Fresh determination

The new army commander General Qamar Javed Bajwa is wasting no time putting his own stamp on the forces at his command. He paid a one-day visit to Karachi on 14^th December and called for no let-up in the ongoing operations against extortionists, target killers and other criminal elements in the city. There have been obvious gains since the Rangers began their hard-nosed push against those that had brought the security environment in the metropolis to a new low point. People do feel safer, but as general Bajwa pointed out the gains have to be consolidated, there must be no slippage and the operation is to continue until what he termed ‘sustainable peace’ was restored. The army, said he, was committed to the support of the civilian government in the operation to re-establish equilibrium.

The General’s visit coincided with the appointment of a new DG for Karachi Rangers who is unlikely to be donning the velvet gloves any time soon. We welcome the continuity of the hardline approach. The operation is complex in that it amounts to a low-intensity urban war, with many of those against whom the forces of law-and-order are pitted against hiding in plain view. Terrorist sleeper cells are only able to exist because they have sympathisers in the community. Sectarian groups thrive and carry out attacks for precisely the same reason. Plain old-fashioned criminals have in the past controlled large areas of the city — and their hold must be broken as well. They too have widespread support in some areas. Operations against all these elements are invariably intelligence driven but the actioning of intelligence is for the Rangers and the police (where possible, they are not always a reliable option) who carry out the targeted raids.

There is much to achieve if Karachi is ever to exploit its full potential. As evidenced by the recent past the civil power is not always equal to the task, nor indeed willing political considerations being to the fore. The military is. Thus it is that we would wish them and their new leader to proceed as per plan.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2016.

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