The City of Karachi burns. The graves fill up. The roads deserted at nights. The sound of silence broken by the rattle of gunfire. Happiness no more a common sight at weddings and festivals. Karachi is the killing field of Asia. Who is to be blamed? This is the $64000 question.

At present three fronts of destruction have been opened in this megalopolis. The first and more devastating is the internecine warfare between the two factions of the representative party of this city. A well-disciplined organization split up when views and values changed, when priorities changed, and when egos bloomed out of proportion. Friends are pitted against bosom pals. Brothers do not see eye-to-eye. Family ties have been ripped apart. The raison d’être has been mish-mashed and the cause has been put to the back-burner while personal fiefdoms have become the objective. Thousands of activists and supporters have been annihilated. Who then is to be blamed?

The second front has been imported from the city of Jhang. The sectarian peace and harmony which was so prevalent and so much a source of solace was crudely shattered by the warlocks who pontificate over militant off-shoot factions of religious-political organizations. These shamans have established their own versions and visions of the superiority of the school of thought that they adhere to and use these to stir up their followers into a state of convoluted frenzy. Inflammatory sermons and speeches laced with spite and hatred have criminalized the minds of their followers resulting in a free-for-all action of murder and mayhem. Neighbors, friends, and colleagues have started shunning each other because they do not subscribe to the other’s sectarian belief. Places of worship, which are universally acclaimed as sanctuaries, are also not immune, and their sanctity is violated by the followers of these fiery preachers. Senseless killings have been witnessed. Who then is to be blamed?

The profession known as "police" consists of those who are the protectors, the saviors, and the law-enforcers. However, this noble profession has been so blatantly misused by the rulers and the politicians, that they have lost all sense of priority and propriety, and, in the process have offered themselves to the high and mighty, in the same context as those who practice the world’s oldest profession. The benevolent ideals of the police system have been squandered, while ruthlessness, terror, and bodacious abuse of power has become the keywords. The citizen’s journey to get assistance and justice at the portals of the area police station is now a trek filled with fear and depredation. Documented cases of torture and inhumane handling of those guilty or innocent citizens are eye-openers. Deaths in lock-ups are becoming more of weekly features while those killed in staged "encounters" are countless. Those who have "tasted" the police hospitality are witnesses to the unbridled power of the police force. No wonder that this year witnessed the homicide of nearly 70 personnel of the force. Who then is to be blamed?

The three fronts mentioned above have all caused the devastation and ruination that is now a daily ritual of this City of Lights. However, what is read and said is that in actuality, there are other external forces out to destroy this mega-city. The conspiracy theorists sound alarms of "hidden hands" from across the border and from the Great Power, who have woven a dreadful plot to bring this nation to her knees by making Karachi into the City of Darkness. These alarmists see a capitalist Free Port, a neo-Hong Kong, and a subservient state-of-the-art enclave for the "hidden hands" to manage thru their designated proxies.

They shout themselves hoarse that the Great Power is bent upon emasculating the potential of this country and that is why it is sending officials and delegations laden with economic goodies in return for the re-definition of the status of Karachi. They warn that the big guys on the eastside are doing to this nation in her "K" in retaliation to what they allege that Pakistan is doing to their two "K"s. They also caution that the slogan for consideration of Karachi as a separate province and the bogies of popularly supposed Jinnahpur and Urdudesh are part of this contrivance. They alert whoever is listening that the time is now ripe for the eventual coup de grace and that pretty soon the momentum for achieving the dismemberment of this pivotal component of the Islamic Republic is well nigh on hand.

Balderdash! All those who are armchair conspiracy believers and those politicians who come into the news media day in and day out with their doomsday scenarios are themselves nothing but concoctions of hot air and hogwash. There are no "hidden hands". There is no need for anyone to formulate sinister machinations against the fate of the city. There is no need for them to go thru this complex exercise. The three fronts that have been pointed out are forces enough to do the required task. These fronts are hell-bent upon shredding the fabric of this city. No siree, their ain’t nothing for the "hidden hands" to do but watch in earnest glee at the state of affairs. The three fronts are providing a yeoman service to the enemies of this motherland.

The question that comes into the fore is very disconcerting: Who will be involved in the fourth front that could be opened and which may very well be the last straw that will break up this city known as the Pearl of the East? Any guesses?

Yours etc: