Pakistan: Worst Political Violence In Years

During the past few months or so there have been increased tensions within Pakistan’s major cities between radical Islamists (such as the ones from the Red Mosque) and between government officials. Along with those tensions, tensions between the military government and those who want civilian rule have also been increasing (especially after the sacking of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in March). Today, much of the tensions boiled over and showed itself (violently) on the surface of the city streets of Karachi.

BBC News states:

The BBC’s Barbara Plett in Islamabad says opposition parties have turned Mr Chaudhry’s case into a campaign against military rule.

His supporters say that Mr Musharraf wants the judiciary headed by a lawyer whom he can more easily manipulate.

…

“It is state-sponsored terrorism. The Sindh [province] government is responsible but we are not going to back off,” said Sherry Rehman of the PPP.

An MQM spokesman denied his party was involved in the violence at the TV station.

A lawyers’ spokesman told the BBC that bar association members in Karachi had also been attacked by MQM activists in various parts of the city.

The PPP (or Pakistan People’s Party) is one of the main, mainstream, political opposition parties against that of President Musharraf’s Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

The BBC further reported:

Mr Musharraf has ruled out a state of emergency, and appealed to the country to stand united and peaceful.

“If you really feel sorry over what has happened in Karachi, then stop these protests,” he told supporters at a rally in Islamabad later in the day.

In Islamabad, the ruling party organised its own show of street power, bussing in thousands of people from across the province to support Mr Musharraf.

While the party of Benazir Bhutto (who was educated in the elite circles of Harvard and Oxford) is probably not the true voice of opposition for the country’s teeming poor these are some interesting developments to continue to watch in order to see how it shapes the political landscape of South Asia and how it effects foreign diplomacy with India and the United States.