LARKANA/KARACHI: A complete shutterdown strike was observed in Qambar on Thursday over police inaction amid deteriorating law and order situation in the town.

A large number of people had taken out a rally in the town a day earlier over failure of the area police to arrest the killers of a man, Zeshan Jattak, who was murdered on January 22. They held a demonstration on Thursday after suspending their routine business, trade and commercial activities to voice their concern over increasing lawlessness in and around the town.

Raising slogans against police, they marched along the main roads before reaching Bhutto Chowk to hold a demonstration and sit-in.

Vehicular traffic on several roads remained suspended during the course of the protest.

Addressing the protesters, Mohammed Ali Hakro, Mohammed Jan Brohi, Ali Mohammed Khoso, Syed Zulfikar Shah, Saddam Gopang and others severely criticised police’s lethargy, saying that they had failed to track down the killers of Zeeshan Jattak even after the passage of 36 days. They alleged that instead of focusing on maintaining order in the district, police were busy pleasing the influential. They said that robberies and mugging had become the order of the day in the town which had severely disturbed the population. They also flayed the elected representatives’ indifference attitude towards the issue and lamented that they had forgotten their electorates in their constituencies after winning their election.

They said that under a conspiracy, on the one hand, canals were being constructed while, on the other, people had been left at the mercy of criminals. They also expressed their serious concern over people’s easy access to narcotics in the town.

The leaders called for immediate arrest of Jattak’s killers and effective measures to restore peace in the town.

Protest camp in Karachi

A three-day protest camp, which culminated in a rally on Thursday, highlighted the growing concern over government’s inaction regarding the unbridled incidents of extortion, kidnapping and robbery in Kandhkot-Kashmore district and neighbouring areas of upper Sindh.

The protest was organised by the ‘Progressive Alliance for Peace in Kashmore’ and attended by civil society activists, traders and residents who traveled from Kandhkot-Kashmore to set up the camp outside the Karachi Press Club.

The protesters demanded immediate intervention by law enforcers to dismantle the criminal networks in the region.

The objective to set up the camp was to draw government’s attention to the deteriorating law and order situation and the increasing influence of criminal gangs in the region.

The participants accused authorities of failing to curb the escalating crime wave, which they claimed had become a daily occurrence in the areas mentioned. They argued that the worsening security situation had forced many residents, particularly the traders, to abandon their homes and businesses.

They alleged that criminals operated with impunity while law enforcement agencies failed to take decisive action. Many families, they said, had relocated to other cities, such as Karachi and Sukkur, in search of safety and stability.

“The situation has become unbearable. Traders are being extorted, people are being kidnapped, and robberies are rampant, yet the government remains silent. How long can we live under the shadow of fear?” said Imdad Khoso, a council member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and one of the protest organisers.

A key concern raised during the demonstration was the increasing use of modern weaponry and firepower by criminal groups. The protesters also questioned how the dacoits in the region had managed to acquire advanced weaponry.

The protest camp received support from leaders of various political parties, civil society groups and bar associations, who visited it to express solidarity with the demonstrators and support their demands.

Prominent figures among them were Asad Iqbal Butt and Qazi Khizer from the HRCP, Asadullah Bhutto and Muhammad Yousaf from Jamaat-i-Islami, Amir Nawaz Waraich and Nazim Mahesar from the Karachi Bar Association, Saeed Baloch from the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Jagdesh Aaojha and Zuriyat Bijarani from the Sindh United Party, Dr Suresh Talrija, head of Hindu Panchayat Ghouspur, and Hameed Khoso and Sarmad Samejo from the Awami Workers Party.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2025