Rising street crimes

Letter January 29, 2020
The government should take serious steps to control these crimes, like ensuring education to the poor class

KARACHI: Street crimes are rising and rising in Pakistan — even taking place in braod daylight. There is an atmosphere of insecurity and fear, especially in the city of Karachi, where mobile phones, wallets, motorbikes and cars are snatched at gunpoint. No one’s life and property is safe nowadays. The police, on the other hand, take no action against these thieves. Instead, there are signs that the police are hand in glove with these criminals. Police patronage of the criminals in our country is not a revelation.

Major causes of the rising street crimes in the country are unemployment, illiteracy and poverty, but there are some other factors like lawlessness, fundamentalism and backwardness that are contributing to the criminal practice.

There had been a bit of reduction in street crimes in Karachi in the wake of the Rangers-led oppression against criminals, but the menace has reared its ugly head once again, and with even greater force.

The government should take serious steps to control these crimes, like ensuring education to the poor class in particular, and creating employment opportunities. The police, in particular, should play a more coordinated role to nip this evil in the bud. They need to be seriously alert in safeguarding the lives and properties of the citizens.

Samra Shamshad

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2020.

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