The minister’s proposal came after a PTI MPA from Sindh wrote to him highlighting Karachi’s lawlessness. This is an unimpressive solution and at best a stop-gap one. After all, the Rangers have been deployed in the city since the late 1980s, when ethnic and political violence resulted in a breakdown in law and order. Despite the force’s decades-long deployment, there has been no noticeable difference in Karachi’s crime rates, save for a few patches of calm. Moreover, this city in the past has also seen army deployment and curfews to control rioting and bloodshed. While the use of military and paramilitary forces may give temporary relief, these are not long-term solutions to control violent crime in the metropolis.
Only an effective police force can curb street crime and to make efforts towards this end Sindh’s police force must be revamped. Senior officers themselves have admitted to the presence of black sheep in the force.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid offered on Tuesday to deploy more Rangers paramilitary in Karachi to curb the rising incidents of street crime in the metropolis.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said: “If the Sindh government asks, we are ready to increase [the deployment of] our Rangers forces. We are even ready to deploy them at police stations.”
“If [Sindh] Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah asks us for any assistance, we are willing to provide it,” he added.
In response to a question, he further said the situation in Karachi was not good. The situation that I saw in Karachi yesterday cannot be expressed in words … It seems as if there is no law [and order] in Karachi and this could have adverse consequences.”
Rashid’s offer for increasing Rangers’ troops in Karachi comes after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MPA in the Sindh Assembly, Khurram Sher Zaman, wrote a letter to the interior minister, urging federal authorities to look into the important issue of rising street crime in Karachi and “take whatever appropriate measures are available to you as per the Constitution and law”.
In the letter, which he shared on his Twitter, Zaman cited data by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, highlighting that 80,661 incidents of street crimeware reported in Karachi in 2021, a surge of 27.2 percent from 2020.
“Predictably, the people of Karachi have lost confidence and hope in the Sindh government and Karachi police,” he wrote. “We are looking towards you, the prime minister and the federal government, for crucial help to improve the law-and-order situation in Karachi, as the prevailing law of the jungle is unacceptable.”
Over the past few days, there has been a surge in killings during armed robberies and other street crimes in the city, with growing complaints from all segments of society that have also called out the security administration and provincial government for its failure to curb such incidents.
Moreover, the force needs to be staffed with well-trained, dedicated, and honest police officers who have a passion for public service; unfortunately, so long as the police remain under political influence, such officers may not become a permanent feature of the force. To control the immediate severity of the street crime crisis, help can perhaps be taken from the Rangers. But in the long run, effective and sustainable policy reforms are the only solution to the problem.
