Karachi violence suo motu: IG finally admits no-go areas exist

Supreme Court rejects claim that police have ‘cleared’ inaccessible localities, sticks to its one-week deadline.

KARACHI:

Seventeen months after his predecessors continuously denied the existence of no-go areas in Karachi, Sindh’s top cop admitted to the Supreme Court that there were indeed spots in the city policemen would rather not step into.

IG Shahid Nadeem Baloch admitted this in a report submitted on Friday to a five-member larger bench of the apex court hearing the Karachi law and order suo motu case at the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry. Headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the bench comprised Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan.

The IG’s report was based on affidavits of the city’s SHOs who labelled 27 localities as ‘partially no-go zones’ for them. The report also claimed that patches of eleven other partial no-go areas have been “cleared”.

The IG’s admission seemed to have taken the judges by surprise. “So, you’ve admitted the newspaper’s report is correct,” said Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, referring to the special report published by The Express Tribune on March 23. The report contained a map showing 13 complete no-go and 29 partial no-go zones. “Yes,” replied IG Baloch, trying to convince the bench that the police were striving to improve law and order in the city without being tethered by political influence.

But Justice Khawaja didn’t seem to be satisfied. “If the 13 complete and 29 partial no-go areas still exist in the city, the police and Rangers should say “hands up” over their failure.”

The judges also expressed concern over barriers erected in various localities and questioned why a large number of policemen were deputed to escort VIPs instead of serving citizens. The bench then rejected police chief’s claim that the parts of eleven partial no-go areas had been cleared. The judges also found SHOs’ affidavits unsatisfactory as they had focused on the lack of facilities instead of listing out which spots were troublesome for law enforcers. “We reject the reports,” said Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

The bench then ordered the IG to convene a meeting of the city’s SHOs, DSPs and SPs and explain the court’s orders to them, after which they would have to wipe out no-go areas. The bench asked the IG to file affidavits of SHOs, DSPs and SPs about the existence of no-go areas and action taken by them to eliminate them within three days.

The Rangers come next…

Shahid Anwar Bajwa, a private lawyer hired by the DG Rangers, submitted 117 reports about the Joint Investigation Team’s interrogation of suspects. Bajwa himself declared the reports as “cosmetic”, saying they lacked even the most basic information.  The judges said if a team comprising members of seven agencies - including the police and Rangers - fail to effectively interrogate cases, then the whole exercise was futile. “This means that there is complete failure,” said the bench, adding that an overhaul of the whole system is required, as both law enforcement agencies and the prosecution department were pointing fingers at each other instead of assisting the court.

Sectarian killings

The bench also directed the IG to a submit comprehensive report within three days regarding the killing of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) leaders and workers. The bench also asked the provincial government to file its comments explaining why compensation assured to family members of slain men had not been paid to the relatives of killed ASWJ members.

Arshad Pappu’s missing friend

The bench gave three days to DIG Shahid Hayat to investigate and submit a report about the whereabouts of Jumma Sher alias Shera Pathan, a friend of Arshad Pappu. Sher has been missing for many days and his family doesn’t know where he is or if he’s even alive. The bench then adjourned the proceedings till April 16.

 ‘We’ll bring honest officers from other provinces’

The five-member bench of the apex court said that if law enforcement agencies fail to clear no-go areas, the Supreme Court had other options such as calling honest officers from other provinces to improve the situation, as was done in Balochistan.

The bench said it would wait until the one week deadline given to the provincial chief secretary to eliminate Karachi’s no-go areas over. “We are waiting for one week. After this, we will pass effective order that will start right from the chief secretary,” said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Sindh IGP listed the following areas in his report:

‘Partial no-go’ zones:

Pakhtunabad

Sultanabad

Ittehad Town

New Mian Wali Colony

Machhar Colony

Sohrab Goth

Shanti Nagar

Dalmia

Qayyumabad

Afghan Basti

Kunwari Colony

Chhota Plaza

Super Market

Hijrat Colony

Memon Goth

Sharifabad

Kati Pahari

Quaidabad

Bilawal Shah Noorani Goth

Ilyas Goth

PIB Colony

Azizabad

Jamali Goth

Drigh Road

Khokhrapar

Mehran Town

Landhi

Zones cleared:

Chakiwara, Kalakot, Baghdadi, Kalri in Lyari

Shah Rasool Colony

Safoora Goth

Hazara Colony

Sherpao Basti

Chanesar Goth

Jackson/Docks

Shershah

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2013.