STREET crime in Karachi has reached an unprecedented and frightening level. For that reason, the sense of insecurity among its 10 million plus citizens has never been more acute. Even a cursory look at the happenings of the last few days in the nation’s biggest city and commercial and industrial hub is enough to send shivers down the spine. On Thursday, robbers shot dead two persons, one of them a lady doctor, who attempted to resist criminals trying to rob her in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, an area that till midnight bustles with shoppers. The other one was murdered in Landhi by bandits who were after his cash as he came out of a bank. A day earlier, four women legislators of the Sindh Assembly were robbed in the Tin Hatti area, and the same day a journalist went missing. On Monday, a policeman and an alleged informer were shot dead in Malir, while the same day bandits killed two men in the Site area when they resisted the snatching of their cell phones. The real dimensions of the crime scene are apparent from two reports in Dawn. One said that criminals deprived people of 750 vehicles and 4,000 cell phones in 20 days (Sept 1-20), while the other report says there were seven robberies every hour in July and August.

Are the high-ups, moving around in bullet-proof cars and protected by armed escorts in a dozen security vans, aware of this nightmarish crime situation? Of course, they will point out that urban crime is a worldwide phenomenon. It may even be claimed that the situation in some cities — Rio de Janeiro is often mentioned — is worse than that in Karachi. But there are certain factors peculiar to the Pakistani situation. Somehow there is an impression among the people that all the security agencies, armed with the latest techniques of crime detection and the most modern gadgetry, are there — not for the protection of the people but for fighting the war on terror and against perceived anti-state elements. Every now and then, TV shots show huge caches of arms seized in Balochistan or the tribal areas, but will there ever be the satisfaction of seeing such scenes about Karachi, given the fact that arms are as freely available here as in the tribal belt and Dera Bugti? Why can’t the free flow of arms to Karachi and the sale of guns in the city be stopped? Buying a gun here is like buying a packet of cigarettes.

The security agencies ought to know all about how the powerful mafia runs the lucrative gun trade. In fact, certain localities — Sohrab Goth, for one — are known to be a haven for the gun mafia and it seems to enjoy an inexplicable immunity. This has given rise to apprehensions in some quarters that sections of the law enforcement agencies are hand in glove with criminal elements and that a successful war on crime will not be possible without an overhaul of the existing police set-up. We also hear a lot about the official claim that poverty is going down. Yet, regrettably, going by the rising rate of crime in Karachi, the claim seems hardly convincing. All this notwithstanding, the rulers should know that the first responsibility of any government is the protection of the life, liberty and property of its citizens. From this point of view, this government has hardly any achievement to claim.

however, murder, assualt and harrasment cannot be condoned, regardless of whether it is inflicted on the victim or the perpertrator. the only logical thing to do at this point is hold the government accountable…but wait, how do we do that?