DRIFTING FROM DEATH TO LIFE!!

ALI SUKHANVER

It was really something very painful to watch on the TV screen, a very smart man of yesterday repenting over his cruelties and regretting his past and appealing for a little delay in execution on his death penalty. Was Solat Mirza a criminal by birth? Did his parents know at the time of his birth that one day their beloved son would be pushed behind the bars for his cruel activities; certainly not. The most important thing is to search for the forces and factors which compel a normal human being into an abnormal blood-thirsty character. These are the forces and factors which changed the whole face of a very peaceful and prosperous society of Karachi into a nightmare.

With a very attractive weather, so many places to visit, particular type of food and dishes, shopping malls, business arcades, sea-side and above all the people of Karachi with their particular lively temperaments, Karachi has ever been a magnet to the visitors. The most loving characteristic of this cheapest city of the world is that it never lets you die of hunger even if you don’t earn a lot. But in the last twenty years, things have changed a lot in Karachi. A strange cloud of fear has enwrapped the joy and happiness, comfort and ease, hospitality and friendliness of this marvelous city. The fear of unknown now does not let you feel convenient and comfortable when you are in Karachi. Street crimes, mobile phones snatching, bank robberies, kidnapping for ransom, targeted killings and above all the ‘bhatta’, all these things have joined hands together in making life painful in Karachi. Everyone knows from where do these criminals come and which are the forces behind these criminals but no one has courage to point out them. All details of these criminals are to the knowledge of the police but the police could do nothing to them because most of these criminals claim of being associated with some political party. And a very bitter truth is that these political parties never disown these criminals. In short the real ‘credit’ goes to the political parties who misguide and misuse the criminal-minded youngsters and with the help of these criminals, the militant wing of every political party is constituted.

This worsening law and order situation no doubt has caused a grave lot to the social and economic fiber of Karachi. Every day countless innocent people are being slaughtered, sometimes in the name of religion and sometimes on the basis of ethnic and racial differences. And unfortunately no authority seems willing to make the situation better. The local and the foreign investors are gradually flying to Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries where law and order situation is not like that of Karachi. As a result of this deteriorating law and order situation today Karachi is included in one of the ten most unsafe, insecure and violent cities of the world. According to a recent report of the Al-Jazeera TV, ‘Karachi is the most dangerous of the world’s mega-cities, with a murder rate of 12.3 per 100,000 residents. None of the world’s 13 largest cities come within 25% of Karachi’s exceptional murder rate. Amongst the political in-fighting and lawlessness, Karachi has become especially famous for its motorbike riding assassins, known as “target killers”. For $700-$1000, these target killers will assassinate police, protesters, businessmen, and political opponents.’

The Prime Minister of Pakistan is very well aware of the fact that Karachi has become a battle-field of personal interests of different political organizations and even the police has become a party to the situation, so he was left with only one solution; to ask the Armed forces to help the country come out of this painful scenario. In this context, the Rangers were deployed there to tackle with the situation. Since after their deployment, the Rangers have been doing all their best in co-ordination with the intelligence agencies. A few days back the Rangers raided the head-quarter of a very popular political party in Karachi and allegedly arrested some ‘most wanted’ type of criminals along with a lot of illegal ammunition. In reaction to this raid, the MQM Chief Mr. Altaf Hussain said talking to a news channel, “The have-beens of today in the paramilitary force will become the had-beens.” The Rangers took this statement of the MQM Chief as a direct insult rather a threat to the security agencies of Pakistan and filed a case against the MQM chief for threatening the Rangers in the Civil Lines Police Station Karachi. The case is in process; let us see what happens next. But one thing our political leaders must keep in mind that the basic duty and responsibility of the Armed Forces is to provide peace and security to the nation and keep a vigilant eye on the forces harmful to the country. It would be dishonesty on the part of the Armed Forces if they don’t perform this duty. They never have any political motives or personal intentions. In the wider national interest, our political leaders must be very much careful in their statements on the Armed Forces of Pakistan their irresponsible behaviour could prove a serious threat to Pakistan’s existence.