There was a time not long ago when no one knew whether they would return home in one piece in the largest city of Pakistan. Thanks to the determined efforts of the law enforcement agencies–unmoved by deep pockets or political connections– dark clouds had momentarily shifted away for the citizens to enjoy their baby steps to normalcy. But no sooner did the fingering over prayer beads stop that the killing spree began, once again. In the wee hours on Sunday, yet another young man lost his life as he futilely resisted against armed robbers in Karachi. He is clearly not alone because every day, newspapers are replete with at least a few such harrowing tales. Research carried out in November shockingly revealed how as many as 100 individuals had been killed, and over 400 wounded at the hands of street criminals. Another study lamented how more than two-thirds of the population had either stood on the other end of the barrel themselves or second-handedly lived through the trauma befallen upon someone dear.
The surge in crime rates and the resulting fear psychosis even forced a number of citizens to pick up arms themselves and let vigilant justice fly in the face of the law. Dozens of cases of mob violence are all the proof we need to realise that the state is fast losing the trust of its people.
Nevertheless, those trying to paint the harrowing statistics as a political failure conveniently forget how Karachi has very rarely managed to climb out of the deadly slump. Springing to action whenever any violent incident hits headlines does not even begin to describe the manifesto of police forces. Sadly, the last few decades have seen little else than the prevalence of short-term, knee-jerk measures. That Karachi welcomes all with open arms paying no regard to the havoc unleashed on the once-celebrated cleanest cities of the world is to be partly blamed since an unchecked urban sprawl punctuated with sectarian and ethnic fault lines and small political kingdoms scattered left, right and centre cannot be governed by the run-of-the-mill mechanisms. Add to that the growing exasperation felt by those who had left their homes in search of greener pastures, and the crime conundrum becomes even more intense. What is, therefore, needed is an all-hands-on-the-deck approach wherein consistent persistence would become the only reliable line of defence from falling back to the bad old days. Every single day we spend dabbling with blame games would take us farther away from the corner we desperately need to turn in order to win against the crime. This bloodied saga cannot be allowed to play with our security, our sovereignty and overall wellness any longer. *