If the issuance of arms licences is to go by, Hyderabad appears to be the most weaponised city of Sindh province.
Given the deep-rooted political divisions and the consequent volatility therein, this provincial capital Karachi, however, is perceived to be the metropolis with heaviest weaponisation figure. Most of the weapons in this violence-hit city, the analysts believe, were unlicensed thus illegal.
According to SM Iqbal, a spokesman of the Sindh home department, the provincial government had so far issued some 10,57,456 arms licenses to people from across Sindh. Most of the total licences issued, at least 3,76,401, were issued to the people of Hyderabad.
Karachi, where politically-motivated violence is order of the day, comes next with its paranoid residents having got at least 2,54,255 of their weapons licensed apparently for self-defence.
The people of Sukkur, which is regarded relatively a peaceful city, stand at number three by obtaining some 1,50,923 arms licences from the home department. Saturday’s cold-blooded murder of JUI-F leader Dr Khalid Mahmood Soomro in Sukkur would add further fuel to the fire and render the citizens more concerned about their safety.
Official figures put Larkana at fourth position in terms of arms licences. The home department has licensed 1,50,553 weapons in the political stronghold of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Mirpurkhas is the division where 1,24,771 weapons were allowed to be carried by the license holders.
However, wherever violence, specially targeted killings, goes rampant in this volatile city, the PPP-led Sindh government comes under fire for its failure to control legal and illegal arms, through re-validation and computerisation of licences.
The move received a cold shoulder even from those possessing manual licences, when the home department, on October 1 last year, started computerising and/or re-validating arms licences issued in the province.
The drive was commenced in pursuance of the directives of Supreme Court of Pakistan, said home department spokesman Iqbal aiming to “establish proper computerised database to deter illegal arms proliferation and monitor the arms stock in the province.”
Leaving no stone unturned to make the exercise a success story, the department has set up special desks of NADRA at the DC offices to enable masses get their arms licenses computerised thus re-validated. With Home Secretary Dr Niaz Ali Abbasi ordering to expedite the process, the NADRA officials have printed at least 3,539 arm license books to be dispatched to deputy commissioners’ for the collection of licensees.
NADRA has printed 1,414 books for Karachi, 1,087 for Hyderabad, 286 for Mirpurkhas, 261 for Sukkur and 491 for Larkana. But, public response, official figure suggest, remained lukewarm.
Of the total over 1.57 million manual arms licenses issued, the home department spokesman said, only 40 per cent turned up to give their arms validity. Most non-responsive were the weapon holders from Karachi where only 75,940 or 29.9 percent licensees applied for the re-validation.
The compliance numbers for Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana and Mirpurkhas, respectively stood at 153,537 or 40.8 per cent, 71582 or 47.5 per cent, 70515 or 46.9 per cent and 52856 or 42.4 per cent.
“The total number of forms submitted by manual arms license holders for computerisation are 4,24,430,” a meeting held recently at home department was told.
Chaired by the secretary home, the meeting was informed that the re-validation deadline was twice extended: From Jan 1 to Feb 15 and then from May 1 to Oct 31. The provincial authorities, however, seem not to have disappointed by the people’s poor response and have set May 19 next year.