Karachi, Apr 9 (PTI) As the crime rate continues to soar in Pakistan’s financial hub Karachi, the opposition in the Sindh province has demanded the city administration be handed over to the Pakistan Army to bring under control rampant street crime in the country’s largest metropolis.
Leaders of the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) while assailing the Pakistan Peoples Party government in the province said the citizens of Karachi had been left at the mercy of street criminals and dacoits in the riverine areas of interior Sindh.
“I call for Karachi to be handed over to the Pakistan Army for three months so that this lawlessness and street crimes can be brought under control,” MQM convener Mustafa Kamal said during a press conference on Monday.
Official figures by the Karachi police show that 16,000 street crimes have been reported in the city this year.
What is more worrying is the increasing cases of street criminals killing any person trying to offer resistance to them during street crimes.
In March around 16 citizens were killed by street criminals and more than 50 this year.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has also noted with concern that the state of law and order in Karachi had “deteriorated alarmingly”.
Data presented before a high-level security meeting last week showed more than 250 Karachiites were shot dead and 1,052 others were wounded by street criminals between 2022 and March 28, 2024.
The HRCP pointed out that retaliatory vigilantism and increased brutality by citizens in response to the crime wave was “not the answer”, adding that the government’s failure to address rising crime levels was “shocking”.
On Saturday, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi ordered law enforcement agencies to launch a crackdown on criminals, their handlers and facilitators to curb street crime in Karachi and improve security in other parts of the province, particularly the riverine area.
The MQM (P) which won 28 seats in the Sindh Assembly and another 17 in the National Assembly from Karachi has also threatened to leave the coalition government at the centre. PTI CORR RUP RUP
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