Pakistan Reader

Photo Source: AFP
   NIAS Course on Global Politics
National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS)
Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bangalore
For any further information or to subscribe to GP alerts send an email to subachandran@nias.res.in

CWA # 1297, 6 May 2024
Pakistan Reader
Karachi: Seven Shades of Violence

  D Suba Chandran

Targeting Japanese nationals in Karachi might have been a case of mistaken identity. The reasons and the perpetrators either belong to Balochistan, or they represent the multiple shades of violence that the city of lights has been witnessing during the recent decades.

On 19 April 2024, a suicide bomber in Karachi targeted a vehicle carrying five Japanese nationals, killing the private guard accompanying them.
 
Though no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, preliminary news reports suggest the Baloch militant groups or its allies in Karachi. According to a report in the News:
           “In recent years, especially after operations such as Zarb-e-Azb, Raddul Fassad and the Karachi                operation against Taliban and other militant outfits, Karachi has seen a rise in nationalist                              sentiment, particularly from parties in Sindh and Balochistan. Groups like the BLA and the                          Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA) have been active with the collaboration of various                            separatist groups under the umbrella organization BRAS.
            Their joint ventures in Karachi have increased significantly. While the SRA has mainly been                        involved in target killings and railway track sabotage, the BLA has expanded its activities to                        suicide bombings in Karachi. Over the past few years, more than two dozen terrorist incidents                    have been attributed to organizations affiliated with BRAS, with Chinese nationals and law                          enforcement agencies being the primary targets.”
 
It appears that the who part of the latest attack has been confirmed. The following analysis examines the why part and explains the more significant reasons that make Karachi, supposedly a city of lights, into a city of violence.
 
Why would the militants target Japanese nationals in Karachi?
Earlier this month, an exclusive Pakistan Reader commentary (Dhriti Mukherjee, "Profile: Street Crimes in Karachi," CWA # 1283, 9 April 2024) analyzed the issue of street crimes in Karachi, looking into their causes and the government’s response. The latest attack on Japanese nationals is not part of Karachi’s continuing street crimes. It belongs to a different genre.
 
The News, quoting a senior counter-terrorism officer of the Sindh police’s Counter-Terrorism Department, said: “Circumstantial evidence, history and motive all indicate that this attack was carried out based on a misunderstanding. And there were no such threat alerts that warned of targeting the Japanese either.”
 
Initial reports suggest that the perpetrators may have mistaken the Japanese to be Chinese. There were attacks on the Chinese earlier in Karachi. So, the attack could have been a case of mistaken identity; this needs to be confirmed. Subsequent investigation will inform the rest about who and why.
 
This note, however, looks beyond the attack on Japanese or Chinese nationals in the city of lights and explores the multiple shades of violence in Karachi.
 
Seven Shades of Violence in Karachi
The first and most crucial shade is the political violence led by different political parties. According to the latest census report, there are more than 20 million people in Karachi. While Karachi is the capital of Sindh, the majority in the city are the Muhajirs, most of whom migrated from India. Pashtuns from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan form the second most important ethnic group in Karachi’s demography. Although Sindhis form a majority in the province, they are a minority in Karachi.
 
To whom does Karachi belong? This is a significant question for the ethnic groups and the political parties that represent them. The MQM, ANP, and now the PTI and the PPP claim to represent the interests of the Muhajirs, Pashtuns, and Sindhis, respectively. Political patronage of violence by different parties is the primary reason for violence and the failed efforts to counter it. The bureaucracy stands divided along party lines in Karachi, complicating the counter-efforts.
 
The second shade, which can be seen differently from political ones, is ethnic. Karachi has a multi-ethnic population, as mentioned above. Karachi is also divided ethnically in terms of geography and economy. Some sectors have been monopolized by particular ethnic communities, and any individual act invariably leads to an ethnic encounter. For example, an innocent road accident could lead to ethnic violence because the drivers and the transport sector are dominated by a particular ethnic community.
 
The third shade of violence in Karachi is sectarian. Karachi is not only home to multiple ethnic communities in Pakistan (and Afghanistan) but also to multiple religious and sectarian parties belonging to Deobandi, Brelvi and other denominations within Sunni Islam. Religious parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami have a strong presence in Karachi. These parties may have support cutting across ethnic lines but are aligned in sectarian terms. The religious parties also fight with other political parties to control Karachi.
 
