A brewing extortion business. An established kidnapping-for-ransom industry. A criminalised and politicised police force. A protected cartel for bike and mobile phone snatching. A network of insiders and citizens involved in crime. A sold-out local media. An opportunistic, compromised and criminalised civil society. An apathetic judiciary. Insecure roads to travel on and towns to earn a secure livelihood in. A dominion of rowdy feudal and tribal warlords. A hotbed of tribal bloodletting and terrorism. A classical reinvention and practical realisation of George Orwell's Animal Farm. All of this is what the people of District Kashmore, Sindh, and its towns - Kashmore, Kandh Kot, Tangwani, Buxapur, Ghouspur and Karampur - have been forced to endure for over two and a half years now.
Today, the district, with a population of about 1.2 million, finds itself at the mercy of well-entrenched criminal networks. Propped up by the overt support of the state apparatus, including the police as well as political elites, tribal and feudal warlords, clergy, parasitic pirs, local media and self-styled civil society activists, these criminals have successfully enforced the interests of their patrons. Most social evils, including crimes, are overseen by them. This, thus, makes sense whey these criminals are patronised by political, religious and nationalistic leaders as well as so-called journalists.
Under the auspices of electables and LEAs, these groups sumptuously dine on the citizens' agony. If Nero famously played the flute while Rome burned, the beneficiaries of criminality bake their prey - peaceful citizens, including the Hindu business community - while fueling the fire of lawlessness for a lasting feast. Of all the ironies, the greatest is the confidence and impunity enjoyed by the notorious groups that operate against the citizens. Paradoxically, unlike the peaceful citizens of the district, none of the patrons or beneficiaries of criminality are ever affected by the lawlessness. None of them or their associates are kidnapped for ransom or have their businesses assaulted for extortion, etc - another self-explanatory reality. Instead, it is the peaceful citizens, the Hindu business community, the disadvantaged, and the labour class who frequently find themselves preyed upon by the protected felons.
Though, of late, there has been a temporary thaw, brokered by the appeasing LEAs, kidnapping for ransom and extortion are morphing into a profitable industry. Amidst all this, those who can afford to leave do so, albeit reluctantly, leaving behind many, waiting for their turn to be kidnapped, have their homes and livelihoods attacked, their belongings dispossessed, and their lives robbed.
Each day brings extortion notes and calls to members of the business community, especially Hindus, who are often threatened with dire consequence over non-compliance. Each day, bikes and mobile phones are snatched, homes are attacked by robbers, commuters are looted, and individuals are injured or killed on the roads. All this is happening to the citizens of Kashmore right under the nose of the police and other LEAs. This sponsorship and patronage of the offence economy has pushed the people of Kashmore into a vicious cycle of socio-economic, political and intellectual misery.
The incumbent officials of LEAs, much like their predecessors, have terribly failed to restore order in the district. Meanwhile, the promises made by the Inspector General of Police, assurances from local political leaders, the suo motu notices taken by the Sindh High Court, and peace movements from self-proclaimed civil society have only multiplied criminality, turning the district into the crime capital of the country. Due to this continued betrayal on the part of the authorities, the citizens have resigned themselves to their fate. Is anyone listening?
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