Karachi and Af-Pak Policy Options, South Asia Analysis Group, 7 February 2010
EXCERPT: "Pakistani leaders often project Jammu & Kashmir as Pakistan’s jugular vein in justification of their supporting jihadi terrorist groups against India in an attempt to change the status quo in J&K. It is not. Karachi is Pakistan’s jugular vein. It is the economic capital of Pakistan contributing a substantial part of Pakistan’s industrial production and tax revenue. It has Pakistan’s only functioning international port... It is still Pakistan’s most important naval base. Gwadar is being developed as an alternate naval base to reduce the vulnerability of the Pakistan Navy in Karachi, but it is estimated that it will take another five to eight years before Gwadar as a naval base starts functioning in a satisfactory manner... The renewed wave of violence in Karachi in recent weeks is not due to the ingress of the TTP into the city. It is due to two of the three old animosities, which have always made Karachi the most violent city of Pakistan. These three animosities are: the Mohajirs vs. the Sindhis, the Mohajirs vs. the Pashtuns, and the Punjabi Sunnis vs. the Mohajir Shias."
Read the full article.
Related articles:
Sectarian violence posing threat to Pakistani society, One World South Asia, 8 February 2010
Saving Pakistan's heartland, Foreign Policy, 8 February 2010
Taliban own Karachi Ashura carnage, DAWN, 31 December 2009
Q and A: Is Karachi the new target for Pakistani's Taliban?, Reuters, 31 December 2009
Are Pakistani Taliban finding new foothold in south?, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 May 2009
Related posts:
Karachi grinds to a halt amidst fatal attacks, political turmoil, 8 February 2010
Karachi bomb blasts kill Shiite worshipers, 5 February 2010
NATO Afghan convoy attacked in Karachi, 28 January 2010
Targeted killings, ethnic violence plague Karachi, 25 January 2010
Karachi seen as key to Pakistan's future, 22 January 2010
