Malik comes to Karachi’s ‘rescue’ again

KARACHI: Temperatures rose in Karachi on Saturday as the death toll from the most recent spate of target killings in the metropolis crossed 30 in a five-day span. Even Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who is in Lahore, expressed the urgency of the matter.

In addition, as is almost customary now in the wake of such waves of violence, Interior Minister Rehman Malik rushed to the city to meet with different stakeholders and to try and calm the situation down between Pakistan Peoples Party’s coalition partners the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP).

The two parties hurled hard-worded accusations at each other once again, each charging the other with fanning the violence in the city, which further contributed to the already prevalent tension in the city.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has said that a judicial inquiry will be held to investigate the target killings that have taken place in the city from January 1, 2010 to date.

Speaking at a press conference at the Chief Minister House along with Malik, where he put the number of dead during this period at 136, Shah said  that the inquiry report is to be completed within 30 days. He promised stern action against whoever is found guilty.

“It has been reported that some terrorists come from abroad, and, after killing, they flee. It has been decided that targeted clean-up actions will be carried out in Karachi against criminals and gangsters across the board without any discrimination,” Shah said. Expanding on this point, the chief minister said that a committee consisting of the interior secretary, home secretary, director-general Rangers and inspector-general Sindh has been constituted to craft a plan of action.

Shah said that political groupings of the Sindh coalition have all been requested to support the government in this action.

“We have asked the committee to give an action plan on de-weaponising Karachi; and other provinces are also [going to be] asked to replicate the same,” the interior minister said. He said the deweaponisation drive would begin 15 days after the committee’s report.

Aside from the cooperation of political parties, the chief minister also called on citizens of the metropolis help bring the perpetrators to justice – announcing a cash reward for those willing to help. “Videos, SMSs from citizens that help identify any target killing [will] be rewarded with an amount of five million rupees. Their names will not be disclosed,” Shah said.

As a part of the effort to tackle the menace of target killing, and to involve the citizens, the chief minister also stressed the need to amend the relevant laws pertaining to evidence in instances of terror-related activities. A committee under the Sindh home secretary has been formed to revisit laws and give suggestions in this regard.

According to Shah, around 686 people have been killed from January 1 to July this year, out of which a total of 136 were cases of target killing. “Stern action will be ensured, be it whosoever,” warned Shah.

He also condemned the late Friday night attack on Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)’s unit office and said that reports by secret agencies and police suggested that some outside elements are involved in the effort to disturb the peace of Karachi.

The interior minister echoed this sentiment. He said that Friday night’s incident was not between the ANP and MQM, but was something more sinister – a part of a conspiracy to destabilise the country by creating sectarian, ethnic and other divides. Both appealed to the MQM and ANP to remain calm.

The interior minister, however, warned that action will be taken across the board, with no bias or preferences for anyone.  He appealed to the two parties to stop hurling accusations against one another.

He said that the government was now looking into comprehensive ways of tracking crime in the city and in the country. This effort will include the installation of CCTV cameras on every street and a data base of all weapons and criminals, as well as deweaponisation and a stricter procedure to obtain phone SIMs.

Malik said that the cellular companies had 15 days to update their data on their customers and SIM owners.

Malik further said that a proposal was being worked out with the help of China through which monitoring of vehicles will be easier with the introduction of smart chips on the registration plates of all vehicles.

OIn Saturday, Malik also held meetings with the Sindh governor, the director general of the paramilitary Rangers regarding the target killings. (With additional reporting from wires)

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2010.