Lyari violence: No compromise on Karachi situation, says president
The president, during a meeting with Sindh cabinet members and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, said that the government is focusing on maintaining peace and protecting life and property in Karachi, and wants to improve the situation in Lyari in an effective manner.
He added that action will be taken against criminal elements and a political solution will also be devised to deal with them.
‘Lyari operation has ended’
After giving a 72-hour deadline to the criminal elements in Lyari, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Friday that the operation in Lyari has ended.
Speaking to Express News, Malik said, “We cannot hold the entire area hostage because of mere four-five people. The police and Rangers have only surrounded the area, while the forces have been pulled out from Lyari.”
The interior minister said that maximum electricity will be restored by evening, while telephone lines were restored around 6am in the morning. He said that electricity transformers which were destroyed because of the shelling will be reinstalled in the area, adding that the water supply which was disrupted will also be reconnected.
He said that justice will be done to Uzair Baloch – the head of the banned Peoples Amn Committee (PAC) and “Lyari’s most wanted” – and his accomplices. “If Uzair Baloch does not trust the police then he should surrender before the Rangers.”
“I came on the commands of President Asif Ali Zardari to make sure that the gangsters in Lyari do not try to take law in their hands. If they do so, we will continue to launch indiscriminate action against them which will not be half-hearted. We will chase them wherever they go.”
He said that peace will be restored in the area within the next four-five days.
Police has been involved in an operation to flush out gangsters from Lyari for the last seven days, facing tough resistance from the miscreants.
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@Faiz Ahmed:
"I do support your call that operation should be conducted everywhere in Karachi and if it started from liyari .." Hmmm... That is a very fair statement, brother; however, it seems like for you it is a foregone conclusion that the police force has finally woken up from it's slumber and is on an unstoppable crusade to end crime from Karachi and that the operation in Lyari is just the "START" of this mass crusade. Ok then, Mr. Faiz... let's have an agreement, you and I. I will assume that what you said is true: The Lyari operation is just the "START" of Karachi police's war against crime and that after Lyari there will be operations in every area where there are criminals. And remember... the operations must be on a similar scale: for at least 8 days and water, electricity, phone lines, food and pretty much everything must be cut off from everybody who lives in that area. If this happens, I will take back everything I said about the police harassing common people. But if this is the only operation and there are no other operations on this scale in Karachi, not in months and not even in years, then what would you say?
@Adil
Sir that is the problem they are not couple of street scum they are notorious criminal involved in heinous crimes murder ransom drugs...... I can assure you 70% problems of Karachi will be solved if there is a free and fair operation conducted in liyari.......... I do support your call that operation should be conducted everywhere in Karachi and if it started from liyari why are we making a fuss about it the government has to start it from somewhere............
@ Mr Adil Sir I do respect your opinion......But Sir to achieve something as in the case of Liyari people have to sacrifice some days in pain to achieve a better goal which is elimination of criminals from liyari so that they can live more peaceful and actually sir I would like to add here that there was a program on a private TV channel in which they showed that bhattas and parchiyas distribution in Karachi have become very less after the start of operation..... So in my opinion for the betterment of Karachi and in larger in the Interest of Pakistan people of liyari have to bear hardships at this time for their better future as well Otherwise vice versa.
In Future PPP will Apologetic with Lyari Peoples But Injureez never Fill in future.....
PPP will loss in Big face of Lyari Peoples Feelings
Shame on PPP , doing the operation for the behest of MQM, it will become the LAL masjid of Musharraf era. PPP support in liyari is a long gone story.
@Faiz Ahmed:
I was very happy to read your comment. Although I disagree with certain parts of it, I must say it was the response of an educated and level headed person. Please don't get the impression that I hate anybody because of his/her ethnicity. We are all brothers and sisters. I couldn't care less if Uzair is a criminal or the paragon of honesty. I don't care who supports him and for whatever reason. Please try to understand my point: If the police and the government want to act against criminals, they should go after ALL criminals with the same energy, not just the criminals of Lyari. Believe me, dude, nobody will shed a tear if a scumbag criminal is killed or arrested. We shed tears when we are made hostage for 8 days without electricity, water, food etc; the shooting goes on non-stop day and night; when our children cling to us every time there is gunfire; when our neighbors who sell fruit on thelas on the street are arrested by the police and put in prison because they suspect they are criminals (yes, my neighbor was arrested and when his father came out to see what's happening, they shot him in the leg); this is the only thing that makes us cry. God forbid, if anything like this happens in anybody's area, I would like to see how they react.
shame on you PPP.... shame on you.... shame on you... why not an opeation in ALL no go areas of Karachi??? why only Layari? why?
@ Mr Adil where did MQM came in all of this why do you think that MQM has any part in bhatta or other criminal activities mate if MQM was a terrorist organization why would they build schools, universities, look at the tenure of Mustufa Kamal even your honourable CJ of Pakistan Ifthikar M Choudary applauded him for his services I am not saying that MQM is a saint party but please just on the bias facts of 1992 please don't hate anyone Liyari people are Pakistanis as much as anyone else in Pakistan but just because of the fact they are supporting Uzair Baloch on ethnic grounds does not justify it that Uzair Baloch is not a criminal........
@Skin Taj:
Bravo
What kind of law and order is this. Criminal & Terrorists are challenging the writ of the Govt. If this was any other civilised country after rockets attack on police cars, they would have called in special forces and smoked out these kind of CRIMINALS & TERRORIST , dead or alive. No wonder in our country everybody thinks they are ABOVE LAW.
