Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik made an impassioned plea for everyone in the country to work together to save Karachi, warning that if it was detached from the county, the government and the agencies would be to blame. While talking to the media outside Parliament House on Monday, he said there was information of ‘atrocious attacks’ there by ‘enemies across the border’. While making this dire prediction, he failed to address two obvious questions. First, instead of just complaining, as the Minister in charge, what is Mr Malik doing about this? The question gains pertinence when it is realised that the PPP rules Karachi, and that too in alliance with the MQM, which claims the city as a stronghold. The other question is that if enemies across the border are involved, it might seem oddly appropriate that when MFN status was duly granted, that neighbour should strike at the country’s commercial and industrial hub. Mr Malik, having revealed India’s role in fomenting violence in Balochistan, would be negligent if he did not point out that the government’s ignoring the first intervention only encouraged it to the efforts it is making in Karachi.
Mr Malik should not be so casual about the country’s largest city. It not only provides the country with a window to the world as its sole port, but because of this, has attracted citizens from all over the country who have found livelihoods here. Naturally, any enemy of the country would like to strike here. This lays a greater responsibility on the government of the province, and their intelligence agencies. Mr Malik disclosed that the intelligence and law enforcement agencies had been asked to play a proactive role to thwart such a move.
However, Mr Malik would also do well to ensure that the ruling coalition does not go into a general election relying on just the brute majorities the PPP and the MQM have, or in the odium of having been the subject of such an attack. While it should not have allowed matters to get so far, it must prevent the threat to Karachi, which has coincided with the move for a Supreme-Court-ordered voter verification and delimitation exercise from being used as an excuse for any postponement of polls, not even partial, let alone complete.