The Terror Metropolis

There is a method in the madness of Islamist extremism in Pakistan, and thisis constantly reaffirmed.

At least 57 people, including prominent Islamist clerics, died and more than200 people sustained injuries in a suicide bomb attack at Nishtar Park inKarachi, capital of Sindh province, on April 11, 2006. The blast occurred at astage erected in a park where religious leaders and scores of the faithful wereoffering evening prayers at a meeting to mark the birth anniversary of ProphetMohammed. Among those killed where top leaders of the Sunni Tehreek (ST) andJamaat-e-Ahle Sunnat.

Available indications are that the suicide-bomber wanted to decapitate theSunni Tehreek. Its Chief, Abbas Qadri, Deputy Chief Akram Qadri and SpokespersonIftikhar Bhatti were, in fact, killed in the attack. Some leaders of the ‘moderate’Jamaat-e-Ahle Sunnat, including Haji Hanif Billo and Hafiz Muhammad Taqi, alsodied in the blast.

The ST, which is of Barelvi orientation, was formed in 1992 by Maulana SaleemQadri to counter the dominance of the Deobandi and Ahle Hadith schools ofthought. Incidentally, Saleem Qadri was himself assassinated on May 18, 2001, inKarachi. His attackers were identified as belonging to the now outlawed Sunnigroup, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). Under its just-assassinated Chief, AbbasQadri, the ST grew rapidly on the strength of large sums of money from theaffluent business community in Karachi, who were primarily scouting forprotection from other groups such as the SSP and its armed wing, theLashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ)

Preliminary indications suggest that the latest incident was the result ofthe ongoing conflict between the Barelvi and Deobandi schools. No officialdetermination has still been made regarding those responsible for the incident,but many suspect that the LeJ engineered it. A majority of the Jihadis inPakistan swears by the Deobandi school of thought, while the Barelvis, includingthe ST, have largely, though not entirely, abstained from militancy. TheBarelvis, however, are major players in the ‘politics of the mosque’. TheST, for instance, is locked in a long battle with Deobandi groups over thecontrol of various mosques in Karachi and over the collection of endowments.While such an intra-Sunni confrontation often leads to violence in Karachi, theMuttahida Quami Movement (MQM) regime in the Sindh province is also under acutechallenge from the extremist Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance. And violencebetween Sunni groups, allegedly at the behest of agencies in Islamabad, isbelieved to weaken the MQM and mainstream parties like the Pakistan People'sParty.

Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial capital, has seldom been out of theheadlines. While sectarian strife between the majority Sunni and minority ShiaMuslims dominated the news in the past, the city has also been a safe haven forIslamist extremists linked to the Al Qaeda. There was an alleged assassinationattempt on the life of President Pervez Musharraf in September 2002 and USjournalist Daniel Pearl was abducted and subsequently killed in Karachi inFebruary 2002. Indian mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, the prime accused in the 1992serial blasts in Mumbai, has a Karachi address (White House, near Saudi Mosque,Clifton), and it was to Karachi that a reporter from Al-Jazeera wasinvited to interview two top Al Qaeda leaders. Many Al Qaeda operatives,including Ramzi Binalshibh, have been arrested from Karachi since 9/11. AbuZubaydah, before his arrest, reportedly oversaw the establishment of Al Qaedacells in Karachi. The city also houses the Binoria mosque complex, which haslong been the nerve centre of the Military-Jehadi enterprise. While MuftiNizamuddin Shamzai (assassinated on May 30, 2004) of Binoria is believed to havebeen a patron of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), one of his many infamousstudents, Maulana Masood Azhar, launched the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The metropolis, with a population of approximately 16 million and counting,has also seen crimes like abduction for ransom, car-jacking and armed robberyincrease in the recent years. According to sources, a substantial section ofsuch crime is attributed to people with links to the various political andIslamist extremist groups. Indeed, an elaborate underground economy of terrorexists in this city where everything is available – for a price.

