THERE is much to mourn in Karachi at the moment, but not quite what the political parties would have the public believe. The loss of life is certainly the gravest loss: more than 100 people have been killed in a week of violence. More ominously, the deaths have spilled from the relatively narrow confines of political workers and armed gangs to ordinary citizens marked out for death seemingly just on the basis of their ethnic identity. The toll the deaths and injuries and violence have taken on the denizens of Karachi is more difficult to flesh out — though it isn’t any less real. As the month of fasting winds down and Eid preparations begin in earnest, the city of Karachi is usually crackling and bursting with activity. But not this year.

The economic cost alone will be enormous. Eid shopping is one of the most lucrative periods for retailers, but not if the shops are shuttered and customers are too scared to leave their homes. And even before the latest round of violence paralysed the city, traders and retailers were being squeezed by demands for ever-increasing protection money made by a host of groups. However, it clearly isn’t just the retail sector that is being impacted. With large parts of the city frequently shut, and occasionally the whole of Karachi closed as it was yesterday, everything from big business to day labourers has been affected. It makes for grim viewing: in the midst of a protracted economic slowdown and a major power crisis, a law and order situation linked to the political map of Karachi has brought the country’s largest economic hub to a standstill. Rarely does the intersection of politics and the economy produce a more debilitating outcome for a city of the size and national importance that Karachi enjoys.

Harder to quantify is the effect of the pall of gloom cast over the city. Some neighbourhoods are outright terrified, others are fearful and anxious — nowhere is there an iota of normality. Eid, normally a time to visit friends and family and head to the beach or a park, may not even offer a respite if the killers stalking the streets of Karachi are not bundled away soon. While the air of despondency may be thick right now, the resilience of the city and its people is known to anyone who has ever lived in or visited Karachi. If Karachiites are offered a chance at normality, they will grab it with both hands. Let us hope the political leadership will offer that chance in the next few days. It is the least the people of Karachi deserve.