Going by the figures of the arrested law-breakers, occasionally released by the law-enforcement agencies, Karachi should be as calm and tranquil as it used to be before the mid-eighties, but it is not - definitely not. On Monday, as the Sindh Rangers were earning the Army Chief General Kayani's kudos for their splendid work of restoring peace to the metropolis the target killers were out on their killing spree. Of the five persons they killed two were prominent doctors, apparently all on sectarian grounds. Another young man was gunned down in Mobina Town along with the Zuljanah. Then there was the targeted killing of an MQM worker, and yet one more was done to death in part of the city for unknown reasons. That was the killers' one-day work, a day not very different from the day before, for the menace of violence refuses to go away even when the so-called 'targeted operation' is nearly getting two months old. The following day, as many as 13 people were killed. The motives behind six killings were clearly sectarian. It is not that the law-enforcers were not on duty all these days. According to the statistics released by the Sindh Rangers on the day the chief visited them, 699 suspects including alleged terrorists, target killers, extortionists and other criminals were arrested in about 650 raids. Of the arrested 95 were target killers, how many others of that genre are still out on the streets nothing can be said. Over the weekend Lyari rattled with gunfire for most of the day, quickening the pace of the hapless residents as they trooped off their homes - for the send time in as many months. How many more criminals are in the field there can be no figure. But they remain in business even when the law-enforcement personnel have been equipped with better weapons and more powers, particularly in the wake of Protection of Pakistan Ordinance 2013. If the Sindh Rangers were enthusiastic about their achievements for the West Zone police also Monday was the day to showcase their victories over the crime mafias. It claimed to have arrested 184 suspects, including target killers involved in 30 targeted killings. For a layman it is next to impossible to verify the authenticity of these claims. But one is reminded of a dialogue the wartime British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had with the in-charge commander of London's air defence. At a meeting soon after a German air attack the commander claimed inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. "If that is so the Germans will not come again; otherwise they would be here tomorrow", dryly quipped Sir Winston. Here too, we are not greatly impressed by the big figures, what we know is that the law-breakers remain undefeated. Granted there was a brief lull soon after the launch of the targeted operation, but all that it was supposed to curb and control is happening once again with equal ferocity. Short of some absolute steps like curfew or martial law nothing has been spared to equip the law-enforcement forces with adequate legal and executive powers. But there is no relief. Come Ashura (10th of Muharram) the security challenges are expected to go up by many notches. No wonder the business community is greatly worried, as its leaders have asked the government to put in place foolproof security measures during Muharram. How the shops and bazaars were ransacked and burnt by hoodlums following the bombing of a Muharram process in 2009, its bitter aftermath rightly haunts the members of the business community. So, it is not the impressive figures of suspects arrested and detained but the establishment of peace and security that matters to the common man in Karachi. That hundreds of suspected criminals, target killers, extortionists and street-muggers have been put out of function either by their detention or their elimination in police encounters yet the high spate of violence there refuses to abate that's unacceptable to common sense. Is it then that these figures are hollow and fake, or is it that as they say 'the bitch has joined the thieves'? People want results. They want violence-free neighbourhoods, safe and secure streets, end to sectarian killings and elimination of mafias of all kinds - and not figures alone.
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