An ill-considered move

Taking guns out of hands of extortionists would be a more viable policy than putting them into the hands of traders.

In response to the violence that engulfs Karachi from time to time, the police and politicians have tried to come up with solutions, each more outrageous than the other. We have had curfews, the Rangers being given extraordinary powers, extrajudicial killings and even proposals to send the army in. A perennial favourite has been telling the police to shoot on sight any troublemakers that it comes across. This proposal has now been revived but comes with an added, even more dangerous, twist. The police have told traders that they can shoot anyone who tries to extort money from them in self-defence. This is exactly the kind of solution that seems tailor-made to not be a solution at all but may actually make the problem worse.

For one, the police have not explained if the burden of proof will lie on the traders who shoot first and ask questions later. It is also not clear if the traders can only shoot after their would-be extortionists have threatened them with violence or if merely being approached is cause enough to kill. Some would say that this is an attempt on the part of the police to abdicate its duty. It is the police’s job to tackle and arrest extortionists; this job cannot be left to the traders. The reason behind having a large police force is that ordinary citizens are not equipped to deal with such threats to their livelihood.

The appropriate response here would have been to get more guns off the street, not encourage people to make use of them at every opportunity. True progress takes time, so rather than taking half-baked measures like allowing traders to fight back, the police should be working towards deweaponsing the city. True, this would take a commitment by reluctant politicians who also rely on the power of the gun to exert their influence, but the police could begin by launching a drive against illegal arms. The last thing Karachi needs is more guns. Taking guns out of the hands of extortionists would be a far more viable policy than putting them into the hands of traders.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2012.