Birds have flown

It is difficult to reconcile prime ministerial satisfaction at the progress of ‘The Operation’ in Karachi with the information that the majority of those, who were the potential targets of that operation, have flown the coop. Recent media reports say the DG Rangers, Major General Rizwan Akhtar, told the prime minister and the army chief, as well as a range of other powerful luminaries, that they were going to have to come up with another strategy if they were serious about ridding the city of the worst of its criminal elements. The criminals have their sources and were well aware of what was afoot. As a consequence, it is reported that many have fled to Dubai and South Africa to sit out the storm and await calmer weather. Others have moved to Sukkur, Hyderabad, Larkana and the more remote parts of Sindh.

Even if the criminal classes had been unaware of any operation prior to its announcement, the government and assorted agencies had as good as telegraphed their plans, including the intended target areas, days before any action took place. Maps had been published online, on air and in print, and all in all, every effort appears to have been made to allow robbers, thieves, murderers, kidnappers and extortionists to pack their bags, secure their properties and make an orderly exit before the Boys in Black came to kick the front door in. Against such a background, the average observer might rightly feel that the entire episode was little more than a piece of political theatre of a decidedly cosmetic nature that played well to the gallery but in reality, did nothing to upset the criminal status quo beyond netting a few sacrificial small fry. As all this argy-bargy was played out live on national TV, the eminent magazine Foreign Policy ran an article naming Karachi as the ‘most dangerous mega city in the world’ with a murder rate of 12.3 per 100,000 residents, which is 25 per cent higher than that of any other major city. The cancer eating Karachi requires more than an anodyne sticking-plaster, but surgical heroics do not seem to be on the agenda.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2013.

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