THE blood of the innocent continues to flow in Karachi, where the police and Rangers seem to be giving muggers, murderers and all manner of criminals in between a free run as they rob the citizenry of their life, limb and property. Last Thursday, just one day in the ongoing free-for-all, a young university student was shot dead, three others were physically injured and “hundreds, if not thousands of […] cell phones, cash and other valuables” were snatched or looted from the people of this blighted city. Stretch the timeline to two weeks, and one finds that 10 innocent people (and counting) had already been deprived of their lives halfway through December due to armed robberies, while more than a dozen had been wounded during incidents of violent crime. God knows how many valuables were looted and how many actually reported to the police in that same period.

The degradation of law and order in the city would perhaps sting less for its citizens if the police demonstrated even a modicum of responsibility and compassion. Yet, senior officers have recently mocked the citizenry for ‘overblowing’ their fears and dismissed concerns that things may be going from bad to worse in their city. The city’s thana culture is no different: callous disregard, disinterested faces, and a general unwillingness to help are a standard greeting whenever citizens approach their police stations for help. Little wonder, then, that the police continue to be viewed as the most corrupt institution in the country. Instead of earning our respect and admiration for doing a difficult and important job, police officers are viewed with distrust and contempt. The lack of faith in the police forces and the impunity with which criminals are operating is now pushing the frustrated citizenry to take extreme actions, even to take the law into their own hands. The police must take the city’s law and order back under their control before we reach a point where vigilantes start handing out ‘justice’ again.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2022