Justice curtailed

Without transparency and without credibility, there can be no hope of resolving the convoluted political affairs of Karachi or the involvement of criminal gangs backed by powerful dons in the events that take place in the city. Things became just a little more complicated following a series of events that perhaps even the best writers of crime thrillers would have found difficult to have penned. The controversial SSP of Malir, Rao Anwar, arrested Khawaja Izharul Hasan of the MQM in a dramatic move on Friday. There was no warrant, no legal order, only Rao Anwar’s claim that Khawaja Izhar was the mastermind behind MQM crimes including target killings.

Within hours, the arrest was just as dramatically reversed, with the Sindh chief minister ordering the release of Izhar and the immediate suspension of Rao Anwar. Anwar refused to admit defeat, insisting the arrest had been legal and warranted.

What are we to believe given that so much that happens in Karachi is manipulated for particular reasons and the public is never quite aware of how the script is to be played out. The fact that a script is written in the first place is of course in itself deeply disturbing. The suspension of Rao Anwar by the new Sindh chief minister to some extent breaks from past patterns. But what Karachi needs most urgently is fair play and an adherence to rule of law. This whole affair can only harden feelings in Karachi, add to the divides which already exist and make the task of restoring order to a city which metaphorically at least stands in ruins just a little more difficult.

Mariam Hayat

Lahore