This paper attempts to identify the roots of ethnic militancy in Karachi. It hypothesizes that militancy in Karachi is
not rooted in the sense of economic deprivation, as in the case of erstwhile East Pakistan, but in the sense of
political deprivation. The paper presents secondary data on economic disparities between East and West Pakistan
to show that economic factors predominated the rise of insurgency in East Pakistan. It then presents an array of
socioeconomic and housing data from primary sources to show that Mohajirs are better placed relative to other
communities. However, data is also presented to show the decline of Mohajir representation in the political,
financial and business spheres, which is stated to be the principal cause of disaffection and potential insurgency.