December 5, 2013
By Saeed Qureshi
Evidently somehow the ongoing anti-terrorism blitz launched
post haste by the incumbent PMLN regime in tandem with the Sindh government is
falling apart. There is a renewed surge in target killings, street crimes and
extortion calls carrying death warnings for un-obliging parties or individuals.
This latest turn of events is extremely ominous and a testimony
to the sway and tenacity of killer gangs and rampaging mafias in the largest
city of Pakistan which is not only a leading industrial and business metropolis
but also a port.
It also seems that barring a brief interregnum, the outlaws
and bloodletting thugs have realigned themselves with a renewed vigor to defy
the state writ. During the month of November alone reportedly around 200
citizens, have lost their lives. The situation is appalling and egregiously
fearsome and proves how well entrenched the enemies of public peace are.
What new strategy the government and law-enforcement
agencies are going to unfurl is yet to be seen but this rampant evil of
gangsterism and bulging terrorism has to be stamped out, no matter how high the
cost is. The resurgence of the murderers and abductors for ransom is a daunting
challenge to the honor, credibility and competence of the incumbent regimes
both at the center and in Sindh province.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has taken a serious note of the
latest reemergence of the criminal gangs and ruffians. Hopefully the flaws that
exist in the ongoing anti-crime efforts in Karachi would be straightened to
make the drive foolproof and decidedly result-oriented. But it surmises that
the judicial paradigm of dispensing justice to the law breakers is not only
slow, time consuming but also ineffective.
According to the press reports, some ten thousands criminals
of all hues have been captured and out of that huge number, only a few dozen
have been produced before the courts. If that is the pace of dealing with
monsters then there is no hope for the law to prevail in the foreseeable
future.
The law in Pakistan is subservient to the whims of the roguish elements
and cutthroat powerful individuals. It can be easily subverted and manipulated
and thus the innocents are punished and the convicts and culprits are released.
It is therefore, indispensable that the special or summary anti-terrorism
courts should be established to deal with a turmoil that is assuming horrendous
proportions and that has robbed the people and more specifically the business community
of their peace of mind. Karachi is in flames of lawlessness where heinous gangsters
stalk, shoot, rape, loot and kidnap the people at will.
These courts should
be established through a special presidential order or by the approval of the
parliament whichever modes meet the urgency of the deteriorating situation. The
rangers and the regular police are doing their utmost to clear Karachi of the
callous criminals, religious rivals, bounty hunters sectarian bloodhounds, the
money grabbers.
But apparently it is like a wild goose chase circus that is
confined to catching the outlaws and then confine them to the precincts of jails.
These beasts deserve to be placed in front of firing squads and dispatched to
hell. The courts should consist of the legal professional from Rangers, the military
personnel and civilian law experts.
The proceeding should take place within the prisons or away
on an island near the coast of Karachi so that there is no obstruction or
intrusion from the counterparts of these wicked people who can be freed as has
happened quite a few times.
Or else Karachi should be handed over to army with a
mandate. The army is in a much assured position to eliminate the mafias and
gangs that have turned Karachi into one of the most perilous and unsafe cities.
The criminal gangs and individuals who are aligned to any political party must
be dealt with unforgiving yardstick and their mentors at the higher level
should be also reprimanded and awarded condign sentences.
The writer is a senior journalist, former
editor of Diplomatic Times and a former diplomat. His blog is www.uprightopinion.com
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