Karachi Hostage to political and Administrative whim

FP Staff Report
Sunday May 13th 2007

Karachi looked like a ghost city, cordoned off by tankers, trucks, road digging and scores of MQM workers and boys on motor bikes parading the streets and alleys of Karachi, carrying MQM flags. The activity of putting up roadblocks had started since late night of 12th. Lawyers, political parties with their rallies were all made to retreat back while going to the airport early morning on the 12th.. Gun shots were fired at opposition members going towards the airport yesterday morning, PPP, MMA's MPA's and MNA's had their cars fired upon. The convoy of cars including PPP leader of opposition Nisar Khuro, Qaim Ali Shah, Aftab Shahban Mirani, Abdul Qadir Soomro, Sherry Rehman, Raza Rabbani and many other's were fired upon on Rashid Minhas road.
Talking to this correspondant Nisar Khuro said more than twelve people had been injured during the morning in that firing__ eight people had died in Malir halt till yesterday afternoon. People were lying injured on Shahrah-e-Faisal with nobody risking their life to take them to nearby hospitals. The situation was getting more and more tense.
The Sindh Government should not have encouraged their worker's to run haywire and taking the situation in their hands. This report is being filed in the afternoon and the situation is rapidly detoriating into a danger zone. Karachi will have scores of people from different walks of life, no matter what their political affiliations dead, injured and mayhem and pandemonium will once again create a situation, which will give rise to hatred and vengeance.
The law and order situation created will come back to haunt the ruling parties of Karachi and Sindh in the days to come. Till the afternoon, the Chief Justice and his lawyers who had arrived on schedule were in the lounge at the Jinnah terminal waiting for the receiving party of lawyers to be allowed to enter the airport.