KARACHI, Dec 13 Every year December 14 reopens the old wounds of Fakhar Sheikh and his family.

As he observes the 22nd death anniversary of his father and elder brother who were killed with dozens of other innocent people in 1986, the ghosts of the Aligarh massacre continue to haunt the collective socio-political conscience of Karachiites with renewed fears of ethnic riots plaguing the city. “We can't forget that day but this year violence on the same lines just weeks before December 14 left my family in dread of the repeat of the deadly episode,” he says, sitting on the rooftop of his Aligarh Colony home, which was stormed by dozens of armed men in broad daylight on Dec 14, 1986.

As a teenaged boy, he was shocked and fell into a coma for more than a month on seeing his father, Shamsuddin Sheikh, being killed by the armed men, who also pumped 17 bullets into his 28-year-old brother, The grieving children of Qamaruddin Sheikh look at their father's photo.—White Star

Qamaruddin Sheikh, who died after years of treatment, leaving a widow and two children.

Twenty-two years after the tragedy, Fakhar is taking care of his own and the deceased brother's families in the same house in Aligarh Colony, which is in Orangi No 2. He has reason to believe that an attempt was made to divide the city along ethnic lines 20 years ago. He feels certain that such divisive attempts are still being made.

“We firmly believe that in Karachi ethnicity is not a reality,” says Fakhar. “But for the last more than a month we have been unable to convince ourselves and family members as there have been rumours that after Eid terror would return more forcefully. It's the responsibility of the government to build the people's confidence.”

Most Karachiites that this reporter spoke to agree with Fakhar that the city has no major ethnic faultlines that could cause the kind of violence that ravaged Karachi in the 1980s. The administration also appears convinced that the recent spate of violence was more due to the “illegal stakes of some forces in land and businesses” than any serious ethnic strife. “The government is well aware of the situation and reality,” says Shazia Marri, Sindh's information minister. “Members in the assembly raised the issue and our home department is working to uncover the reasons behind the recent violence, which in any case was not on ethnic grounds.”

She says Karachi is a vibrant city and home to more than 15 million people from different backgrounds, sects and languages. Ms Marri feels confident that ethnicity is not an issue of the country's business capital and the recently announced judicial inquiry will expose the elements and motives behind the fresh violence.

“So we should move forward rather than recalling the horror of Aligarh massacre, which we believe had no reason to happen. Since the government is actively involved in the reconciliation efforts, fears of ethnicity in Karachi have no basis.”

Since almost every political party, having existence and organisational structure in Karachi, agrees to Ms Marri's viewpoint that ethnicity has no roots in the metropolis, the victims of the Aligarh Colony tragedy are unable to understand the still uncovered 'conspiracy' which succeeded to a large extent and gave birth to the politics of hatred.

Dark memories of Rukhsana Jabin, living in her Gulfamabad house - a society of hardly 2,500 people just a few yards from Aligarh Colony -- demand courage to peep into the history of this hatred.

As an intermediate student, she went through the city's arguably most terrible tragedy, which took her mother Sabira Khatoon's life and caused paralysis to her maternal uncle, Zahoor Ahmed.

Rukhsana stammers every time she tries to share the fact that the elders of the family first 'gathered the pieces' of her mother's body before burying it in the Paposh Nagar graveyard. Her mother was hacked to death as she tried to protect her elder brother.

“That day (December 14, 1986) she (Sabira Khatoon) was at our Mamoon's (Zahoor Ahmed) home, which is a few streets from ours, when the area was stormed by men carrying guns, axes, knives, sticks and everything that could hurt,” she says. “When they entered Mamoon's home, he with my mother resisted. They first killed my mother and then brutally tortured Mamoon. The marauders left the home believing that both had died.”

Though he escaped death in 1986, Zahoor Ahmed has been unable to live a normal life for the last 22 years. He has almost lost the ability to speak and cannot move about without assistance. Parties having the largest political stakes in Karachi see a conspiracy behind the Aligarh Colony incident but do not apprehend that such episodes may happen again.

“There are several faultlines in this city,” says Haider Abbas Rizvi, a leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which emerged as the single largest party in Karachi after a series of violent incidents of 1986.

“These can be seen on ethnic grounds and sectarian grounds but we believe that in 1986 the parties at that time didn't trust in coexistence, which led to disharmony and deadly violence. For the Aligarh massacre, a conspiracy was hatched by some forces which wanted to demoralise the true democratic struggle.”

Mr Rizvi, who is also the deputy parliamentary leader of the MQM in the National Assembly, gives credit to the government and the political parties for jointly helping restrict the violence to a few localities. However, his party's political rivals but partners in the coalition government think that the MQM being the political force with the heaviest mandate from the city needs to do more for confidence building of the people from different ethnic backgrounds.

“After the fresh wave of violence hundreds of people abandoned their businesses for fear of life while properties of dozens of people from upcountry were damaged badly in the mainstream residential areas,” says Amin Khattak, a leader of the Awami National Party.

“Now they don't dare return and this would not spread harmony. Since these localities are considered the MQM's strongholds, the party needs to take a step forward and help reopen the poor people's businesses.”

He also claims that the Aligarh massacre was staged under the patronage of the establishment when innocent people were killed on ethnic grounds indiscriminately, which sparked such a fire of hatred in the metropolis that has not yet died out.

“But this time the government machinery moved faster than in 1986 and political forces showed more maturity. Such an attitude and approach, we hope, will prevent such incidents in the future.”