Karachi Violence

Breaking Karachi’s cycle of violence

By Bilal Baloch, July 8, 2011

The level of killing, burning, battering, and smashing endured by Karachi over the past four days has not been seen in the commercial capital for many years. Many will be quick to brand this political conflict as “ethnic” violence. But such a simplistic, deterministic evaluation has grave consequences, the apogee of which is seen within poor government responses both past, and present, to violent outbreaks in the teeming city.

Killing Karachi

BY FAISAL KAPADIA ON JULY 18TH, 2011

A few days ago, I was running for my life; something so many of us take in our stride now in the city of Karachi. The lanes behind my office at M.A. Jinnah road had exploded with violence and there was gun fire from building corners and roof tops as all of us closed down shops/offices and ran on foot wherever we could to escape. There was no time to think about what was going on and contemplate any outcomes. Not until we reached the safety of our homes.

The origins of Karachi’s wars

By Shaheryar Mirza,

At least 90 people have been killed and scores wounded in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, over the last four days. The wave of violence was set in motion when a Pashtun-nationalist Awami National Party (ANP) activist was attacked on Tuesday, an act that led to another ten murders as gun battles broke out in the Orangi Town neighborhood, which has borne the brunt of the violence. Orangi Town is a lower income neighborhood located on the outskirts of the city. The grip on power in Orangi has become tenuous for the ethnic Muhajir Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Karachi’s largest and most powerful political party, as Pashtun migrants have started to settle in the area, bolstering the ANP’s potential for power.

Message by Mrs Dr Ayaz Khan asking for help in finding her husband

Teeth Maestro

My Husband Dr. Ayyaz Ali Khan is an Assoc. Professor at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore and is the Head of Dental Department. He did his masters from Swansea, Wales and then his PhD from Ireland. Dr Ayaz is a professional of international repute and has valuable contributions in the field of Dental and Oral Health. He has over 94 international scientific publications (highest amongst all medical and dental professionals in Pakistan). He has been national coordinator for Oral Health by WHO . He has over 30 MPhil and PhD student all over Pakistan and produced more than 15 MPhils / PhDs who are currently working as Assistant Professors in various institutions all over the world. He is a national hero in the field of Medicine.

Ten die as violence erupts in Karachi

By Imran Ayub- Dawn

Supporters of PPP carry the bodies of 3 party workers who were killed in a clash between two political party groups at Garden Area in front of CM House.— Photo by Online.

Ten persons, mostly with political backgrounds, were gunned down in Lyari and the adjoining localities on Thursday. The killings fuelled tension in the neighborhoods as frequent gunshots in the localities forced businesses to close and traffic to remain off the roads.

The killings also set alarm bells ringing in the ranks of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, who claimed six of the 10 persons killed on Thursday were its workers and sympathisers, as dozens of charged youths took the bodies of three victims to the Chief Minister’s House to stage a sit-in protest against a major coalition partner of the Sindh government.

The return of Yazid

By Nadeem F. Paracha

After enjoying a little more than two years of relative peace, Karachi was rudely dragged back on the mutilated map of terror today [yesterday]. A single suicide bomber managed to slip his dynamite strapped body inside a large procession of Shia mourners on Karachi’s M A Jinnah Road and blow himself up, killing and injuring dozens of innocent people, including some security men who were patrolling the fringes of the procession.

The attack has come as a rude shock to the citizens of Karachi and the Sindh province who had been witnessing horrific scenes of similar carnage perpetrated by extremists in the mosques and markets of Punjab and NWFP, and had, for the last couple of years, been somewhat spared from the madness that the terrorists have been displaying in the country, especially ever since 2003. Although the Taliban have yet to claim responsibility for the attack – and given Karachi’s history, the attacker may well hail from one of the banned sectarian outfits that have long been established in the city – many believe that there is no longer any point in making distinctions between different extremist groups. Citizens, meanwhile, are concerned that this attack marks the beginning of a wave of violence as witnessed in other parts of the country.

18 Pakistani women die in stampede for free flour

KARACHI, Pakistan — At least 18 women and girls died when a crowd waiting for handouts of flour swelled and panicked in an impoverished city in southern Pakistan, officials said.

The stampede in Karachi came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a traditional time for charitable acts including giving away food. At times, however, the giveaways have turned rowdy and dangerous.

Monday’s stampede occurred in a small building with narrow passages. As more women entered to get the flour, some panicked and guards used strong-arm tactics to clear the building, officials and witnesses said.

Karachi police chief Wasim Ahmad said at least 18 women and girls died in the ensuing rush. Mohammad Amin Khan of Karachi Civil Hospital said some of the women had suffocated and that there were at least 20 bodies.

“Hundreds of women were pushing to enter into the small hall, and guards started beating us to get the place cleared,” said 30-year-old Kulsoom, who gave only one name and ended up among the many wounded. “I fell down and was being crushed. My heart was missing beats, and I thought I was dying.”

Panicked relatives streamed into the hospital, while others brought limp bodies in the backs of trucks or in their arms. Some women wailed while laying on stretchers.

The flour giveaway was organized by a private donor who Ahmad said was detained for not giving police prior notice of the event.

“Poverty is on the rise, there is a desperation among people,” local government official Javed Hanif said. “Naturally, when people are frustrated, whenever they get such an opportunity, they try to grab the maximum.”