The multi-ethnic city regularly witnesses incidents of terrorist, sectarian,political and organized criminal violence. According to Institute forConflict Management (ICM) data, there were 58 such incidents in 2004, 37 in2005 and seven in 2006 (till April 14). According to the Citizens-Police LiaisonCommittee, a Karachi-based NGO that maintains a database on crime, there were130 terrorism-related killings in 2005, 163 in 2004, 87 and 76 in 2002 and 2003respectively. According to ICM data, 147 persons were arrested in 2004 forterrorism-related activities, 81 in 2005 and six in 2006 (till April 14).Karachi has for long been a centre for Islamist terrorists. "It's logicalthey'd try to regroup here, and they wouldn't even have to shave their beards,"Tariq Jamil, Karachi's deputy chief of Police, had said in June 2002. Accordingto him, "It's so easy for anyone to melt into Karachi. It's easy for any kindof fanatics or terrorists to operate here". Karachi, or mini-Pakistan as it iscalled, offers an expansive compass and space for radical Islam to flourish.

The city has also seen recurring violence targeting western interests. Aftera suicide-bomb attack at a Shia mosque in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area on May 30,2005, in which six persons were killed, six more died in a Kentucky FriedChicken (KFC) restaurant due to mob violence. On September 9, 2005, a KFCfranchise and a McDonald's restaurant were bombed, although no fatalities werereported. On November 15, 2005, at least three people were killed and 20 others,including two South African women, wounded in a powerful car bomb explosion infront of the KFC restaurant. The U.S. Consulate in Karachi has been the targetof several terrorist attacks in recent years. On March 2, 2006, US diplomatDavid Fyfe, his Pakistani driver and a Rangers official were killed and 54persons injured in a suicide car bombing near the US Consulate, a day beforePresident Bush visited Pakistan.

Karachi, for long, has been considered an extremely difficult city to police.The police force of 30,000 is relatively inadequate and the rapidly changingpopulation profile as well as an intricate web of Islamist terrorist groups,compounds the problems of enforcement. Karachi Police, a much-beleaguered force,according to a June 2004 estimate, was deployed at 2,223 mosques and Imambargahs,869 Madaris (seminaries). Besides, there is also substantial deploymentat 103 foreign missions, 31 foreign food outlets, 205 vital installations, 84temples, 213 churches, 99 multi-national companies and 227 petrol pumps. 100police mobile vans and 7,000 police personnel are engaged in ‘VIP duty’.That leaves precious little for the routine tasks of policing or for aggressivecounter-terrorism activities.

Within the common and unpredictable nature of terrorism and politicalviolence in Karachi, a new development has added to the complexity. In November2005, three persons were killed in a car-bomb explosion outside the PakistanIndustrial Development Company building in Saddar Town. The BalochistanLiberation Army (BLA), which was proscribed on April 9, 2006, claimedresponsibility for the attack. This was the first instance of an attack claimedby the BLA within Karachi, an indication that unrest and insurgencies thatafflict other provinces are now ominously reverberating across the length andbreadth of Pakistan.

Disturbances in Karachi, which reportedly generates more than 60 per cent ofPakistan’s total revenue collection, will have national ramifications. Theinstability due to terrorist violence adversely affects economic activity anddampens investor sentiment. Amidst a plethora of terrorist incidents, thousandsof masons, painters, plumbers, carpenters and ordinary workers, who scout forwork on a daily basis in the city, are among the worst affected. The three daysof shutdown after April 11 are reported to have resulted in a loss of PKR sevenbillion. "Pakistan’s industry is already finding it difficult to get ordersfrom foreign buyers owing to the law and order situation in Karachi," saidKhalid Ferooz Arfeen, President of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry,adding, "If these kinds of incidents were not stopped in future, no foreignbuyers would sign contract with this country." With a complete shutdown ofindustrial activity in the area, and hardly any production, Arfeen noted, "Afterthis incident, we have gone back around one year in business and trade".

Amidst the seemingly indiscriminate spread of radical Islamist violence,President Pervez Musharraf’s regime, nevertheless, continues to display anextraordinary level of tolerance and encouragement for Jihadi groups.

Kanchan Lakshman is Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management;Assistant Editor, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict & Resolution. Courtesy,the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South Asia Terrorism Portal