De-weaponisation gone wrong: Police call for illegal weapons but don’t know what to do with them
Home dept adviser insists they have issued notifications to every police station.
A policeman holds the Belgian Brownin Shotgun that a man tried to surrender at Gizri police station. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
KARACHI:
The police have published ads asking people to give up illegal weapons but its officers have yet to learn the procedure for when someone actually comes in to surrender.
“Why you have brought this weapon to the police station?” asked the head muharar of Gizri police station Muhammad Sarfaraz, who writes down FIRs at the station. The Express Tribune accompanied a man as he went to the police station to hand over his 60-year-old family gun on Tuesday.
“I want to submit it,” the man replied.
“Do you have licence?” the police official asked rudely.
“No, I used to have one but I misplaced it.”
“You’ll be arrested then.”
This was not the response the middle-aged man was expecting since he had followed the police department’s official advertisement in all newspapers and decided to surrender a family gun that he no longer felt the need for. When the policeman was informed about the ongoing drive against illegal weapons, he expressed his ignorance.
He kept asking the man to renew his licence even though the latter insisted that he wished to surrender the weapon. After several minutes of such suggestions, the policeman gave up and asked the man to go home with his gun. “We will call you,” the muharar said. “We cannot accept the weapon yet as we don’t know the process,” said another official Rana Zulfiqar Ali.
Admitting that the law enforcers were unaware of the ongoing drive to collect illegal weapons, the officers at Gizri said their lower level employees are not too aware. “We learn through the media if such a drive is even launched.”
The Sindh government launched its Weapons Free Karachi campaign from October 1 and it will go on till October 12. According to newspaper advertisements, people have been requested to surrender illegal weapons at the office of the deputy commissioner, the assistant commissioner or the local police station. If a person gives up their weapon voluntarily, they will be exempted from any legal action or prosecution. After the deadline, a person found in possession of an illegal weapon will be punished.
The adviser to the home department, Sharfuddin Memon, was surprised to learn about the ignorance of the police officials at Gizri police station. “We have issued notices to all police stations informing them of the drive,” he told The Express Tribune. “If a policeman refused to accept an illegal weapon, then it was wrong of him.”
Losing faith
After Tuesday’s unsuccessful visit to the police station, the man who wanted to surrender his gun lost faith. “How do you expect a common man to voluntarily submit his illegal weapon?” he wondered. People will be scared to walk into a station with an illegal weapon if such an attitude prevails, he said.
According to the resident, the law itself discriminates between the poor and the rich. “The rich are able to obtain licences while the poor are left struggling,” he said. “There should be uniformity. No one should be allowed to obtain a licence anymore.” He suggested everyone in the city surrender their weapons so the entire city is made arms-free.
The man’s Belgium made Brownin Shotgun was purchased by his father-in-law around 60 years ago. “I don’t want to pass it on to my children,” he explained. “There are many things to give them and weapons are not one of them. Anyone can kill me anywhere and this gun won’t protect me.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2013.
The police have published ads asking people to give up illegal weapons but its officers have yet to learn the procedure for when someone actually comes in to surrender.
“Why you have brought this weapon to the police station?” asked the head muharar of Gizri police station Muhammad Sarfaraz, who writes down FIRs at the station. The Express Tribune accompanied a man as he went to the police station to hand over his 60-year-old family gun on Tuesday.
“I want to submit it,” the man replied.
“Do you have licence?” the police official asked rudely.
“No, I used to have one but I misplaced it.”
“You’ll be arrested then.”
This was not the response the middle-aged man was expecting since he had followed the police department’s official advertisement in all newspapers and decided to surrender a family gun that he no longer felt the need for. When the policeman was informed about the ongoing drive against illegal weapons, he expressed his ignorance.
He kept asking the man to renew his licence even though the latter insisted that he wished to surrender the weapon. After several minutes of such suggestions, the policeman gave up and asked the man to go home with his gun. “We will call you,” the muharar said. “We cannot accept the weapon yet as we don’t know the process,” said another official Rana Zulfiqar Ali.
Admitting that the law enforcers were unaware of the ongoing drive to collect illegal weapons, the officers at Gizri said their lower level employees are not too aware. “We learn through the media if such a drive is even launched.”
The Sindh government launched its Weapons Free Karachi campaign from October 1 and it will go on till October 12. According to newspaper advertisements, people have been requested to surrender illegal weapons at the office of the deputy commissioner, the assistant commissioner or the local police station. If a person gives up their weapon voluntarily, they will be exempted from any legal action or prosecution. After the deadline, a person found in possession of an illegal weapon will be punished.
The adviser to the home department, Sharfuddin Memon, was surprised to learn about the ignorance of the police officials at Gizri police station. “We have issued notices to all police stations informing them of the drive,” he told The Express Tribune. “If a policeman refused to accept an illegal weapon, then it was wrong of him.”
Losing faith
After Tuesday’s unsuccessful visit to the police station, the man who wanted to surrender his gun lost faith. “How do you expect a common man to voluntarily submit his illegal weapon?” he wondered. People will be scared to walk into a station with an illegal weapon if such an attitude prevails, he said.
According to the resident, the law itself discriminates between the poor and the rich. “The rich are able to obtain licences while the poor are left struggling,” he said. “There should be uniformity. No one should be allowed to obtain a licence anymore.” He suggested everyone in the city surrender their weapons so the entire city is made arms-free.
The man’s Belgium made Brownin Shotgun was purchased by his father-in-law around 60 years ago. “I don’t want to pass it on to my children,” he explained. “There are many things to give them and weapons are not one of them. Anyone can kill me anywhere and this gun won’t protect me.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2013.