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Murderers paint Karachi red as jungle’s law prevails
June 01, 2012
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Once again, Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, is suffering persistent violence, unrest and bloodshed. The writ of the government has been lost after Lyari operation. Over 150 people have been killed including those belonging to various outlaw organizations, police officers and members of different political and religious parties as a result of target killing and terrorism.
The murders of three brothers one after another on a single day show the high morale and lack of fear among criminals. The abduction of traders has become a routine, but these incidents are not reported. The kidnappers threaten the abducted persons if they informed the police or law-enforcement agencies, then they alongwith their families would face dire consequences. Following these threats, the abducted persons provide a high ransom to the tune of millions of rupees, while the law enforcers pay no attention to protect the aggrieved people against organized crime.
People have lost their confidence in law enforcers and police, which has created a very critical situation throughout the Sindh province. Karachi seems a lawless city, because police are not permitted to enter the areas occupied by terrorists. The deteriorating law and order situation brewed up violence on May 22 when a group of terrorists attacked the public rally that emerged from Lyari, killing 13 people.
Once again, the terror hit locality is the large trade centre, ‘Old City Area’. Why did the incident of firing happen? Who was responsible? A judicial commission has been formed to probe the incident, while the federal government has formed an investigation team under the supervision of Karachi police Chief Akhtar Gorchani.
The city is hit by terrorism every 2 or 3 days, and the investigation teams formed earlier have failed to deliver. In mid of May, Akhtar Gorchani was made head of the investigation team to probe into the murder of Allama Sheikhupuri in Bahadarabad area. It was ordered that investigation team will present a report to the Interior Ministry within 3 days, but investigation team has not met for 3 days.
The Rangers have arrested three culprits after an assault over ‘Mohabat-e-Sindh’ rally. Sources said these alleged terrorists namely Sohail Sadiq, Kashif Pavela and Shah Nawaz belong to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
The MQM then pressurized law enforcers through Interior Minister Rehman Malik to release the terrorists, while, sources said, the Rangers refused to do so, and informed the chief minister in a meeting held on Wednesday at the Chief Minister’s House in Karachi. The Rangers also divulged the old record of terrorists and details of arms seized. During the meeting, the provincial ministers were also presented with proofs against the criminals. Strong words were used against Interior Minister Rehman Malik on the occasion, and provincial ministers belonging to the PPP even wrote a letter to President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani to stop Rehman Malik from interfering in Sindh affairs.
In view of the current situation, President Zardari, in order to woo the people of Layari, constituted a three-member committee to probe the incidents and present him with a report soon. The committee will comprise MNA Qadir Patel, Senator Yousuf Baloch and Senator Saeed Ghani. They will also undertake a visit to Lyari, Malir, Moach Goth and other PPP-dominated areas where local leaders and workers of the party had staged protests against the government and party leadership.
MNA Addul Qadir Patel, who is also Chairman of the Standing Committee of National Assembly on the Interior, said the members of the newly-formed committee would start meeting with the people in order to know the actual reasons of the Lyari operation before submitting a report. He said Rehman Malik had no idea about the Lyari situation, and that the committee would try to convince the voters who still loved their party and believed in the leadership.
Meanwhile, during a meeting of the President with the Chief Minister of Sindh and Interior Minister, directives were given to the Sindh government on Friday to take action against the suspects involved in the attack on the Awami Tahreek rally and a bus which came under attack in Shaheed Benzairbad.
Party sources said President Zardari, who arrived in Karachi on Friday after attending the Nato summit in Chicago, was very angry over the incidents of violence and issued directives to the CM to present him a detailed investigative report soon on how the incidents took place and who were involved in it.
The CM briefed President Zardari on both the incident and actions taken by the provincial government. However sources said despite orders of the President, the process of negotiation to woo voters had not yet started. Sources said Layari voters had been divided into three factions: majority is with head of banned Aman Committee Aziz Baloch, while most of those associated with Katchi Rabta Committee (KRC) have their sympathies with MNA Nabeel Gabol, a small number is with rivals of Aman committee Akram Baloch and Raouf Nazim.
According to sources, this situation has put PPP senior leadership in a difficult position and they are trying to find a solution to which all three parties would agree so that Layari continues to remain a stronghold of PPP in future.
The three-member committee, especially Yousaf Baloch, is in constant telephonic contact with banned Aman Committee Chief Aziz Baloch, but no formal meeting has yet materialized. According to sources, the main hurdle is the long list of demands made by the Aman Committee, which have reached more than 35. Sources said the demands include immediate resignation of MNA Nabeel Gabol and provincial ministers Rafiq Engineer and Saleem Hangoro, immediate withdrawal of head money on leaders of Aman Committee by the Sindh government, and action against police officers who participated in the Layari operation.
Sources said if the committee accepts even these three demands, then the two other parties in Layari would be angry with the PPP. The operation in Layari was conducted after Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wassan went on a leave. In the operation, nearly 50 people including police officers were killed and many wounded including women and children.
Millions of rupees were spent in this eight-day operation, but no considerable progress was made by the government and police, and the incidents of violence and target killings continue in the city. Daily, 8 to 12 people are killed in the city. In this regard, a bench constituted by the Supreme Court and headed by Sindh CJ Mashir Alam is working, but no significant reduction in violence and target killing is seen. The court can order, but its implementation has to be ensured by the law-enforcing agencies. When law-enforcing agencies come into motion, they face political pressure, an example of which came forward during the high-level law and order meeting held at CM House last week.
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