Nobody will be allowed to create wave of fear in Karachi, says CM

Says govt committed to purging city of outlaws; DG Rangers says his force working hard to make operation successful

Karachi 

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the implementation of ther National Action Plan (NAP) and the restoration of law and order are his top priorities, and indiscriminate action against criminals and terrorists must therefore be continued. 

“We are committed to purging this city of terrorists and criminals,” he said while talking to Director General Sindh Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar, who called on him at the Chief Minister House on Saturday.

Major General Akbar briefed the chief minister on the overall law and order situation in the city, particularly the ongoing targeted operation, saying that the intelligence-based operation had produced tangible results and peace had restored in the city.

Shah said that the hard work of law enforcement agencies, the political will of his government, collective wisdom of all the political forces and strong support of the citizens of Karachi were the main contributing factors that restored peace in the city. 

“Now, the big challenge is to sustain the peace in the city for which everyone has to work hard and support the government,” he said and added he would be working for the best law and order in the city for brining in foreign investment and flourishing industrial activities. “We would also encourage art, craft and literary activities in the city,” he said.

The chief minister said that he would not allow anybody to create unrest, harassment and wave of fear in the city. 

“Enough is enough. I am committed to the people of this city and will provide them a congenial atmosphere in which they can enjoy their life, focus on the education of their children and improve their livelihood,” he said. 

“Oh yes, now I have started giving special attention to the street crime for which I am listening to some complaints from general public.”

The chief minister said that there was a dire need for focusing on educational institutions, particularly the universities so that the educational atmosphere could be developed there. “My agenda is the agenda of the people of Karachi. I am one of them and I am sure they would not only support me but extend a helping hand in implementing my agenda of best law and order, good education and best health services,” he said. The DG Rangers said that his force was working hard to make the targeted operation successful.

Speaking at a hotel in ‘Breakfast with Jang’ on August 25, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had disclosed that he rejected the proposal sent to him by the Election Commission of Pakistan through the chief secretary to postpone the mayoral elections in the city scheduled for Wednesday following violent incidents in Karachi on August 22.

“You should appreciate that after all this happened on 22nd, I received my first phone call on the morning of 23rd from the chief secretary of Sindh who was in Islamabad for a meeting. He informed me that the election commission had asked for postponement of (mayoral) elections. But I responded that in no way could the elections be postponed at this stage as I wanted business as usual,” he said while speaking as the guest speaker in the programme with theme of “The new vision of Sindh”. 

 Speaking of the jailed mayor of Karachi, Waseem Akhtar, he recalled criminal and civil cases had been instituted against him (Shah) when he had become a member of the assembly. He said he had to face a similar situation on becoming a politician.

The chief minister said that he would face the due process of law in court if similar things had taken place against him in the present day. But in no way political persecution of any person should take place, he said.

He said after the violence and mayhem of August 22 had taken place in Karachi, everybody had become fearful that the city would be completely shut down the very next day with recurrence of more violent incidents as had happened several times during the past.

“I had talked to concerned security agencies who assured me that no incident of snatching vehicles for setting them on fire would take place in the city the next day. I also requested the media that it should play down any isolated incident of violence happening here and there in the city on the night of 22nd and the next day so as not to spread panic among concerned people”.

Regarding the targeted operation continuing in Karachi with special delegation of policing powers to the Sindh Rangers, the CM said the achievement in the real sense would be on the day when police and civil administration would be strengthened and empowered to take leading positions in conducting the operation.

He said that just the other day he had signed a summary for installing modern CCTV cameras for doing electronic surveillance in the city at a cost of Rs10 billion over the next three years. He said that these 10,000 cameras would be installed at 2,000 troubled spots in the city, which had been identified for recurring incidents of street crimes and other lawlessness.

To a question, he said the Police Order 2002 as adopted during the era of a military ruler had been drafted in a manner helpful for the authorities for establishing a “Police-like state” in the country. On the other hand, he said the Police Act of 1861 also required improvements to bring reforms in the working of police to make it effective and people friendly.