Pakistan: Murder should not be a political tool

Pakistan suffers from enduring political violence, and it is a credit to the people of that country that they turned out in the millions to vote in elections on May 11. Despite this triumph of the people’s determination, there are still far too many people who want to derail the democratic process, particularly in Pakistan’s largest city. The murder on Saturday of Zahra Shadid Hussain, a senior politician from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, is a personal tragedy, but also an example of Karachi’s almost endemic political violence, which has left more than 2,000 people dead in the past year.

This colossal total for Karachi alone is extremely alarming. This huge number of deaths is far more than the total for the whole of the rest of Pakistan, and points to a miserable failure from the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) party, which has been in power in Karachi for many years. Khan might be wrong to blame the MQM directly for the incident, since any direct guilt in the case has not yet been proven, but it is certainly clear that the MQM has allowed Karachi’s gun culture to grow way out of control, even if the leaders of the MQM have been quick to deny responsibility and condemn the killing.

It is suspicious that the murder came on the eve of a partial re-run of the general election. Last week’s election gave the MQM 18 of 19 National Assembly seats from Karachi, but a re-poll is being organised in the constituency where the attack occurred, which is thought to be a stronghold of Khan’s PTI.

Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) won the national elections, but the MQM, a secular party, is trying to hold on to power in Karachi, fighting off electoral advances from many sides, including Khan’s PTI, and Pakistan’s Taliban movement. It is a tragedy that such a political struggle should be spoiled by resorting to violence, which should have no place in Pakistan.