Pakistan: Karachi sees rise in street crime

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 25 (ANI): Pakistan’s Karachi ‘street crime epidemic’ is on the rise and various Ministers have given a variety of solutions to tackle this issue including posting Paramilitary Rangers at the city’s police stations.
The deployment of Paramilitary Rangers at the city’s police stations seems unimpressive as 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.
And even after this decades-long deployment, there has been no noticeable difference in Karachi’s crime rates. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, to reduce the crimes in the streets of Pakistan, suggested posting paramilitary Rangers at the city’s police stations.
This came at a time when the ruling Pakistani Party PTI MPA from Sindh wrote to him highlighting Karachi’s lawlessness. Moreover, Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Sindh province Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday blamed the country’s financial situation for the rise in street crimes in Karachi.
He said that the economic conditions in the country are the reason for the worsening crime situation in the city. He stressed that people, because of these conditions are “forced” to resort to such crimes, reported Dawn.
The Chief Minister further maintained that the worsening law and order situation was a problem afflicting most cities of the country and not limited to Karachi. He said that the only reason that Karachi received more attention was because it is a major city.
“One reason for the rise in street crime is absolutely clear that it is the [present] financial situation [of the country]. But no one is seeking excuses and despite this, the responsibility is ours and we will fulfil it,” reported the newspaper.
He also touched upon the recent harassment cases in Sindh’s educational institutions and stated that these cases are “unfortunate”.
Notably, Pakistan economic struggle has started to increase under Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) compounding with the increase in domestic inflation rates and external loan defaulting. Analysts admit that though Imran Khan inherited an economic mess and the COVID-19 pandemic has not helped but his policies have done little to change the state of affairs. (ANI)