New challenges for Karachi operation

One of the most high-profile kidnappings since the "Karachi operation" was launched, none other than the son of the chief justice of the Sindh High Court, and a new wave of terrorism has once again brought the law and order situation back to square one.

It happened at a time when already questions were being raised about the politicization of the operation after the video leaks of MQM and PPP suspects. Is the kidnapping of the CJ's son a clear message from the terror networks, that they are still active and their network is intact.

Do we have an answer and is it not the time for a major review of the weaknesses of the operation? Yes, it has a lot of success stories as well but the fact is that in the last fewyears, billions of rupees were released for improving law and order, but we failed to institutionalize things essential for permanent peace.

It’s a major incident since an attack on Justice Baqar few years back. But as always happened after initial "reactions", no major steps were taken. At present, there are some 136 Rangers personnel deployed for the security of judges, but their families have not been given any security. Only recently Sindh High Court Justice Amir Hani Muslim had raised the issue of judges’ security.

There has already been a "red alert" in the city since 1st Ramadan. So if such a high-profile kidnapping takes place and that too in the broad daylight, it exposes all claims. We may see the possible fallout of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb in Pakistan's economic hub. The abduction of the son of the SHC chief justice from a crowded place and the failure to recover him even after 48 hours also indicate the presence of "sleeper cells" of local and global terror networks. Will Karachi continue to suffer and are we ready for this crucial battle? Perhaps, not. In a city where a police officer of the IG rank faced most serious charges of corruption and some ministers and advisers are on the "wanted list," how can we get positive results? Sindh, particularly Karachi, is ungovernable and can't be managed because of deep-rooted political and administrative problems.

There are contradictory reports whether Shah has been dumped in the province or has been taken outside Sindh, but, in both cases, the tall claims of vigilance have been exposed. In the last few months, one has noticed that the operational authorities were focused more on releasing JIT’s findings or the videos of suspects linked with the PPP and the MQM than concentrating on investigations and prosecutions. As a result, the operation started getting politicized, which perhaps allowed space to more organised terror networks to revive their activities.

Background interviews with high officials, some of them engaged in this investigation, revealed that it could be the outcome of some cases referred to military courts. As soon as the suspects were shifted to jail, they re-established their contacts.

"There could be some other possibilities as well, but recently we increased the security of the Bohri community after the murder of two of its members last week, " said a high official, adding that they had received threat from an outlawed gang that if anything happened to the suspects facing trials in military courts, they would target the community.

Another incident which may not be linked with the recent kidnapping but had alarmed the police and Rangers was the killing of a doctor in his clinic in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. This is the first killing of a doctor in almost a year. Now the question arises whether he was killed because of his religious belief or by the gang of four, whose two members had recently been released from jail. They have allegedly been involved in doctors’ killings in the past. From the first of Ramadan till this day, there had been incidents of 10 target-killings.

The third option is about the gang which had recently kidnapped a boy from Defence Society, but this incident was linked to kidnapping for ransom. The authorities are also looking at the list of kidnappers, target-killers and members of outlawed groups, who had either been released on bail or got acquittal because of poor prosecution and investigation. They have regrouped and resumed their criminal activities. The police and Rangers have put the number of such suspects at over 1,200. Some of them were re-arrested in different cases but were bailed again and again.

Jails have become "safe havens" for the militants who re-established their networks and started operating from there. Many calls had been intercepted of most high-profile terrorists after they were sent into judicial custody.

Officials admitted that the groups which once again have resurfaced include an outlawed group which has alleged links with the RAW. Thus, it’s quite clear that Karachi can come under attack as the fallout of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb and the measures which the army has taken at the Afghan border. The activities of groups like Jamaat Al-harar, Daish and Taliban had been monitored in Karachi and some of their members were also arrested prior to this kidnapping.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah could be criticized for poor governance and not taking appropriate steps in his eight-year government from 2008 to 2016. He still has two more years. He had twice warned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the apex committee about the possible fallout if IDPs were allowed into Sindh. This he said in the context that after the Swat operation, many terrorists who had been arrested belonged to the TTP Swat chapter.

In another alarming situation which an intelligence report recently revealed to the Sindh government is a rapid increase in the construction of illegal madrasas by some "unknown people". Even the CM told me that he had asked the administration to look into this matter as the figure had almost reached 2,000.

It was in 2011 when for the first time, the Supreme Court of Pakistan took notice of massive rise in target-killing, kidnapping and extortion cases in the city in which not only fingers were pointed towards outlawed groups but also towards the alleged militant wings of political parties. The intelligence report revealed that MQM, PPP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Awami National Party, Sunni Tehreek and others were involved in these incidents.

These parties denied the report, but when finally the Karachi operation was launched in mid-2013, the MQM became its prime target among the political parties while the Lyari gang war resulted in discomfort among PPP circles as well.

In three years, it had been claimed that the Rangers and police had arrested some 16,000 people, but most of them were released after initial questioning. Some 6,000 were, later, shortlisted. Hundreds had been killed in "encounters" mostly by one police officer, Rao Anwar, who now enjoyed the reputation of "encounter expert". These encounters had hardly been questioned.

The operation started well after both the PM and the army chief gave their consent to an across-the-board action. For the first time since the Rangers were called in Sindh in 1989, they got powers under the Anti-Terrorism Act and later after the 21st Amendment the powers to detain suspects for 90 days.

Karachi is still a safe haven for many groups as there are over 6,000 Katchi Abadis where terrorists often take shelters. Even in posh localities, there are places where they can hide. Remember, some terrorists in Karachi had been arrested from ‘safe’ localities.

The operation also lost its direction because it could not focus on issues which had been worked out in the very first meeting. (1) Registration of cars and motorcycles (2) It had also been decided that no vehicle with tainted glasses would be allowed and no one would be allowed to carry private guards and if they do it, they would not be allowed to display arms (3) A seven-member committee would be formed to monitor the operation. Even Interior Minister Ch Nisar had also announced it but after opposition from the Sindh government, the plan was dropped.

Sindh has been facing turmoil despite having two longest-serving "executives" – the chief minister and the governor (though the latter was more powerful under the Musharraf government). Unfortunately, despite continuity in the system, they failed to even make the police more professional and non-political.

Even one institution which had been evolved in the first PPP government, the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee, a brainchild of former governor retired justice Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, has also been politicized and lost its confidence.

So, it’s time to revisit the Karachi operation at the highest level. In many ways, this operation is more difficult than those launched in Swat or North Waziristan as it has its own political manifestation. The government incompetence is one grey area, but if one has incompetent, corrupt and politicized police, it is far more challenging to counter highly-trained and well-equipped terror networks.

In the last three operations, the authorities had opened too many fronts and weak investigation, poor prosecution and lack of evidence provided relief to suspects. Can they change the strategy now, as it is now or never. 

The writer is a senior columnist and analyst of the Geo News, The News and daily Jang.