Stories So Ordinary

By Amir Zia 
March 24, 2014
The News

Almost every second or third citizen of this restive city of roughly 18 million people has a first-hand personal story or that of his friend or relative to share regarding street crime
 
The first time I faced a gun menacingly pointing at me it was held by a boy barely in his late teens. The inexperienced hand that clutched the pistol was shaking. My foremost fear was that his raw hand could pull the trigger by mistake, out of nervousness or in a sudden rush of blood. 
His two young accomplices demanded whatever cash and valuables my family had as we stood outside our house located in an apparently peaceful neighbourhood of Karachi that night. The gang’s fourth member waited in a car with its engine running. We had to cooperate. Surprisingly, one of the muggers politely apologized for this conduct before driving away. This happened in 2006.
The second time I got unlucky was in the vicinity of the DHA offices sometime in 2011. Two youngsters, riding a motorbike, pulled in front of me in broad daylight as I unlocked my car in a quiet street. They were smooth operators. One ordered me to sit inside the car waiving his pistol, while the other gave him cover without dismounting from the bike. “Do you carry a gun?” I was asked by the one standing beside me as he searched the vehicle – underneath the seats and inside the dashboard. 
My answer: a man with a face like me possibly can’t. The youngster had some sense of humour. He smiled and demanded for the mobile phone and wallet. I gave him the phone and offered cash instead of the wallet to save my national identity card, driving licence etc. He agreed. Then foolishly, I asked for my SIM card. The mugger returned the phone. But in those tense moments, I requested him to do this favour. He obliged and gave the SIM back. It was during this give-and-take that the biker noticed my wristwatch…They snatched the car-key to prevent a chase, but returned it when in a broken sentence or two I explained the hardship I would face without it. “Please don’t get upset”, were the parting words of one of them. “We have no choice.”
The third time my luck ran out was in November 2013 outside the office at I I Chundrigar Road – Pakistan’s so-called Wall Street. I had just gotten into my colleague’s car that I noticed a lean teenager’s head popping inside the vehicle, demanding cash and our mobile phones. His partner in crime – a bearded fellow – was on a bike armed with a gleaming pistol. We offered no resistance, but I couldn’t help saying that “you are looting poor people.” In return, we heard in Karachi’s chaste Urdu some explicit four-letter words. The unkind duo fled along with my colleague’s car keys.
This first person account offers a slight glimpse of what a vast number of Karachiites daily endure in the city – often with graver consequences. Some get beaten, others sustain bullet injuries and the unfortunate ones lose their lives along with cash and other valuables. Mugging is now way too common in our city. No area is safe enough. No major road or street – even in the heart of Karachi – is out of bounds for criminals. A mere walk on the road exposes you to these small-time daredevils floating around 24/7.
In a city plagued by killings, terrorism, bank robberies, kidnappings for ransom, extortion, vehicle theft and snatching and other such big crimes, mugging is now not even considered news worthy. Police seldom register the First Investigation Report (FIR) of such incidents. At the most a complaint is lodged in the police roaznamchas (daily reporting registers).
The much-propagated Karachi operation against criminals and terrorists, which started on September 5, has failed to make a difference when it comes to beating street crime, though killings and extortion cases have registered a drop.
The Citizens-Police Liaison Committee figures reveal that from September-February – the first six months of the operation – a total of 12,542 mobile phones were snatched compared with 10,050 in the same number of months (March-August) before the start of the crackdown.
These numbers, however, don’t reflect the true picture since many street crime incidents are never reported. Many victims do not bother going to the police or reporting mobile phone snatching to the CPLC that offers services of blocking phone sets. Most victims just thank their stars for having survived one more day in this urban jungle where crime and lawlessness remain the order of the day.
Almost every second or third citizen of this restive city of roughly 18 million people has a first-hand personal story or that of his friend or relative to share regarding street crime. The victims belong to all age-groups and classes – from the low income to the affluent.
A few days ago, a fellow journalist got beaten up by two gunmen for not carrying enough cash and for having a cheap mobile phone. The muggers thought that they would find a laptop in his bag, which only had some papers. People just watched as the journalist was slapped, punched and threatened with a pistol pointing at his head. The incident occurred when the victim was walking on the busy M A Jinnah Road on a Sunday evening. 
One hears countless such tales…in many drawing-room discussions one finds victims narrating their similar ordeals like school boys who like to boast about their adventures and trysts with trouble often with pride and awe. You hear from a leading businessman about how he saved his valuable wristwatch which he got from his grandfather at the peril of his life. A corporate leader describes how he pays monthly protection money to a gang to reach his office located in an industrial area of the city. A high-flying professional tells you how he lost his mobile telephone while driving on a key road. 
Those from low-income backgrounds are deprived of their cash, mobile phones and other valuables when their passenger buses are stopped by armed men in the city’s outskirts, during a motor rickshaw ride in the middle of the city or while walking on a footpath.
Last week, my friend’s brother had a narrow brush with death at Korangi when his vehicle was stopped late night by armed men. The victims were handing them their valuables when one of the gunmen, who was drunk, tried to fire a shot aiming directly at the head of one of the victims despite warnings by his accomplices. He pulled the trigger twice, but luckily the shot was not fired. 
The mugger tried again, but the victim pushed away his hand. There was a bang and the bullet wiz passed, grazing his face and wounding the wrist of my friend’s brother, who was sitting beside him. The gunman’s accomplices and the victims all ran for cover. There are countless such horror stories unfolding everyday in Karachi.
According to Ahmed Chinoy, the CPLC chief, most muggers are not part of organised gangs. “But mugging is their first step in the organised world of crime.”
These criminals are mostly dwellers of slums, located in the heart of every middle- and upper-class neighbourhood. In the words of Chinoy, these slum areas are like rural pockets in the city where poverty and unemployment force many youngsters to take this path.
But it is not just the poor who resort to crime. Many youngsters belonging to the middle and even upper middle class join the dark side for adventure and extra cash.
The weak writ of the state and dysfunctional law enforcement and judicial institutions, coupled with the unholy nexus between crime and politics, make the situation more complex and beating crime more difficult.
With the Karachi operation running out of steam since November according to D G Sindh Rangers Major General Rizwan Akhter, Karachiites seem to have little hope for security and peace on the streets of their beleaguered city. The grand illusion that a crackdown on hardened criminals would help reduce street crime has been busted. Surely, there is no glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. It is only the reign of fear, terror and criminals in the dangerous city called Karachi.

