KARACHI: An increase in the number of encounters that left more than a dozen suspected militants and hit men dead in recent days has caused many people to wonder about the aggressive policy of the law-enforcement agencies, drawing allegations from political parties and questions by rights activists who worry about the loss of moral authority by those at the helm of the Karachi operation.

Apart from the encounters, recovery of bullet-riddled and tortured bodies of ‘missing activists’ of different parties and other individuals emerges as a mystery which has yet to be resolved as both the police and Rangers deny their involvement amid serious allegations by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) endorsed by rights bodies.

Only on Monday, the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat alleged that the death of a 70-year-old cleric in Korangi was an extrajudicial killing – just a day after the Rangers claimed to have killed five suspected militants in two encounters in different areas of the city on Sunday.

On Monday a spokesman for the Sindh Rangers said the two suspected militants allegedly involved in the vehicle bomb attack on a police van outside the Razzaqabad police training centre, that killed 13 commandos and wounded over 50 others, were shot dead in an encounter during an ‘intelligence-driven raid on their hideout’.

“The extrajudicial murder of 70-year-old Sheikh-ul-Hadees Maulana Noor-ul-Baseer is such a shameful act,” said Orangzeb Farooqi of the ASWJ in a statement. “The operation, terrorism and extrajudicial killings cannot go side by side. If the security administration and the government do not pay heed to this issue, a sustainable peace of Karachi can never become a reality.”

The recent killing of suspected militants in Rangers encounters has brought the toll to seven in two days with already complaints from the MQM, having the second biggest mandate in the province and the biggest in Karachi. The MQM has made serious allegations against the ‘Karachi operation’ and that, too, by its top leadership in London, which saw the entire exercise ethnically-motivated.

“The targeted operation, which has been launched in Karachi for the elimination of criminal elements operation in the city, has been diverted to the MQM, as the operation of June 19, 1992 launched by General Asif, which was actually launched to eliminate dacoits, patharidars and criminals involved in kidnapping for ransom,” said MQM chief Altaf Hussain in a recent statement.

“MQM workers and Mohajir supporters are primary targets of state repression. Rangers and police pick up workers of the Pakistan’s People Party and Awami National Party. They are not tortured in detention. None of them have become victim of enforced disappearances and killed extra-judicially.”

The ‘Karachi operation’ came as a ‘move in the right direction’ for rights activists when announced by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in September 2013, but after months of the police and Rangers raids with a surge in violence and complaints against the law-enforcement agencies they do not see the desired results achievable anytime soon.

“Definitely extrajudicial killings are going on — there is no doubt about it,” said Zohra Yusuf of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). “But it’s also needed to consider that police and Rangers are attacked frequently and in this situation the courts have the responsibility to play their role. But one can never justify extrajudicial killing of any suspect or criminal instead of his arrest and prosecution.”

She also referred to a ‘number of complaints received’ by the HRCP from families of the MQM workers who went missing and a few of them were later found shot dead in different parts of the city. She recalled the promise of the prime minister while announcing the ‘Karachi operation’ of setting up ‘monitoring committees’ to keep a watchful eye on the operation in the interest of transparency.

“Amid these complaints and allegations, I think these committees are crucial,” said Ms Yusuf. “With this trend, one cannot expect desired results. With growing complaints against them, the law-enforcement agencies would ultimately lose the moral authority."