Lyari violence: No compromise on Karachi situation, says president

President meets Sindh cabinet members and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to discuss Karachi situation.


Web Desk May 04, 2012

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday appealed to all political parties to cooperate with the government in maintaining peace in Karachi.

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.

COMMENTS (34)

Adil | 11 years ago | Reply

@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?

Faiz Ahmed | 11 years ago | Reply

@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............

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