KARACHI:
It was not a case of tongue in cheek when Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said that his government had contained targeted killings in Karachi; but he left everybody bewildered when he claimed that no police operation was carried out in Lyari.
“The government did not carry out any operation in Lyari nor does it intend to do so in the future,” he said while presenting a catalogue on the four-year performance of his government before the Sindh Assembly on Tuesday.
“It was a targeted raid conducted by the police against gangs, and it will also continue in other areas. Our target is not a specific group or party but criminal elements,” he said while referring to a week-long 1,400-man police operation in Lyari that was abruptly called off without producing any tangible results.
Shah said that it was difficult for 20,000 policemen to control law and order in a city of 20 million people. “We live in an era of rocket launchers and hand grenades,” he said, adding, “I accept that the criminals and terrorists are far better trained and possess the latest weapons, while our police have only Kalashnikovs.”
The chief minister said that the law and order situation in other provinces -- Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa -- was worse than that of Sindh, but some elements were portraying a bleak picture of Sindh.
He said some hidden hands were hatching a conspiracy by misguiding the people of Lyari in order to turn them against the Pakistan Peoples Party government. “This house will not tolerate it and we will foil all such conspiracies. Lyari has been and will continue to be the stronghold of the PPP,” he remarked.
Boasting about the measures taken for the improvement in Lyari, the chief minister said that the government has spent around 2.3 billion rupees on different schemes for drinking water, roads, education and sports.
He referred to police operations carried out in other parts of Sindh to weed out dacoits. “Sukkur, Ghotki, Shikarpur, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Kashmore and Dadu have been cleared,” he said. “During the operation, 328 dacoits carrying reward money of Rs108.6 million have either been killed or arrested.”
“There have been ups and downs in Karachi, but despite problems, the government has succeeded in maintaining law and order situation through political will and with the support of coalition partners,” he added.
Giving a breakdown of the criminals arrested, he said that during 2010-2011 three suspects involved in targeted killings were gunned down and 303 were arrested. Claiming that the menace of extortion has also been controlled, he said that during 2010-2011, around 265 cases of bhatta collection were registered and 2003 accused were arrested.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2012.
COMMENTS (8)
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@ Jiyala
Jiyalas have right to defend the wrongdoings of his party. But please do not referrer to his written speech only, but look at his remarks during the speech. I was also watching his live speech. He repeatedly said "Not only we have contained the target killing , but there has been no incident over the months". What does this mean? Can Mr. Jiyala brief about it.
CM SINDH FAN CLUB. Don't know what to say !!!
This poor deluded gentleman needs to be sent on a long vacation so he can recuperate from his delusion that hes doing a great job and Sindh is safe for everyone. Please give the job to someone who actually has the strength and mental faculties to go find out what the truth is.
Hey everyone, Before you judge, have a look at his real speech for better perspective. We thank Mr. Tunio for changing the narrative to 'contained.' The earlier piece wrongly noted that killings have been 'overcome.' That wasn't what he was saying. His speech was more about what his government has achieved in the last 4 years, and what challenges it currently faces. You have every right to criticize and question. But before you do, we'd be thankful if you could read his entire speech: http://cmsindhfanclub.blogspot.com/2012/05/draft-speech-of-honorable-chiefminister.html.
Thanks a bunch!
Ignorance is bliss, more so if you are in the Government.
sir its not about CM house.. Its about the country of pakistan
The target killings have been controlled in Karachi? Good performance of elderly man (Syed Q A Shah) !. President Zardari will now be happy to see this report that no go areas in Sindh have been cleaned up.
All is well. Wha Saen Qaim Shah Sahib wah! people are being kidnapped and killed, but our government says every thing is good and has shut their eyes to have a look what is going on in Karachi and other districts of Sindh. Can anyone believe on this performance? I think NO. It is yet another joke with people