Pakistan’s commercial hub is at war with itself

There has not been a local election in more than five years because politicians fear residents will vote along ethnic lines, tossing out leaders who have seen their own constituencies dwindle. Without a mayor, city council, planning commission or school boards, people say they have no place to go with their grievances.

Sindhis, the indigenous people of this part of Pakistan, make up barely five per cent of the population in karachi, but hold the majority of government jobs.Mohajirs, an Urdu word meaning refugees’, Muslims who fled predominantly Hindu India 50 years ago, when the sub-continent gained independence from Britain.

They account for 58 per cent of the city’s population, but say they are discriminated against.Mohajirs demand what they see as the political power their numbers warrant, and some have tried to seize it at gunpoint.Punjabis from Pakistan’s richest state and Pathans from the tribal north-west together make up about a third of the population.Karachi occasionally sees fights between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, but most of Pakistan’s sectarian violence occurs in Punjab province.

While the city’s ethnic gangs battle and police and soldiers try to control them, Karachi’s infrastructure is falling apart because no one can be held responsible for its upkeep. Almost half of Karachi’s 14 million people live in illegal slum dwellings that do not have running water or sewage disposal.

The police force is considered the most politicised in Pakistan, one used by successive governments to execute enemies.Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, once revered as a champion of democracy, was dismissed last year amid accusations she sanctioned police hit squads in Karachi, her hometown.

Her estranged brother and political rival, Murtaza Bhutto, died in a hail of police bullets outside his home.“As Pakistan’s economic centre, Karachi cannot be allowed to drift out of control,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said during a visit to Karachi in early July.