The people of Karachi have seen the dog and pony show that the present government is presenting many times! There is no trust on the police or Rangers in Karachi. The reality would be as plain as the nose on your face under which most of the crime is committed with the backing of police and politicians. Everyone knows this and knowing it cannot accept another round of empty ‘Operation’ in Karachi.
How can the rulers expect any change when they are asking the same people who are creating the problem to resolve it? Why should they? It is in their interest to keep Karachi burning, they are neither capable nor interested in resolving the issues in Karachi, if they were interested this would have taken three days! It's on record that thousands of political party workers and criminals have been inducted in Karachi police force which is now a full partner in the ongoing lawlessness in the city.
They provide a legitimate cover for criminals, extortionists, hired killers, kidnappers; they come into action only when a criminal gang deviates from the agreed share or goes for a deal with some other more powerful force. Therefore, anyone who expects a 180 degree turnaround in police mentality and attitude is living in fool’s world.
Most of the police force is not from Karachi as they have no stakes in the city; they use their posting to earn the maximum, of course by unlawful means. Rangers have also been invaded by these criminal factors and they are not different from the police; they are in the city for last 20 years, has Karachi benefited from their presence? Criminal activities have increased manifolds during the Rangers presence. All crime has increased in Karachi while the Rangers roamed in armoured trucks taking up millions of rupees in upkeep, without keeping any peace in Karachi.
The solution lies in revamping our police force and making them into a really crime controlling force! Our police should comprise of those who have stakes in the city, our intelligence agencies should track criminals not to look for cut in deals, and the Rangers should be used as a reserve force only to strengthen the police if needed. There should be a strict check on businesses owned by the police officers, their personal wealth and strict accountability of every action. There should be no political appointment in Police. A complete elimination of armed gangs who look towards political and religious parties for protection, activities of religious, sectarian outfits should be dealt with firmly, and most importantly administrative control of the city should be handed over to its residents by holding local body’s municipal elections. There is no point in repeating the failure as Karachi operation is bound to fail if the root causes of unrest and lawlessness are not dealt with honestly.
MASOOD KHAN,
Saudi Arab, September 6.