With Karachi, once the pride of Pakistan, its industrial and commercial hub and a flourishing port, bathing in blood, it is not time for the ruling leadership to stay aloof; it is time to act. And in such a threatening situation for Interior Minister Rehman Malik, known for his zero credibility rating though, to say that he knows who is behind the spate of killings, it is an occasion for them to hang their heads in shame. As the nation’s bleeding heart cries out for a merciful end to this senseless slaughter, Mr Malik sprinkles salts on its wounds when he says, “I have all the details and will expose them soon.” That “soon”, he should have known, is now; in fact, it is long past. It is no small event that nearly 85 Karachi’ites were butchered in just three days – on Thursday alone the death toll stood at 45 – and several hundred of them were injured. People were shot in a random killing spree while they were travelling in the bus, shopping at the market place or walking on the pavement. Even at places, those who stayed home for fear of life were not spared and hand grenades were lobbed into their houses. Buses, houses and shops were set on fire. Reportedly, no security presence was visible at the scenes of multiple tragedies.
Karachi that once throbbed with life for 24 hours seven days a week was seen deserted in most of the localities, with an occasional bus plying on their roads and forced to pay the price for its daring to step out of its terminal, a motorist rushing to the safety of his home or a vendor of goods desperate to sell his wares but risking his life for the survival of hungry family. And as the news spread all over the town, the relatively securer areas witnessed traffic jams, as the people wanted to make for their homes to escape the trigger happy lot should they also want to create chaos in their localities as well. – Nation
