It is a long time now that Karachi the biggest city of Pakistan has been caught in serious political turmoil. Whether it is political violence or sectarian, the everyday target killings have destroyed the peace and harmony of the city of lights. On the basis of around 200 people killed during the last two months the overall number of innocent lives lost so far would be awfully shocking. From decades Karachi has been ruled by the PPP and the MQM jointly. Even during the martial law, the city remained under the control of these two parties. The position is the same even today with ANP playing only a symbolic role. While the enmity between different political factions or organizations cannot be denied, most victims of violence happen to be ordinary citizens. This has given the political leaders an excuse to claim that the target killings are being carried out by the Taliban. Since no major Taliban set-up has been detected in Karachi, it is generally felt that the sordid act of target killing is the work of political players ruling over the province. Not taking any concrete measures to control violence, the Sindh government, which is a coalition of the two parties is acting as a silent spectator. Not bothered by the turmoil the Interior Minister Rahman Malik continues to repeat his statement that the situation in Karachi is under control which shows the ruling juntas casual and careless attitude towards such a burning issue. How funny does it sound when every now and then a leader of the PPP or MQM stands up to claim that 'Punjab will be their next political bastion with Lahore as the main centre of activity. As a diehard Punjabi, I will advise them to prove their ability to rule and put their own house in order first before talking of stepping into Punjab. RAFI NASIM, Lahore, October 4.