...and to talk about this POLICE. Why do they get paid if they are so incompetent. The miscreants are firing and are able to come out to fire the hand grenades and rockets.... DID POLICE never heard of SHARP SHOOTER or have a helicopter over to guide them the positions of these terrorists etc etc...
I am surprised the cheek of some of the Liyari people who came out and say that STOP OPERATION as LYARI is a peaceful and law abiding area..... .................................... "peaceful and law abiding" do not fire rockets on police and through hand grenades..... we suggest police should not take political pressure and SMOKE THESE CRIMINALS OUT....Dead or Alive !!!!!!!!
Thus ends another botched up and ill planned operation against the gangsters. By ending the operation the state has once again proven that it is unable to protect the lives of people. This will only give an edge to the gangsters and make them believe that they are invincible. The peace of city and its administration has gone down the drain. Whatever solution Mr.Malik has will eventually prove to be ineffective and his maneuvers have been in the past. He is right in saying that the innocent people cannot be held hostage. BUT by whom. These innocent people are already held hostage by gangsters who had been given a free hand by the PPP government. Maybe Mr.Malik has struck another deal at the cost of 35 lives. What about the Policemen who lost their lives in this operation? Will their families ever have a closure? Will their lives go in vain? Can Mr.Malik answer these questions? The city will never see peace again and the gangsters will now strike with vengeance. The likes of Uzair Baloch and company will now be the deciding factor for the poor people of this city. The operation was a failure to start with and will only increase the power of gangsters. Long Live the PPP.
"After giving a 72-hour deadline to the criminal elements in Lyari, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Friday that the operation in Lyari has ended"
This is the problem. This is what disheartens law enforcers as well as ordinary citizens. It is difficult to come away from the impression that the operation was abruptly ended due to political pressure. So what did Karachi gain out of 7 years of horrible conditions for Lyari residents? Was police writ established? No. Were criminals disarmed? No. Was Uzair Baloch arrested? No.
Also no operation targetting the other 2 ethnic groups with known armed gangs has been announced making it seem that only one ethnicity was targetted instead of seeming like an evenhanded operation against all criminals.
Without arresting criminal gang leaders, how can this operation be over Doctor (RM)?
There is a law and order situation in Lyari and will remain so. The re is also a Bhatta Mafia situation which will also remain. Ending of Lyari operation has nothing to do with the above two factors or problems. Ultimatum to fight the election against Bilawal is the reason. PPP has cold feet and rightly so, as they surely would have lost the coveted seat. That much for Democracy.
The very idea of operation only in Lyari was not the right way to tackle law and order situation in Lyari and metropolitan, it was completely partial operation that destroyed life of many a loyal and innocent citizens of Lyari. It looks that the motive for hastly conducting the operation and brutily suppressing the voices of common man in Lyari were based on personal hatred and enmosity to go after the likes of Uzair Baloch, Zafar Baloch and Baba Ladla or "Talibans of Lyari" for that matter. Instead what was required was a complete indiscriminate operation in everly nook and corner of Karachi where ever a threat to peace of the Megapolis existed, but sorry to say; with the operation failing in Lyari government has tarnished the image of Law enforcing agencies and has put alot of hatred in the heart and mind of citizens of Lyari and other such pro-democratic minded people. It is required of the government to save its face; because they will need alot credibilty in next general elections which they have completely lost. Only one thing can save them from complete embarassment and that is to sincerely implement Law and only Law in whole of Pakistan. Only complete rule of Law shall be the only way to govern Pakistan.
Only reason when PPP got threat of defaction and loosing the seat. Operation ends. By the way what is the difference between "Swat operation / Lal Masjid" and Lyari operation?
They should award this guy the Nobel peace prize for ending all conflicts in Karachi, just by flying in from Islamabad.
Where is Dr Zulfiqar Mirza??
Waste of so much time and resources if it had to end this way with out any logical result.
The game is over !!!!. Who Won Who Lost. And what about the people from both side (Police & Lyarian) who lost their lives in this game.
so basically the operation failed?
I can't believe it! Itna tamasha karne ke baad ab Dr. Rehman Malik is saying Operation has ended!!!
The resident buffoon strikes again. Is there no end to illogical statements and reversals from our erstwhile interior something ? And taking orders from the President. I thought Gilani has head of government. Its clear that Zardari is the de facto PM. Gilani is just a rubber stamp and I never expected him to be anything more. Thats why he was chosen.
Master of Qalabazi has once again proved how reliable and truthful this person is. Please people of Sindh, understand how capable these PPP people are? They are passing time in every matter of the country just to stay in power.
why on earth did about 10 police officers lose their lives then? . You havent caught a single person so was this operation only to torment the innocent of lyari??
maximum electricity will be restored by evening, while telephone lines were restored around 6am in the morning. He said that electricity transformers which were destroyed because of the shelling will be reinstalled in the area What about 35 civilians who lost their lives? Why the innocent Baloch are the target in Pakistan
Dr. Malik, how many 'gangsters' did you get? Let's make no mistake, the people of Pakistan are wise enough to know that this was a botched operation. Poor planning, mismanagement and blind firing by the police achieved nothing but multiplying resentment and hatred in that particular part of Karachi. Waiting for you to depart to Islamabad with puffed up chest leaving Karachi behind to bear the burden of what will now ensue. Thanks.
Lyari back to square one.
So Karachi is now peaceful.?
what ???? Are they kidding ??? they took imp lives of many ppl and after that they are saying the operation is oveer ? According to Our POLITICIANS (MAAR GAYA SO MAAR GYA ) !!! this is not the POLITICS :P