After eight days
The over a week long Lyari operation underlines the lack of capacity on the part of the security agencies to bring organised crime under control within a short period particularly when it is mixed up with politics. Lyari being a traditional stronghold of PPP was once perceived as a safe constituency for Bilawal Bhutto. Till a year back, the People’s Amn Committee which is being targeted now was treated as a wing of the PPP. The ruling party defended it while the MQM accused it of being a terrorist-cum-extortionist outfit. On Thursday, the Sindh government asked those resisting the police and CID to lay down arms within the next 48 hours. Uzair Baloch, the current head of the banned PAC, has however offered to surrender himself to the Rangers indicating that he has little faith in the provincial government
There are questions related to the situation that need to be answered, foremost being the presence of heavy weapons in the area. Lyari is not in Waziristan. How come all this weaponry made its way to a thickly populated part of the largest city of the country? Was it due to the negligence of the agencies or connivance on the part of certain elements in the provincial government?
The gang war has taken a fairly large toll of lives. What is more, the police action has disturbed the life of over a million people, mostly factory workers and the poor and lower middle class. With power and gas cut off, life for the ordinary people has become exceptionally hard. Schools are closed and examinations have been put off. A number of innocent people are reported to have died or injured in the cross fire. Representatives of trading and industrialist communities have warned of serious consequences for the economy if the ongoing operation is further prolonged. There is an urgent need to bring the matter to an early conclusion. This has to be done with the minimum use of force. What has to be ensured is that the haste does not endanger the lives of the non combatants.
