LAHORE, Nov 12: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan has condemned the deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi which, he says, has not been controlled over the past few months.

“Law-enforcement agencies have failed to prevent violence and damage to both public and private property in Karachi as a constant wave of violence there has disrupted routine economic activity,” he said in a statement here on Monday.

Those responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in the city were not qualified to be in the government for leaving the nation at the mercy of terrorism, he said.

“The present rulers have to answer for the killing of innocent people,” he said.

The PTI leader regretted that law-enforcement agencies had failed to nab even a single criminal as the Rangers were deployed in the port city some 18 years ago to maintain law and order, but the situation was becoming critical by the day.

Seeking role of the Karachiites in restoring peace, Imran asked them to remain calm as acts of violence would only cause further damage to the public and was not a solution to the underlined problem.

He said the PTI stood for peaceful political coexistence of all political and democratic stakeholders in the country and appealed to different parties to shun politics of violence and maintain the balance of peace and harmony in the city.

The government departments concerned needed to start taking action for curbing lawlessness in Karachi, he demanded, seeking measures for safety and security of the people.

PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the worst situation of Karachi had damaged the economy a lot.

He said the situation of Karachi, Quetta and other cities needed immediate intervention otherwise, he cautioned, the people would have no option but to protest on the streets.

Highlighting the discontent even among the ruling coalition partners on the way the situation was being handled, he said MQM Chief Altaf Husain was demanding resignation from the government on failing law and order.