MQM-P to resort to street agitation if street crime not addressed

With multiple fatalities reported in Karachi in street crime-related incidents, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Monday hinted that it may resort to street agitation if its concerns are not addressed over the worsening law-and-order situation in the metropolis.

Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, MQM-P leader Ali Khurshidi said: "We would raise our voice [on the issue] in the Sindh Assembly and in the National Assembly [...] and would protest on the streets if our concerns are not addressed."

Khurshidi's remarks come as multiple people have been killed in Karachi which has been gripped with a significant spike in street crimes in recent months.

Since January 1, at least 59 people have lost their lives while 200 were injured due to resisting robbery this year so far in the metropolis.

According to Geo News, as many as 6,780 crimes were committed in Karachi in the holy month of Ramadan alone in which 20 vehicles were snatched and more than 130 others stolen.

Moreover, 830 motorcycles were also snatched with 4,200 others stolen in the same month. Meanwhile, 19 people lost their lives in Ramadan while 55 were injured.

The two parties, both of whom are key allies of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) government in the Centre, have been engaged in a verbal spat in recent weeks over the issue of street crimes in the city.

Last month, Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar termed crime a "part of a daily life" saying that the issue of the law-and-order situation in Karachi was being "exaggerated".

The remarks drew ire from various sections of society and political parties, most notably the MQM-P which has even called for the country's financial hub to be handed over to the Pakistan Army for three months.

Flanked by Nasreen Jalil and others, Khurshidi lamented police's failure saying that no street in Karachi was safe.

Claiming that more than 1,000 mobile phones are snatched daily in Karachi, the member of the Sindh Assembly called out the Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial government for blaming the law-and-order situation on the caretaker government despite its 15-year rule in Sindh.

"Mobile phones worth more than Rs10 billion are snatched every year [...] If crimes are not stopped, then we [are forced to] question whether the criminals are being supported by the police.

"We have held two press conferences so that the government machinery may come into action [...] This is not a political issue, it is about people's lives," the MQM-P leader said.

Expressing her concerns over the city's deteriorating law-and-order situation, Jalil said that the metropolis has been "stormed" by criminals.

"We are tired of carrying dead bodies. It is not in our power to stop the anger of the people," she said.

"The government should announce compensation for those who have been killed in street crime-related incidents," she added.