Karachi crime

What some had said was impossible has happened. Karachi, the most crime-afflicted city in the country, has attained far greater peace and calm. The World Crime Index for 2019 has stated that the city is now placed on 70th place on its list compared to 2014, when it was the 6th most dangerous city in the world. This will naturally come as a huge relief to the residents of Karachi, who had once lived in a city known for its lively social scene, nightlife and the blending of cultures from various ethnic and religious groups. Targeted killings, shootings, muggings, street crimes and other daily occurrences turned the country’s largest metropolis into a place of violence beginning in the early 1990s. At least 2,000 to 2,500 people lost their lives to violence in Karachi every year. A crackdown in 2014 by security personnel seems to have succeeded in improving safety in the city.

However, we should remember the improvements have come at a price, one example of which are encounter killings. The police encounter which killed Naqeebullah Mehsud in early 2018 was just one example. There have been others. In the long run, this will not help establish harmony in the country and in the city. It is imperative that the police and the public work together and trust in each other if the crime rate is to continue to fall and improvements sustained over the coming years. This is true for all the cities in the country. But it is especially true of Karachi, where the presence of politically supported gangs, multiple warring ethnic groups and mafias involved in extortion and drugs had led many to predict it was an impossible task to calm crime in Karachi. However, for real success to be recorded the people need to feel safer too. There are still doubts over whether this is currently the case given that police and other security personnel remain objects of fear for many. The relationship between law-abiding citizens and those intended to safeguard them has to change. This will require longer-term steps including police reform. We are delighted to see Karachi fall down the rankings of dangerous cities and finish at a far more acceptable position on the list than was previously the case. But other changes need to follow from this so that we can have a city that is for its residents a genuinely happy and genuinely safe place.