Be it the era of targeted killings in Karachi or the period where terrorist incidents would regularly make headlines in the city or the current situation of lockdown imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the frontline heroes of the Sindh police, especially Karachi police, have performed their duties while risking their lives.
However, this new challenge of pandemic is something totally different for the police, which they had never experienced before. In contrast to the previous challenging times, the antagonist this time is a microorganism and the job is not to catch it or kill it but to stay away from it and let others stay away from it, something which the police force is not accustomed to.
“We have never faced such difficulties even when there was a wave of terrorism or targeted killings of our Jawans [soldiers],” says a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) who wished not to be named. “Several of my fellows have lost their lives due to terrorism and target killings in the past but this time, the scenario is totally different.”
“We have fought with major terrorist groups and traced and killed their key commanders but we seem to be helpless in the battle against a virus which we cannot see,” he explained.
Cops can be seen performing duties round the clock on the street and arteries of Karachi to combat the novel coronavirus. They are indeed facing resistance but this time is the general public which has started to offer resistance to them in an unprecedented manner.
“We are facing pressure from different sides. Firsly, the citizens are hating us as we are stopping them from going out. Secondly, our seniors are repeatedly directing us to enforce the lockdown and thirdly, we are afraid of the virus ourselves as we have to deal with so many people, being on the front line, and when we go to our homes, we face pressure from our families,” says another officer who also requested anonymity.
“But no one is trying to understand that we are also human beings and the virus is also infecting us and we also have families. At the same time, we have to protect citizens, ourselves and our families.
After some cops were found to be infected with COVID-19, the police force has also started screening of their personnel.
Recently, blood samples of 250 police officers and personnel deputed in the city’s District South were collected for testing of various infectious diseases. This was the second phase of the clinical testing and screening of the police force in collaboration with Dr Farhan Essa and Murad Soni.
Untoward incidents
The lockdown also resulted in several untoward incidents, in one of which a women lost her life after being hit by a stray bullet fired by a cop to disperse some people who had entered into a fight during the distribution of rations.
Twenty-five-year-old Saba Noman was living a happy married life. She had stopped leaving the house since the local spread of coronavirus was reported and would spend all her time within the walls of her apartment as she did not want to take the risk of catching the virus by going out. On the night of April 14, she was standing in her balcony to feel some fresh air but suddenly fell there screaming.
The family rushed to her help to the balcony where they saw her lying in a pool of blood. She had been hit by a stray bullet that was fired by cops who were trying to disperse a crowd nearby that had become riotous during the distribution of rations in Nishter Basti of the PIB Colony area. She could not survive the bullet.
Her family laments that like many people Saba had apprehension about her life due to the coronavirus pandemic but the virus took her life indirectly as the bullet which caused her death had been fired to control a situation that had arisen due to the virus. “We would definitely say that she died of corona because the fight over rations occurred due to the crisis caused by corona,” said one of her relatives.
Saba has not been the only indirect victim of COVID-19 in the city as another man, Javed Jan, 35, lost his life in Surjani Town in the aftermath of a brawl over the distribution of rations by a welfare trust. He was allegedly targeted by his rivals a day after the brawl. His brother and two neighbours were also wounded.
It is a matter of concern that political rivalries have not subsided even in these moments of emergency. Many clashes over distribution of rations were caused as local workers of some parties did not want others to reap the political benefits of distribution of food items.
In a clash that took place in the Baloch Colony area, the two groups did not belong to different political parties. They were rather two factions of the same political party. A young man was stabbed and injured during the clash. With each passing day, the situation in Karachi has been worsening as the economic effects of the lockdown and uncertainty continues to stoke up aggressive behaviour.
On multiple Fridays since the lockdown was imposed, clashes between worshippers insisting on offering the Juma prayers at mosques and police trying to stop them made the headlines. This also indicates that a large number of people are not willing to obey the lockdown orders.
Meanwhile, it becomes difficult for the cops to handle such people as the police high-ups have repeatedly directed them not to treat people violating lockdown orders as criminals.