Imran Khan and Karachi Issue

Karachi which is industrial hub of Pakistan is under a wave of bloodshed and dozens of innocent people are dying everyday with no mention of the culprits behind this violence. Provincial and central ruling parties are just playing a blame game with no concrete measures to stop the violence in Karachi. At one day, Zulfiqar Mirza blames MQM for all terrorism in Karachi, while on the other day, we see Rehman Malik going to Nine Zero, begging a pardon for all statements issued by Zulfiqar Mirza. MQM blames ANP and Lyari Gang of PPP for this violence while some parties also blame some third force like Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for this terrorism.

   Imran Khan--Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has expressed his great concern over this bloodshed in Karachi and he termed it a disaster for the whole country. Imran Khan said that PPP and MQM are responsible for the killings in Karachi and he said that police in karachi is politicized where PPP and MQM workers were given high posts in police. According to Imran Khan, politicizing the police of Karachi is the biggest hurdle in enforcing the rule of law and to stop killing in Karachi. He said that when police officials belong to a party, they give protection to the criminals of their own party and in this way, it has become quite difficult to reach to the actual terrorists in Karachi and to treat them with an iron hand. In a TV program of Express News--To The Point With Shahzeb Hassan, Imran Khan said that if he is made governer of Karachi, he can bring peace in Karachi in no more than 90 days. He said solution to Karachi issue is de-weaponization of Karachi and de-politicization of Karachi Police.

Below is a news Item published in Today's Express Tribune about Imran Khan's stance on Karachi Killings:

The continued economic slide, coupled with the breakdown of law and order in Karachi, would lead to an economic collapse, a handout quoted chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf Imran Khan as saying on Saturday.

According to him, the national economy “is in a state of stagflation with little or no economic growth and high inflation”. The PTI chief said that electricity shortfall in Faisalabad alone resulted in massive unemployment. “If the current chaos and gang warfare is not controlled in Karachi…Pakistan faces imminent economic collapse…Loans amounting to Rs5 trillion, which were acquired over the past 60 years, have doubled to Rs10 trillion since the government came to power. How can a country with 80 per cent of the population on the fringe of extreme poverty repay the loans borrowed by our corrupt leaders through indirect taxes? There is a limit to taxing the poor through indirect taxation.”
Imran Khan said the sooner “this government is removed from power, the greater the chances of Pakistan’s recovery”.
Meanwhile, PTI’s Information Secretary Omar Sarfraz Cheema condemned the latest spate of bloodshed in Karachi.
A handout quoted Cheema as saying that the situation effectively exposed the government’s incompetence and its lack of will to deal with the Karachi situation.


Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2011.