Incidents of target killings in Karachi has come to a complete halt ever since the Rangers’ raid on Nine Zero, claim police and Rangers sources and confirm independent and informed observers. These sources said that extortion (Bhatha) in the city has also reduced drastically while street crimes also saw a steep decline amid reports that the Rangers’ raid on Nine Zero has sent a strong message to the criminal elements and mafia. The Nine Zero raid and the arrest of convicted murderers and alleged target killers, he said, has actually conveyed to all and sundry the seriousness of the Karachi operation against criminals irrespective of their party affiliations and without any fear and favour.
A senior Rangers official told this correspondent on Thursday evening that the Nine-Zero raid had extraordinary impact on checking crimes in Karachi. It is said that owing to this situation, the Karachi’ites in general are quite happy. Inspector General Police Karachi Ghulam Jamali when approached agreed that the Rangers’ raid had tremendous impact on checking crimes in the city. He, however, pointed out that the recent performance of police, Rangers and other agencies had already almost eliminated serious crimes like target killings, kidnapping for ransom, terrorism and robberies both in Karachi and in other parts of the province. However Some troubling reports have come out about police officers killing innocent people under the guise of cleaning up Karachi. There are witness accounts of police officers extorting bribes from people by giving them a gruelling choice: pay up or be killed. There are also allegations that those who have sought to file lawsuits against officers for injustices done to their families have been forced to drop their cases. Former SSP Rao Anwar has said, “This is a state of war…There are always grey areas in such matters.” Another argument that the authorities use to justify the Karachi operation is that the judicial system has failed to keep criminals and terrorists off the streets. The failings of the judicial system are not an excuse to appoint the security forces as the ultimate arbiters of the law in criminal cases. The solution is to redress and reform the judicial system at every level, both to keep crime in check and to hold corrupt police officers accountable. Any Pakistani citizen, who is made a victim of undue police brutality or harassment, does not stand a chance of receiving justice and protection from the courts or the state. There is absolutely no accountability of the police in Pakistan and the ongoing operation in Karachi has only added to their trigger-happy tendencies. A senior police official has commented: “There are some cases of mischief by individual officers.” However, the track record shows that these are not isolated incidents. The argument that all wrongful killings are only undertaken by a few rogue officers is flawed. There is a culture of corruption and brutality in Pakistan’s police, which has festered for so long because of a lack of accountability. The reports from Karachi are undermining the credibility of Pakistan’s democratically elected government in the eyes of the world. All extrajudicial killings must be recorded and reported for review to maintain the transparency of the Karachi operation. In the long term, Pakistan must have a mechanism of accountability for the police to prevent the killing of innocent people from going unnoticed and unpunished.
pk.shafaqna.com
