The twin blasts in Karachi’s Hyderi Market, which killed eight people, also signalled a number of things. The first, because of where the blasts took place, is that the Bohri community is being targeted. The second is that the government has failed to stop the attack, something it should have been able to do if it had conducted intelligence-gathering properly, and with the involvement of all parties. The government was too busy with the new local government system, which had brought some satisfaction to the MQM, the coalition partner based in Karachi, but it led to the exit of several government allies, including the ANP, which is also supposed to be a player in Karachi. Since the ANP, while in government, had not contributed anything to the pacification of the city, it is unlikely to do anything positive while out of it.However, the parties which have a part to play in the running of the city, the PPP, the MQM and the ANP, have a responsibility, not just because they base their politics on it, but because, as the country’s industrial and financial capital, and sole port, its peace and stability are of concern to the whole country, not just to its inhabitants. If these parties were to put their heads together, instead of playing politics as usual and jockeying for position, they would come up with a solution, and a positive means of stopping such outrages in future. Interior Minister Rehman Malik is a frequent visitor to Karachi, and instead of the political role of acting as liaison between the MQM and the President, he should devote more time to convincing the coalition’s main components that they should put their heads together to tackle the problem. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Home Minister Manzoor Wassan have to tackle the problem with more vigour than they have shown so far, and play a leading role in ensuring that there are no further blasts. There will also be no point in making much of a fuss over the efforts that have gone into the new local councils system.Apart from the general import of the attack, which means that militants have once again targeted the country’s largest city, there is the possibility that the Bohri community may have been targeted. They are already a minority within a minority within a minority, being followers of Sydna Burhanuddin, a minority within the Ismaili community, itself a minority within the Shia community, itself a minority of the Muslims of Pakistan. If this is the motive behind the attack, it represents a sectarian dimension that the government must work hard to counter, as it represents another attempt to drive sectarian divisions between citizens of Pakistan at a time when external challenges are at their current pitch. Under these conditions, the provincial government must not be abandoned to handle the situation as well as it can, but the federal government must also play its role in persuading the MQM and the ANP to find a solution to the problem by dialogue among themselves.