End the violence: ‘A peaceful Karachi is a priority’
The home minister said that he can restore peace in Karachi in a month.
KARACHI:
The new Sindh home minister, Manzoor Hussain Wasan, said that he needs one month to restore peace in Karachi. He asserted that the people responsible for destroying the peace of the city will be severely dealt with without any discrimination.
Wasan while addressing journalists at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday, said that he could not promise that the situation of the city will be under control in a day or a week because such an expectation is not realistic. “I have handled many important ministries and I know how to control them,” he confidently asserted. “I don’t have Alladin’s lamp which I could use to eradicate violence, but I do have the wand of love and I can bring peace with that.”
Wasan said that the people responsible for the violence were the political parties, land grabbers, extortionists and the Taliban. “Karachi is an important city for all the communities present in it. It is not just a mini-Pakistan, in fact it is the complete Pakistan. There is no concept of urban and rural areas in Sindh,” said Wasan.
Wasan said that the critical areas of Orangi Town and Pirabad were now peaceful while other areas where peace had been restored are again showing signs of violence, which implies that there are elements in the city inherently opposed to peace. “I have visited Lyari where a gang war was ongoing, and I assured the Katchi Rabita Committee activists that peace will be restored to Lyari,” said Wasan.
He said that the people of Karachi had demanded that the Frontier Corps (FC) be brought in to curb the violence of the city, and the FC will be sent back when the people want it to exit.
“Before I joined the home ministry, 77 people were killed within a few days in Karachi,” he explained. “The victims comprised Pakhtun, Sindhi, Baloch, Punjabi, Katchi and Urdu speaking people. If the media focuses on a single community, people will think that only that community is affected.”
Wasan asked everyone to cooperate with him to achieve this peace.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2011.
The new Sindh home minister, Manzoor Hussain Wasan, said that he needs one month to restore peace in Karachi. He asserted that the people responsible for destroying the peace of the city will be severely dealt with without any discrimination.
Wasan while addressing journalists at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday, said that he could not promise that the situation of the city will be under control in a day or a week because such an expectation is not realistic. “I have handled many important ministries and I know how to control them,” he confidently asserted. “I don’t have Alladin’s lamp which I could use to eradicate violence, but I do have the wand of love and I can bring peace with that.”
Wasan said that the people responsible for the violence were the political parties, land grabbers, extortionists and the Taliban. “Karachi is an important city for all the communities present in it. It is not just a mini-Pakistan, in fact it is the complete Pakistan. There is no concept of urban and rural areas in Sindh,” said Wasan.
Wasan said that the critical areas of Orangi Town and Pirabad were now peaceful while other areas where peace had been restored are again showing signs of violence, which implies that there are elements in the city inherently opposed to peace. “I have visited Lyari where a gang war was ongoing, and I assured the Katchi Rabita Committee activists that peace will be restored to Lyari,” said Wasan.
He said that the people of Karachi had demanded that the Frontier Corps (FC) be brought in to curb the violence of the city, and the FC will be sent back when the people want it to exit.
“Before I joined the home ministry, 77 people were killed within a few days in Karachi,” he explained. “The victims comprised Pakhtun, Sindhi, Baloch, Punjabi, Katchi and Urdu speaking people. If the media focuses on a single community, people will think that only that community is affected.”
Wasan asked everyone to cooperate with him to achieve this peace.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2011.