Right time, wrong moves
Not much will change. After an operation of sorts, the situation will go back to square one.
The writer is Editor of The Express Tribune
The announcement by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to set up a new force to fight terrorism and crime in Karachi comes at a time when the best way to move forward would be to strengthen the city’s police force. Demoralised and politicised, the Karachi police can do wonders if given the right direction and adequate funding.
But that is not to be and yet another layer is being added to the city’s multilayered security apparatus. While one can appreciate the PM’s desire to fix things in Karachi, what is clear is that his advisers are telling him the wrong things. Possibly, they themselves do not have on-ground knowledge. In Karachi, a time-tested rule of thumb has been the more the law enforcers, the more the crime.
Coming back to the decisions by the PM, there was some rejoicing amongst officers in the Sindh police over the appointment of Zulfiqar Cheema as Sindh’s new police chief. But this was premature because our provincial government would have nothing to do with it. The PM had to take back his decision, blaming the media for prematurely announcing the move.
If one looks at the present situation, the crux of the problem is two-fold. First, is the government really interested in fixing Karachi’s law and order situation? And second, will any arrangement be workable? There are different stakeholders in the province. The centre and these parties are pursuing opposite agendas.
Let us give credit where it is due. The federal government has a genuine desire to fix things. It is not a stakeholder in all the mafias that operate here. It benefits from things getting better. The Sindh government, on the other hand, does not seem that serious about law and order.
If the provincial government had its way, things would continue the way they are. Fighting crime and terrorism is not a priority for the Sindh government as we have seen in the past five years. Their focus is more on generating excuses to hire more policemen, so poor law and order suits them.
Much cannot be achieved with the route that our PM has chosen. While he has been sensible enough to insist that the attempts to fix the law and order situation in the city is not an operation, entrusting this to the Rangers is a bad idea. The Rangers are now an economic stakeholder in Karachi, running marriage halls and poultry farms. Despite the fact that they eat away a large chunk of the city’s law and order budget, they have little to show for it. And they are an outside force comprising almost entirely of non-locals. Different agendas are being pursued.
The second question: can we come to a working arrangement for addressing the city’s law and order situation? Possibly. But on ground, it seems unlikely.
The federal government cannot bypass the Sindh government as it moves ahead in the initiative to fix the city. But should it wait for a stamp of approval from an administration that is happy with how things are? The press conference by senior Sindh police officials in which they insisted that all is well at a time that the PM was in the city to look at deteriorating law and order was a message to Islamabad.
That is why, what we see now is that the Rangers seem to be the compromise for both sides. Syed Qaim Ali Shah is willing to give the Rangers powers that put them on a par with the police. But such a move will create more problems than it will solve.
Not much will change. After an operation of sorts, the situation will go back to square one. The biggest losers in this will be the people of Karachi who are looking towards their prime minister for help.
And despite all his well-meaning efforts, he is not able to rise to the challenge. What is frightening is that some say that this effort by the PM may well be the last chance to save the Quaid’s city as it slips into anarchy. If Mian Sahab fails to bring sanity, the mafias will take over whatever is left of the state in this city.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 9th, 2013.
But that is not to be and yet another layer is being added to the city’s multilayered security apparatus. While one can appreciate the PM’s desire to fix things in Karachi, what is clear is that his advisers are telling him the wrong things. Possibly, they themselves do not have on-ground knowledge. In Karachi, a time-tested rule of thumb has been the more the law enforcers, the more the crime.
Coming back to the decisions by the PM, there was some rejoicing amongst officers in the Sindh police over the appointment of Zulfiqar Cheema as Sindh’s new police chief. But this was premature because our provincial government would have nothing to do with it. The PM had to take back his decision, blaming the media for prematurely announcing the move.
If one looks at the present situation, the crux of the problem is two-fold. First, is the government really interested in fixing Karachi’s law and order situation? And second, will any arrangement be workable? There are different stakeholders in the province. The centre and these parties are pursuing opposite agendas.
Let us give credit where it is due. The federal government has a genuine desire to fix things. It is not a stakeholder in all the mafias that operate here. It benefits from things getting better. The Sindh government, on the other hand, does not seem that serious about law and order.
If the provincial government had its way, things would continue the way they are. Fighting crime and terrorism is not a priority for the Sindh government as we have seen in the past five years. Their focus is more on generating excuses to hire more policemen, so poor law and order suits them.
Much cannot be achieved with the route that our PM has chosen. While he has been sensible enough to insist that the attempts to fix the law and order situation in the city is not an operation, entrusting this to the Rangers is a bad idea. The Rangers are now an economic stakeholder in Karachi, running marriage halls and poultry farms. Despite the fact that they eat away a large chunk of the city’s law and order budget, they have little to show for it. And they are an outside force comprising almost entirely of non-locals. Different agendas are being pursued.
The second question: can we come to a working arrangement for addressing the city’s law and order situation? Possibly. But on ground, it seems unlikely.
The federal government cannot bypass the Sindh government as it moves ahead in the initiative to fix the city. But should it wait for a stamp of approval from an administration that is happy with how things are? The press conference by senior Sindh police officials in which they insisted that all is well at a time that the PM was in the city to look at deteriorating law and order was a message to Islamabad.
That is why, what we see now is that the Rangers seem to be the compromise for both sides. Syed Qaim Ali Shah is willing to give the Rangers powers that put them on a par with the police. But such a move will create more problems than it will solve.
Not much will change. After an operation of sorts, the situation will go back to square one. The biggest losers in this will be the people of Karachi who are looking towards their prime minister for help.
And despite all his well-meaning efforts, he is not able to rise to the challenge. What is frightening is that some say that this effort by the PM may well be the last chance to save the Quaid’s city as it slips into anarchy. If Mian Sahab fails to bring sanity, the mafias will take over whatever is left of the state in this city.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 9th, 2013.