A never-ending black hole... By Masood
15 March, 2013
Another dark evening, another victim of ongoing madness and lawlessness in Karachi: Parveen Rehman. Parveen, the respected social community worker and director of Orangi Pilot Project, was gunned down in a militant infested locality of Karachi on Wednesday. Orangi is Asia's largest slum for which Parveen dedicated her life in efforts to rehabilitate its residents, document the encroached lands and assist the victims of land mafias. She once said, "All that you can do is kill us, what else can you do?" That is exactly what they have done now. How long will it take for Karachites to realise that their city is in complete control of land grabbers, drugs dealers and peddlers, weapons dealers and, newly added to this mafia list, religious extremists and militants. These mafias use ethnic and sectarian cards to advance their nefarious interests. Lawless Karachi is a dead corpse on which numerous vultures, some wearing political masks for administrative protection, are busy grabbing whatever is left. Karachi appears to be the main loser in the war on terror as thousands of religious extremists from the tribal areas have made this unfortunate city their base. The stepmotherly treatment this city received in the last five years wherein the government kept busy promoting mafias or raising their own has led to all this widespread lawlessness. Ms Rehman was killed in an area that is no-go zone even for Pashtun political workers. Farida Afridi, Malala Yousafzai, Parveen Rehman and numerous lady polio health workers are victims of those cowards who are attacking anyone with impunity when they do not agree with their ideology or if they object to their excesses. I implore everyone to try and stay safe. It may be mine or your turn tomorrow. MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
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