Ethnic cleansing in Karachi

Babar Ayaz

Karachi is a multi-ethnic city and, once upon a time, the optimists among us thought that it was the melting pot of the country where people of diverse ethnicity assimilate into an urban ‘Karachi culture’. But that was a dream that got shattered in the mid-1980s when the city was torn apart by ethnic violence. On one side were the Pashtun transporters and on the other side was an emerging Mohajir identity, which was the bulk of the commuters. There were excesses from both sides. Ever since then, the city has not normalised.

One of the major reasons that this city keeps bursting into flames is that its population has been growing at a much higher rate than the national average, the main reason being that people from all over the country come here seeking employment. This internal migration is changing the ethnic profile of the city. The newcomers, who are mostly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have started asserting for a larger share in the city’s politics. That is something, which makes the city’s largest ethnic community — the Mohajirs — nervous as they feel that eventually their control over the city will be diluted. The Sindhis, who were sidelined in this city long ago, are also returning to claim their say in Karachi.More

Stop Shaking Your Fists and do Something!

I was asked to come here today to talk about the ethnic cleansing of Bangladeshi Hindus: by Islamists—who drive it—“average” Bangladeshi Muslims—who carry it out—and the Bangladesh government—that has encouraged it almost since the day of its birth. That is why I am here. But I grow weary of attending conference after conference where I see the same people shaking the same ineffective fists at the same enemies. What do they think they are accomplishing?

To those who never tire of complimenting themselves for their years of work on the victims’ behalf; to Bangladeshi politicians who cynically claim to be the Hindus’ great hope; and to those international organizations that pretend to carry the mantle of human rights; I ask:

With all of your “heroic” action, have things gotten any better for the Bangladeshi Hindus? Are they any safer today than they were when you started your activity? Has Bangladesh repealed the openly anti-Hindu Vested Property Act that provides the legal framework for ethnic cleansing and rewards the victimizers with the victims’ land?

With all of your “heroic” action, why have Hindus fallen from 30 percent of the population at the time of Partition (1947) to nine percent today?

My God! Have we learned nothing from the Nazi Holocaust? Do we really have to wonder what the end of these sterile actions will be; not for us, but for the Bangladeshi Hindus? Look at Pakistan’s Hindus, who were once one fifth of the population but are only one percent today. Even that remnant is streaming into Indian Punjab ahead of the advancing Taliban; and I saw that for myself in March. Read more

Genocide in the Making — and the World is Silent

For over thirty years, Islamist radicals have been engaging in a systematic program of ethnic cleansing in Bangladesh. When they began, Hindus accounted for somewhat less than one in five Bangladeshis; today they are fewer that one in ten. Professor Sachi Dastidar of SUNY has estimated that the number of “lost” Hindus (that is, those murdered and those never born as a result of the ethnic cleansing) could total as many as 35 million!

Nor is it only the radicals who are culpable. The first partner in crime is the succession of governments in Bangladesh. It did not matter if they were right of center, left of center, a dictatorship, civilian or military. Every one of them maintained a blatantly racist act that has been a cornerstone in the Islamist plan: The Vested Property Act (VPA). Read more