STATISTICS do not reveal the whole truth, especially if they relate to crime. State functionaries, especially the law-enforcement agencies, try to hide behind the numerical façade in order to project their strategy of combating organised crime as successful.

In the context of the ongoing Karachi operation, an attempt has been made by the law enforcers to project the killing of over 360 suspects in eight months as a success story. The release of partial and incomplete statistics indicates inadequate and flawed approaches to tackling violence in Karachi.

At a high-level meeting in Karachi sometime last month, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had declared that the operation in Karachi would go on and the administration would have ‘full powers’ to bring to book the terrorists. These ‘full powers’ are in clear display with the targeted operation, now in its ninth month, and law-enforcement agencies increasingly engaging the targeted criminals in deadly ‘encounters’. The legally adopted policy of ‘shoot to kill’ is being translated into action in what has been described as “one of the highest figures in the city’s shoot-out history” in the recent past.

The state machinery has fallen prey to the temptation of eliminating the criminal instead of the crime.

The state machinery in Karachi has fallen prey to the temptation of eliminating the criminals instead of the crime. Violence begets violence and since the time the operation began last September the Karachi police have paid the price in the loss of over 100 of their men. Police statistics reveal almost 1,300 ‘encounters’ leading to the arrest of some 1,000 suspects allegedly involved in heinous crimes and the killing of more than 250 ‘hardened criminals’.

This clear policy of ‘offence as the best defence’ has raised concerns about the brutal manner of dealing with the issue in the form of summary justice rather than following due process that the rule of law demands. Human rights activists are alarmed by the law enforcers’ release of such high figures. Has the government ordered mandatory judicial inquiries into the killing of the suspects so far?

The judiciary will be failing in its duty if due notice is not taken at the institutional level. The prime minister’s decision to form a committee to address grievances emerging from the operation can only backfire in view of the behaviour of the paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies.

Instead of giving ‘performance’ figures, it is more worthwhile to present statistics of the kind of violence we are embroiled in: sectarian killings; TTP-led terrorism attacks; kidnapping for ransom; extortion; commercial, residential and street robberies; vehicle-snatching; etc, comparing present figures with a corresponding period the previous year. Then we need an analysis of the category of criminals and their affiliations with proscribed militant groups, the militant wings of political parties, their previous record and the kind of patronage extended by those with clout.

A superficial approach to releasing crime data is part of a hackneyed police mentality that sweeps the crime under the carpet and eliminates the criminal to appease the politicians who want quick-fix solutions. It is the responsibility of the police command not to buckle under political pressure or employ ‘military’ means to eliminate adversaries.

The Karachi police was no doubt led by bold, professional officers whose primary concern was to raise the morale of a beleaguered force when a new team took command before the start of the operation last year. Their battle against the criminals is fought in the courts of law and not through military tactics. Fundamental rights do not lie suspended in Karachi. The police command must curb the trigger-happy tendencies of some cops. A patient, professional, mature and humane policing strategy will eventually pay dividends. Otherwise, we will see an increasing trend of militarisation in police ranks, with more and more soldiers inducted for short-term gains.

On the tactical level, the operation is being led through a triangular partnership of the Karachi police, the Rangers and a premier civilian intelligence agency of the federal government. The heavy tilt towards a civil armed force and a federal intelligence agency clearly indicates that the prime minister is the moving force behind this operation, though the provincial government is going along despite strong reservations by a coalition partner.

While the prime minister might have correctly pointed out that “a joint effort is the only solution to the problem”, his praise for the policy of acquiring services of retired army personnel for maintaining law and order in Karachi creates an impression that he too is tempted to adopt a military solution to a purely policing issue. After Gen Zia’s mass induction of military officers in the police services proved to be a catastrophe, the authorities should be advised to stay clear of militarising the police services.

Another decision to set up peace committees at the district and sub-division level comprising area people and the representatives of political parties may yet again prove counterproductive given the sordid history of such committees, many of which hindered rather than helped the police fight crime.

An independent and apolitical police commission comprising citizens of known integrity may prove more effective for the accountability, transparency and autonomy of the operation.

What the army chief had said last month in relation to the Karachi operation is poignant. He suggested that postings and transfers of police personnel be depoliticised and the police be equipped with modern equipment and resources. In fact, the real issue is political interference in postings and transfers of police officers, whether in Karachi or elsewhere.

The police cannot be an effective partner of the federal agencies if the provincial government is not sincerely on board. It is hoped that the military will share the resources and intelligence required for a concerted effort to defeat militancy, terrorism and organised crime not only in Karachi but all over Pakistan. But the question is whether the politicians will support politically neutral, operationally independent and highly accountable police services. Till then peace in Karachi will remain an elusive dream.

The writer is a retired police officer.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2014