The fourth shade of violence in Karachi is militancy. From the days of militant violence led by the MQM since the late 1980s, Karachi has witnessed the presence of different militant groups and organizations – especially the Baloch, TTP and even al Qaeda. The suicide attacks against the Chinese (including the latest one on the Japanese, whether they were a mistaken identity or otherwise)
 
The fifth shade is street crimes. A recent report by Pakistan Reader has captured the why and what of street crimes in Karachi. Motivated more by economic and petty crime reasons, street crimes are not organized but more regular.
 
The sixth shade, though not limited to the Karachi metropolis, is gang violence. Multiple essays and documentaries have been undertaken, for example, on the gangs of Lyari, but nothing has been done to address them.
 
The seventh shade is the state violence in Karachi. Since the days of military operation in Karachi in the 1990s, the city has witnessed State violence in the name of counter-militancy operations, led by the military then and the para-military now. Though this has come down substantially in recent years, the phenomenon is part of Karachi’s violent background.
 
Two issues make countering the shades of violence complex: the political response and the availability of small arms in Karachi. Back to the issue of the day – the attack on Japanese nationals in Karachi. The answer is not in just addressing the militant groups and their presence in Karachi. It has resulted in nightmares for those who have reached the city of lights with multiple dreams.

Print Bookmark

PREVIOUS COMMENTS

NIAS Global Politics Database
March 2024 | CWA # 1251

NIAS Africa Team

Africa This Week
NIAS Global Politics Database
February 2024 | CWA # 1226

NIAS Africa Team

Africa This Week
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1189

Hoimi Mukherjee | Hoimi Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science in Bankura Zilla Saradamani Mahila Mahavidyapith.

Chile in 2023: Crises of Constitutionality
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1187

Aprajita Kashyap | Aprajita Kashyap is a faculty of Latin American Studies, School of International Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi.

Haiti in 2023: The Humanitarian Crisis
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1185

Binod Khanal | Binod Khanal is a Doctoral candidate at the Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi.

The Baltic: Energy, Russia, NATO and China
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1183

Padmashree Anandhan | Padmashree Anandhan is a Research Associate at the School of Conflict and Security Studies, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangaluru.

Germany in 2023: Defence, Economy and Energy Triangle
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1178

​​​​​​​Ashok Alex Luke | Ashok Alex Luke is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at CMS College, Kottayam.

China and South Asia in 2023: Advantage Beijing?
The World This Year
December 2023 | CWA # 1177

Annem Naga Bindhu Madhuri | Annem Naga Bindhu Madhuri is a postgraduate student at the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies at the University of Madras, Chennai.

China and East Asia
The War in Ukraine
October 2023 | CWA # 1091

Annem Naga Bindhu Madhuri

Issues for Europe
IPRI Quarterly Forecasts I Triggers, Trends, and Trajectories
July 2023 | CWA # 1012

Bibhu Prasad Routray

Myanmar continues to burn
2022: The World This Year
December 2022 | CWA # 879

Padmashree Anandhan

The Ukraine War
Europe: Heatwaves, Wildfires, Droughts, and Ice Melt in Alps
November 2022 | CWA # 838

Rishma Banerjee

Tracing Europe's droughts
NIAS Africa Weekly
March 2022 | CWA # 705

NIAS Africa Team

In Focus: Libya
The World This Week: 150th Issue
December 2021 | CWA # 630

GP Team

Europe in 2021
Pakistan Reader
October 2021 | CWA # 588

Abigail Miriam Fernandez

TLP is back again
NIAS Fortnightly on Science, Technology & International Relations
August 2021 | CWA # 528

STIR Team

Space Tourism
Science, Technology and International Relations
September 2019 | CWA # 162

Lakshman Chakravarthy N

5G: A Primer
South Asia Monthly Brief (Nov 2018)
December 2018 | CWA # 71

Mahesh Bhatta | Centre for South Asian Studies, Kathmandu

Nepal
South Asia Monthly Brief (Nov 2018)
December 2018 | CWA # 70

Nasima Khatoon | Research Associate, ISSSP, NIAS

The Maldives
South Asia Monthly Brief (Nov 2018)
December 2018 | CWA # 69

Harini Madhusudan | Research Associate, ISSSP, NIAS

India
South Asia Monthly Brief (Nov 2018)
December 2018 | CWA # 68

Sourina Bej | Research Associate, ISSSP, NIAS

Bangladesh
South Asia Monthly Brief (Nov 2018)
December 2018 | CWA # 67

Seetha Lakshmi Dinesh Iyer | Research Associate, ISSSP, NIAS

Afghanistan