individual hosts. Training and campaign for an objective reporting should be done for the entire media. 25. FM and youth channels should be used or started to spread peace. Annexure

In the 1998, Karachi’s official population was 9.09 million not counting 1.9 million aliens. Karachiites say the population figures do not project the reality. They also complained that their ethnic disaggregate data was not presented authentically due to political reasons. (Arif Hassan, The scale and causes of Pakistan’s urban change). The present projection of population is 18 million. Karachi contains 32 percent of the total industrial establishment of Pakistan. Much of the industrialization took place in Karachi and as a result, the growth rate of Karachi was higher than that of Pakistan. This growth rate increased the burden of internal and external migration on Karachi. The large scale industries of Karachi employ 71 percent of the total employed labour force of Sindh. The city contains 62 percent of the population of urban Sindh and 21.8 percent of the urban population of Pakistan. This shows importance of Karachi in demographic terms. Thirty-eight percent of the migrants to Karachi came from the Punjab and 29 percent from the NWFP. This explains the existence of large Punjabi and Pushto speaking populations in the city. The population of the Urdu speakers has declined from 54.34 percent in 1981 to 48.52 percent in 1998. According to the National Aliens Registered Authority (NARA), 600,000 Afghans have settled in Karachi (Arif Hassan, 2006, The scale and causes of Pakistan’s urban change), while the current figures of the NARA say that 200,000 Afghans are still living in Karachi. The richer Afghans very quickly established themselves in businesses and trades in Peshawar, Quetta and as well as in Karachi. Karachi, a city of migrants since its inception, still embraces internal and external migrants.