The 2010 Karachi riots started on August 3, 2010, after the assassination of Parliament member Raza Haider, a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement political party, on the night of August 2, 2010, in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) blamed the

Awami National Party The Awami National Party (ANP; , ; lit. ''People's National Party'') is a Pashtun nationalist, secular and leftist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986 and its current president is Aimal Wali Khan, g ...

, it's political rival, for the killing. Haider, was killed as he attended a funeral at a mosque. By August 6 at least 90 people were killed in reprisal attacks and more than 100 people injured in widespread violence that engulfed the city. Economic losses over two days of riots were estimated to be about

Pakistani rupee The Pakistani rupee (; ISO code: PKR; symbol: ; abbreviation: Re (singular) and Rs (plural)) is the official currency in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the State Bank of Pakistan. It was officia ...

s (approximately 200 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

Background

has a history of political bloodshed stretching back to the late 1980s when the city was regularly rocked by political and ethnic shootings that killed dozens every week. Analysts said the city was again in the grip of a political turf war.

, which is provincial capital of

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

and Pakistan's commercial capital and largest city, has a population of and contributes about 70% of the country's tax income. The city has seen a wave of political killings in 2010 which have deepened ethnic tensions.

Violence

Most of those killed and injured in the reprisal shootings came from the smaller

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

s. The MQM, which ruled Karachi until earlier 2010, represents the city's

Muhajir Muhajir or Mohajir (, '; pl. , ') is an Arabic word meaning ''migrant'' (see immigration and emigration) which is also used in other languages spoken by Muslims, including English. In English, this term and its derivatives may refer in a general s ...

community. Most of the injured were

s, with a few Sindhis and

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

s among the victims, said one source. Jan Sardar, a 35-year-old

, was shot seven times. "When they fired the first shot, I jumped in a sewer to save myself, but they came after me and fired more bullets," he said from his hospital bed. The gunman was carrying an MQM flag, he added. Clothes trader Ahmed Shah, who was shot in the leg, was travelling in a bus with 50 passengers when it came under fire. "I didn't see who it was; it was dark," he said. A cousin said he saw seven dead bodies at the site. Iqbal Hussain, a teenager from

Swat A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

, said he was left for dead after a gunman burst into his house in north

, opening fire. A less fortunate friend was killed. Several buildings were set on fire and vehicles destroyed after angry mobs went through the city streets seeking revenge. Most of those killed were Pashtuns. Most of the injured had been shot point blank and were targeted for their ethnicity. In the neighboring city of

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

gunmen attacked a train going to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, injuring the driver and destroying the locomotive.

Reactions

MQM declared three days of mourning after the assassination. Business activities in the city virtually shut down. The local police arrested 40 people including 20 Islamist hardliners. Interior minister

Rehman Malik Rehman Malik NI ( Punjabi, Urdu: رحمان ملک; born 12 December 1951 – 23 February 2022) was a Pakistani politician, and a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officer, who later served as the federal Interior Minister from 25 Marc ...

blamed

Sipah-e-Sahaba The Sipah-e-Sahaba (SS), also known as the Millat-e-Islamiyya (MI), was a banned Sunni Islamist Deobandi organisation in Pakistan. Founded by Pakistani cleric Haq Nawaz Jhangvi in 1989 after breaking away from Sunni Deobandi party Jamiat Ulem ...

of fomenting violence against the minority Shia community in Pakistan.

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the ...

, ordered an immediate investigation into the violence. The

Karachi Stock Exchange The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), founded as Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), is a stock exchange based in Karachi, Pakistan. PSX was classified by MSCI as a Frontier markets, frontier market on 8 September 2021. Pakistan Stock Exchange was fou ...

saw very slow activity in the aftermath of the riots and the

rupee Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currency, currencies of Indian rupee, India, Mauritian rupee, Mauritius, Nepalese rupee, Nepal, Pakistani rupee, Pakistan, Seychellois rupee, Seychelles, and Sri Lankan rupee, Sri Lanka, and of former cu ...

hit a record low of 85.80 to a

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karachi riots, 2010 Politics of Karachi 21st-century mass murder in Pakistan 2010 riots 2010 murders in Pakistan Race riots in Pakistan 2010s crimes in Karachi Mass murder in Karachi August 2010 crimes in Asia August 2010 in Pakistan 2010 in Pakistani politics 2010s political riots Mass murder in 2010 Arson in Pakistan Arson in 2010 2010 fires in Asia Building and structure fires in Pakistan Arson attacks on vehicles in Asia Deaths by firearm in Pakistan 2010 mass shootings in Asia Spree shootings in Pakistan Bus incidents in Pakistan 2010 road incidents in Asia Attacks on buildings and structures in Karachi Attacks on buildings and structures in 2010

Background

Violence

Reactions

See also

References