More of the same

With the targeted killing of one of Pakistan’s most loved qawwals, Amjad Sabri, the city of the Quaid is once again slowly descending into its usual chaotic self.

To be fair to the Rangers, in the past year through their operations and arrests, the crime graph in the city had gone down. But now, after months of relative calm, it seems that the city is again going back to its old ways.

In the brief interlude of peace that the city saw, there was hope that normalcy could be long term. Based on the optimism, real estate prices sky rocketed and business activity started humming in anticipation. Now again there is a lull.

Some predict a storm ahead. A leading anchor, known for his penchant for predictions – most of which are usually off the mark, has said that the city will face tough times ahead. People are fearful.

The police continues to remain clueless. Residents of the city seem fed up with this situation at a time when other cities are in a much better situation. Even Peshawar is picking up.

To vent their anger over the death of a colleague, leading artistes of the city led by activist-cum-artiste Fakhre Alam visited a local police station to register their protest.

In the case of the kidnapping of the son of the chief justice of the Sindh High Court, the police swung into action four hours after the kidnapping. Similarly, in the Amjad Sabri murder case, they have blindly picked up over a hundred people and have still not come up with any leads.

But the artistes were given no assurances. The police high command cannot even assure city residents that they will fight crime in the city.  What we see is that the police continues to protect VIPs. At least 10,000 policemen and over 300 police vehicles are being used to provide escort to different VIPs.

The chief minister remains unrepentant. His speech on the floor of the Sindh assembly was an embarrassment. Much of what is said did not make sense. He could not even remember the name of Amjad Sabri, let along speak about his murder.

He seemed to joke about the killings and also made light of the law and order situation in the city. Many now are demanding governor rule in the province given that the Sindh government now operates out of Dubai and has a chief minister who is absent for most part.

While the political government struggles to govern, the army chief has become a source of strength for the people of Karachi. General Raheel Sharif arrived in Karachi on Sunday to attend a detailed briefing session on the law and order situation in the metropolis. He then assured the people of the city that action would be taken to ensure that terrorists are not allowed to take a hold over the city. This is the most reassuring statement coming out in the week.

While our CM joked about the rising crime and terror in the city, our prime minister issued the regular condemnation while sitting it out in London. One wonders how our country can be run by such characters. This man has completed ten years as chief minister. There can be no bigger tragedy for Sindh.

It is time the PM returned to Pakistan. He cannot continue to govern by remote control. More headway needs to be made in the Panama papers issue. If the family has stashed away money for which they cannot account, they must be taken to task.

We also need more dynamic leadership in Sindh. We cannot continue to ignore Karachi. It is the commercial capital of the country and the largest city. What happens in Karachi reflects all over Pakistan. The law and order situation should improve. At the same time, the city’s crumbling infrastructure must be fixed. Its mayor should be allowed to take charge. The mayor also needs to be given the powers that mayors enjoy in all large cities across the world.

While the world moves ahead, Pakistan continues to slide backwards. Corruption, primarily by our elected representatives, eats away at whatever progress we make. It is easy for the leaders to complain that their hands are tied. But what we see is that they did not do even the little that they could.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2016.

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