Though some of the readers may disagree to the title of my letter but this is the popular view on ground of most citizens who are educated and earning handsomely in Karachi. The statistics also reveal that of the world’s 13 largest cities, Karachi is the most dangerous having the highest homicide rate in the world. There is hardly any crime that is not prevalent in Karachi. Extortion, kidnapping for ransom, robberies, thefts, sectarian and ethnic killings, land grabbing, bomb blasts and what not, all sort of crimes are rampant in Karachi today, making it the most dangerous city to reside. Those having the resources to move out of country and city are doing so and that too at a rapid pace.
Justice Khilji Arif while hearing the case pertaining to the implementation of the court’s orders in the verdict given last year after the Supreme Court took suo motu of the violence and unrest in the city rightly pointed out that 90 percent of the people living in Karachi are now victims of psychological stress. No one can imagine the psychological trauma that citizens go through daily because of the law and order situation. Parents are worried till, their children who are out of home for educational or job related activities are back home safe and sound. People prefer staying indoors to avoid any untoward incident. The businesses are suffering severely and no one at the helm of affairs is willing to pay heed as the entire city has descended into a state of fear.
Severe concerns have been raised times and again from all quarters whether it being the civil society, political parties, businessmen, supreme court or the press about the aggravated law and order situation of Karachi. The government of Sindh has miserably failed to fulfill their constitutional obligation to guarantee the security of life and property of the citizens of Karachi.
The solutions and steps to improve the situation of Karachi are brought out in the newspaper and the media over and over again but no one is willing to fix the problem. The law enforcement agencies whether it is the police, rangers or the army, have turned a blind eye over the state of affairs in Karachi which is indeed quite appalling and incomprehensible.
Keeping in view of the prevailing circumstances the maximum I can do is hope and pray that the city, once known as the city of lights, regains its lost peace and prosperity.
MUHAMMED ZAFIR ZIA
Karachi