It is a matter of relief that the government is giving attention to the spiralling conflict in Karachi that it deserves. Tensions between coalition partners MQM and PPP have abated to a great extent due to the swift intervention of the president and co-chairman of the PPP, who has formed a peace committee representing both parties that will meet fortnightly to review measures to prevent violence. The multi-layered conflict that was sparked by gang war in Lyari angered both the MQM and Baloch nationalist parties, because a number of Mohajirs and Baloch lost their lives in it. With timely action, the government has contained what looked like an explosive situation.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has elicited strong criticism from within and outside the PPP for mishandling the situation. Despite strong reservations expressed by various quarters, he went ahead in giving special powers to the Rangers. The police and Rangers carried out mopping-up operations in Lyari and rounded up scores of innocent people. Demonstrations were held by the residents of Lyari against the operation, which was seen as arbitrary and discriminatory. The interior minister has repeatedly asserted that "gangsters" and "criminal elements" are involved in target killings.

However, these statements as well as the operation incensed many of his colleagues. Senior PPP leader and MNA Nawab Yousaf Talpur criticised the interior minister in the strongest terms while speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly the other day. He contended that it would alienate the party in the area, its traditional stronghold in Karachi. Two MNAs from Karachi walked out from the session on Monday for not being taken into confidence by the minister in negotiations with MQM. In the same vein, Senator Mian Raza Rabbani conducted a walkout against the Lyari operation, accompanied by five other Senators. One supports his call for an across the board action against all criminal elements instead of focusing on a particular area, because it has tended to label Lyari as a criminals' den and diverted attention from other areas that might also be used by criminal elements for such activities. Additionally, the Baloch reaction against the PPP has tarnished its political standing at the Centre as sympathetic to the Baloch cause.

The situation in Lyari is not as clear as the interior minister would like us to believe. An impartial and detailed probe would reveal if these were really Lyari gangsters or some other people who were involved. But one expected a better performance from the interior minister, who is supposed to be in the know of things and was in a position to defuse tension rather than creating more. A sensitive and complicated situation like this requires astuteness and sophisticated handling, not over-enthusiastic rantings.

While one commends President Asif Ali Zardari's role in the situation, one doubts the sagacity of his 'order' to halt the Lyari operation yesterday as the media reported. Perhaps this was Zardari's attempt at appeasing the PPP's supporter in the area in his capacity as the party's co-chairman. However, it was best if the internal party decision had been left for the Sindh government to execute. It is in order that no area-specific operation is conducted and future actions by Rangers will be taken in coordination with the police and provincial government authorities. The operation should be carried out without fear or favour against all law-breakers and violators so that its credibility could not be questioned. Furthermore, attempts to give the conflict an ethnic colour should be strongly resisted. The need for dealing with elements creating unrest with an iron hand cannot be overemphasised given the importance of Karachi as the commercial capital of Pakistan.