[DAWN] EITHER we are approaching some sort of tipping point in the city, or the theatre is about to get a little more absurd. Until the resignations given by the MQM are formally accepted by the speaker of the Assembly and chairman Senate, we will have a situation where there is a parliament of 342 members with 56 having submitted their resignations. How long can they keep going like this? And how many more resignations will come before the next general elections?In any case, there is palpable fear in the business community in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, particularly amongst manufacturers who fear that a time of great uncertainty is coming. What exactly is the MQM's game here, people are asking. Have they resigned as a sign of weakness, to signal to the establishment that they are willing to withdraw from the game in return for some assurance that they will not be targeted any more? Or are they gearing up to fight back in the streets?
If it is the former, we would probably not have seen the kind of combative rhetoric like we saw coming from Farooq Sattar's presser outside the National Assembly. We also would not have heard the increasingly roundedAltaf Hussain
..The head of MQM in Pakistain, who has lived in London and hasn't laid eyes on Pakistain since Caesar made corporal. Judging from the size of him,he may be a Hutt...
tell Hamid Mir that the country has to choose, "who is going to be on top, parliament or the military?"