KARACHI: On Friday morning, IBA Karachi hosted an interactive lecture series with the DG Rangers on law and order situation.
The Rangers representative started with sharing a brief introduction of the role and efforts of Rangers in the country. He explained that Karachi was the 6th most violent city in 2013 and the Supreme Court took a Suo Motu notice to start an operation with Rangers playing the lead role.
He highlighted the cases that Rangers deal with, which includes terrorism, target killing, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and assisting police in other crimes. They also conduct security rehearsals for universities, perform duties for foreign officials and make special arrangements for national and religious events. Their main aim is to create a secure environment free from political extremism, militant wings etc. and their endeavours have resulted in a 72 per cent decrease in terrorism in Karachi.
After the recitation of the holy Quran, Dr Huma Baqai (Associate professor, IBA) moderated the event and Major General Saeed (Director General Pakistan Rangers, Sindh) and Dr Farrukh Iqbal (Director, IBA) addressed.
DG Saeed compassionately addressed the students about the significance of Karachi and how they can be responsible citizens. He mentioned that Karachi has undergone many transitions since its inception. The population has increased from 5.5 lakhs to 17 million in last 70 years, which is a drastic change that no other city has seen.
He discussed an incident of recent target killing by highly educated individuals and explained that abject poverty and a wrong interpretation of religion are the main reasons behind such gruesome acts. It’s healthy to have a debate between liberal and religious groups, but sometimes the difference of opinion becomes violent leading to the creation of a polarised society that we’re currently struggling with.
He made the audience realise that it is not just the strong law and order that we need but a strong social contract between the citizens and state. The reason why people abroad have a strong civic sense is that early from their childhood they are told to behave in a certain way.
There were many pertinent questions asked by the students towards the end and DG Saeed gave quite detailed answers.
He said that the long-term solution to the problem of diverse societies lie in education and IBA Karachi will always play its due part in it.
Tokens of appreciation were exchanged between the dean and DG Saeed towards the end of the program.
