KARACHI:
Recently, we saw a week-long operation in Lyari and at the end of it all, we saw that it did not yield anything except loss of life and property. Footage on various local television channels showed men in civvies firing indiscriminately in a particular direction; in some instances, their faces were covered. What came to my mind was how could anyone tell whether these men were policemen or terrorists?
Fast forward to May 22, and the tragic attack on a rally held by the Awami Tehreek as it passed Napier Road. Here, too, television channels showed several men, all in civilian clothes, firing their weapons. Were these policemen, the attackers, or a third party? My question to the interior minister is, doesn’t the law currently prohibit the wearing of civilian clothes by any law-enforcement personnel using his official weapon? Is it not about time that the law passed by the government itself was implemented on its own police force?
M Rafique Zakaria
Published in The Express Tribune, May 24th, 2012.
