Abbreviated to be named 'Af-Pak' by the policy wonks of Washington, few remember the place where the twins were born (Islamabad). For the record, they were fathered by US Admiral Mike Mullen. If you want the exact date of birth, one would pinpoint to a press conference on 9-2-08 (see The Nation of a day later). Why should one care to remember the date? To be able to tell our grand children the age of the unfortunate twins when they go under the knife for separation. When? "We have come to Afghanistan indefinitely," say the Washington officials. -Z.A. KAZMI, Karachi, July 2. 300? Over 300 people have been murdered in Karachi in the last 90 days, most being victims of their political allegiances. Killing people on the basis of political, sectarian or ethnic differences or for that matter on any basis, is unacceptable. The responsibility for this lies squarely on the provincial Interior Minister, City government and the law enforcement agencies. No civilized society in the world can afford murder at such a large-scale in its main metropolitan city that is also the financial hub of the country. The venues of these target killings have, for some reason or the other, not properly covered by surveillance video cameras, nor are they properly policed. All over the world, the police works independent of the city government or even the provincial government in maintenance of law and order. It usually makes arrests of criminals involved in heinous crimes with out even informing the provincial or local government. Incidents of illegal occupation of land have also been on the rise, even in the posh areas like Clifton, PECHS etc. The emphasis of the City government on illegal land occupation in Sohrab Goth alone seems politically motivated. This city's peace has been threatened by illegal weaponisation of society, which has caused murder, extortion, rape, kidnapping, dacoities etc to rise to alarming proportions. Mr Mustafa Kamal may be a good mayor but when it comes to dealing with the street crime, land mafia, target killings etc, he is hostage to his political benefactors and their agendas. -ANEELA CHANDIO, Sukkur, via e-mail, July 18.