Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani will chair a meeting of the Sindh Cabinet on Monday (today) to review the situation in Karachi, in which the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP), the leading coalition partners of the government in Sindh, refused to participate, a private TV channel reported on Sunday.
The prime minister will visit Karachi today to hold meetings with the Sindh government on the state of law and order in the city. Gilani was supposed to leave for Karachi on Sunday but his visit was postponed because of bad weather. Meanwhile, a high-level meeting chaired jointly by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah decided on Sunday that there was no need to call in the army in Karachi and the situation would be handled through political strategy by using the civil administration.
The meeting expressed concern over increasing incidents of kidnapping for ransom in the embattled city and decided to take immediate action to retrieve the hostages. The meeting also decided that Pakistan Rangers and police would be given authority to take action indiscriminately, and any miscreants arrested on charges of targeted killing and extortion would be brought on television.
The meeting also decided that hearings would be held in anti-terrorism courts on a daily basis against miscreants, and the implementation of penalties would be ensured. Governor Ebad questioned why the people had been forced to look to institutions other than the police to bring peace to the provincial capital. Chief Minister Shah ordered the law enforcement agencies to launch a crackdown on miscreants enjoying any political patronage. He also said positive talks were underway with the MQM and efforts were in progress to bring the ANP to the negotiating table.
To a question, Shah said the armed forces were already engaged in fulfilling their responsibilities and it would not be fit to call them to Karachi. “The armed forces are our prestigious institution and are already heavily burdened with so many responsibilities,” he added. Political leaders, top security officials and the top brass of the departments concerned attended the meeting. Separately, four different cases were registered against the 21 men accused of attacking a bus carrying police officials in Karachi, while violence continued to plague the city.
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