THE residents of Irfat Colony and parents of the students of municipal corporation middle school branch No 12 have expressed grave concern over the deteriorating condition of the school which lacks basic facilities like furniture and mats.

They demanded that all facilities should be provided to the students and teaching staff to help promote the cause of education.

Through memorandums addressed to the tehsil city Nazims and authorities of the education department, the residents pointed out that this school branch was set up by the defunct municipal corporation in 1962. Since then nobody has bothered to resolve the problems of the students and teaching staff.

The school has become a ‘ghost bungalow’ owing to continuous neglect by the defunct municipal corporation and the education department. The roofs of various classrooms have collapsed and the condition of the primary section has worsened.

About 150 children are compelled to sit under the open sky on the ground with their teachers because there are no mats and furniture for them.

The school administration was also very upset owing to these problems which have not been resolved since long despite repeated reminders to the high-ups of the education department. It is stated that for a teaching staff of five, there is only one chair.

They said that about 95 per cent population of this area consisting on labour and low-income groups was unable to get their children better education in private schools which charge heavy fee and other funds. As a result, their children have been deprived of better education because of the grave negligence of the departments concerned.

They pointed out that the school was running without electricity, drinking water and other facilities while the people of the area were using its premises for their own petty interests, and many of them tied their animals there after the closing hours.

The parents of the students expressed resentment against the education department that on one side the government was claiming to promote education by providing better facilities and funds, but on the other hand their children have been deprived of every facility and the doors of education were being closed for them.

It is stated that a portion of middle classes had been shifted to a newly-constructed building on a four kanal plot in People’s Colony. The residents of Irfat Colony have demanded that the tehsil city Nazim and the education department should resolve the problems of the students and teachers promptly. Otherwise the future of their children could be darkened.

WHATEVER the reasons, besides a fear of terrifying car-snatching and theft, there has been reported a steady decline in the number of new cars and motorcycles that have come on to the roads of Karachi since August this year.

The drop is very noticeable and this is what the facts speak.

In August, there were registered 1957 new four wheelers, in September the number was 1859, in October it went down to 1791, and this month, according to the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), the number is 587 upto 13th of November.

Think why?

And for two wheelers the figures are: August 1267, September 1107, October 1020 and for the first thirteen days of this month the number is 328!

From these figures one must underline the point that is being made. That there is an inhibition that is surfacing, when it comes to the question of buying new vehicles. And that new cars, and relatively new cars, and two wheelers can be snatched and stolen just about anywhere in the city, and at any time. That is what has been the experience in a city where security concerns are paramount.

And with Ramazan here, and with the night settling in much earlier, vulnerability to these thriving thieves and criminals increases.

Jamil Yusuf of the CPLC says that we should not lose sight of the fact that the month of Ramazan every year raises the number of car-snatching incidents and thefts, and it also increases the number of house burglaries, and dacoities. Especially at the time of Sehri and Iftar, when most family members are busy with other essentials and routine. Or when the men in the house go out for Taraveeh, or when there is a general feeling of relaxation after Iftar. So it is obvious that citizens should be cautious at this time of the year. Car snatching at about Iftar time, is likely, he warns.

One reflects on this theme of car snatching and theft with an extremely disturbing news report that appeared this week, revealing that “28 vehicles a day hijacked in October.” This was an increase in the percentage despite the fact that since September 11, the profile of the local law-enforcing agencies has been stepped up, and there are also more check- posts. There is an enhanced degree of patrolling and vigilance, generally speaking.

In the face of heightened security measures, if citizens find it hard to comprehend car-related crimes, it is understandable. Is it a failure of the law-enforcing agencies, despite the fact that earlier this year there was such a great deal of hope and expectation that there would be basic police reforms, and that their performance would improve.

The Dawn report also indicates a familiar practice - the reluctance of the police to register the First Information Report (FIR) and bear in mind that the new Sindh Police Chief issued fresh instruction to avoid delays in registering the first information report (FIR).

But why is there this high rate of car snatching and theft in the Sindh capital? The answer given is rather straight-forward and rather plausible. This huge city has the highest number of cars and new cars at that. It has the highest number of unemployed people, and they come from varied backgrounds. With the situation in Afghanistan taking a turn for the worse, in certain respects, it is now feared that many Afghans after crossing the border will enter the city, melt into the city’s pockets that will welcome them, and crime will possibly be their vocation.

But ask citizens, and they argue that if there was security on this count, and if the economic situation was to improve and move towards normalcy, there is every likelihood that there would be still more new cars. it is not only a status symbol, in some cases, but it is also an absolute necessity keeping in mind the unreliable and unaffordable (relatively) nature of public transport that exists. By the way, the benefits of slightly lowered petroleum prices have not been passed down to the citizen by public transport.

New cars. I have talked to many people who have in the last few years bought second hand cars, or two-wheelers, instead of new, and their explanation is this: a new car is an expensive proposition for the middle class, in view of the rising costs of living, but more due to the fear of losing the car to thieves.

It is argued, and with a fair amount of authenticity, that one can lose one’s car in the most protected of Karachi’s areas. For instance, on Dr Ziauddin Road near the location of the five star hotels, and the residences of the commissioner and the chief secretary.

Strange, but true. Ask those who work in and around the area. By the way, recent figures have indicated that Gulshane Iqbal is the place that has recorded the highest number of car crimes, and Ferozeabad police station being the number two. For two wheelers, Korangi was the worst with the highest number of snatching and theft, and the second worst was Joharabad in the Federal B Area.

And as one is on the statistical place today, it is relevant to record with some dismay that 3147 cars and 4074 bikes were hijacked in the first nine months of this year. About 25 cars vehicles a day on an average were hijacked/stolen in the city, in September this year, showing a 22.34 increase in the incidents of carjacking over the corresponding period last year.

Whither police efficiency? Now this context helps to insinuate that this kind of crime is an industry and that it is because it is possible to take vehicles from the Sindh capital to so many places in Balochistan and NWFP, besides the interior Sindh and Punjab, and get away with it. So much has been written on this theme, and so much exposure has taken place, that it seems that the society has accepted it as another harsh reality that has to be reconciled with.

But perhaps that will not happen and should not happen, one hopes. The rich may buy cars and lose them easily, and take it in the stride. Those who use company cars also do not feel the same way about cars as do for instance the middle class and families who manage to buy a new car after years of waiting, and sacrifice of other things in life.

I have them in mind in particular. It is their fear and hesitation of going in for a new car, that somehow symbolises the extended anxiety that goes hand in hand with the excitement that a new car brings to a family.