——— MQM-P leader says 60 citizens lost their lives due to incompetence of Sindh govt and Police
——— HRCP expresses concern over ‘alarming deterioration’ in law and order in Karachi
From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Senior Deputy Convener and National Assembly member Syed Mustafa Kamal on Monday demanded immediate deployment of army per-sonnel to control the rising street crimes in Karachi.
In a statement, he stated that due to the incompetence of the Sindh government and police, 60 citi-zens have been killed in the port city so far this year. To curb street crime, he demanded, Karachi should be handed over to the military for three months immediately.
He said that the Sindh government and Sindh Police have left Karachi at the mercy of bandits. In such a deteriorating situation of the city, no one is listening to the pleas of the people of Karachi.
“Today, in Metroville area, street criminals killed two citizens and looted Rs125 million, which is a great injustice. There is no area or road in Karachi where the lives and property of citizens are safe,” he add-ed.
He said that so far this year, the number of citizens killed in street crimes has reached 60 and the bi-ased Sindh government and incompetent Sindh police have let robbers, dacoits, and killers roam freely.
MQM-P senior leader questioned Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, asking, “Who has tied the hands of the police? Why is the police not taking action?”
He alleged that the Sindh government is not serious about providing protection to citizens. “Karachi should be handed over to the military for three months. MQM-P is ready to cooperate in every possi-ble way to tackle street criminals,” he added.
It should be noted that during the blessed month of Ramazan alone, armed individuals have killed 20 citizens in resistance to robberies, while the number of citizens killed this year has reached 58.
According to Sindh police statistics, in just one month, 6,780 street crimes were reported in various areas of the provincial capital.
Earlier, The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Monday noted with concern that the state of law and order in Karachi had “deteriorated alarmingly”.
Karachi has been facing an increase in street crime in recent months. Data presented before a high-level security meeting last week showed more than 250 Karachiites were shot dead and 1,052 others were wounded by street criminals between 2022 and March 28, 2024.
Police sources said that a significant increase in violent street crimes was registered over the past three years.
On Saturday, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi ordered law enforcement agencies to launch a crackdown on criminals, their handlers and facilitators to curb street crime in Karachi and improve security situation in other parts of the province, particularly the riverine area.
Rising street crimes in the capital of Sindh also brought face-to-face allies in the Centre on Sunday when MQM-P censured the PPP-led provincial government and demanded policing powers for Rang-ers across Sindh.
At a press conference, the MQM-P leaders presented a “charge sheet” against the PPP government and Sindh police, blaming them for their “failure and incompetence”. They also demanded the federal government intervene in the “larger interest of Karachi and its people.”
Earlier, the party had also demanded an operation against street criminals, otherwise, it hinted at part-ing ways with the PML-N-led coalition government if the killing of innocent people was not stopped.
In a post on social media platform X today, the HRCP said: “Tens of thousands of street crimes were registered by the police in 2023, in which over a hundred people lost their lives. The first quarter of 2024 has followed the same pattern.”
The HRCP pointed out that that retaliatory vigilantism and increased brutality by citizens in response to the crime wave was “not the answer”, adding that the government’s failure to address rising crime levels was “shocking”.
“The underlying factors such as economic desperation and unemployment need to be addressed ur-gently as well.,” it stressed.