The Business Of Crime

By Amir Zia
Newsline
April 2011

Welcome to one of the world’s most dangerous megacities, where the roaring business of organised crime has cast a pall of gloom over commercial, business and industrial life.

Against a backdrop of mounting crime, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) established a crisis management cell this February to help its members secure themselves against organised gangs of extortionists and kidnappers, who have made life miserable for shopkeepers, traders, business people and industrialists in the teeming port city in recent months.
The statistics are telling. Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) data indicates a record surge in the daily crime reports at its centres – ranging from broad daylight mobile and vehicle snatching to extortion and kidnapping for ransom. Cases now average 4,500 a day, compared with 2,500 in March 2010. Additionally, the less-publicised Sindh Home Minister’s telephone complaint centre has been receiving 50-60 complaints daily on an average – the maximum number of these reporting extortion, kidnapping and police excesses.
Welcome to one of the world’s most dangerous megacities, where the roaring business of organised crime has cast a pall of gloom over commercial, business and industrial life. Groups of politically connected criminals and mafias now hold the city hostage and strike at will. In most parts of Karachi, you cannot do business or keep a shop open without paying “protection money.” Youngsters brandishing automatic weapons can descend on you in any part of Karachi – demanding your mobile phone, cash or vehicle. Kidnappers can abduct you or a family member for a few hours, weeks or even months – and payment, ranging from a few hundred thousand rupees to millions in cold, hard cash, is the only way to win freedom in most cases. And armed robberies at the workplace or at home are commonplace.
These gangs encroach upon government and private land, sell drugs and weapons and kill rivals. Often the assassinations of political activists – or even notorious gangsters – bring armed youngsters on the roads, who force shops and commercial centres to close shutters as a mark of protest.
There are some standard modus operandi: political activists-criminals knock at your door demanding donations on the pretext of buying party flags to organise celebrations for a sacred event such as Eid Milad-un-Nabi. If you refuse, there are threats, public beatings, or even a bullet. One of the worst of such cases occurred in the Sher Shah Kabari Market last October, when around a dozen shopkeepers lost their lives because they refused to pay extortion money. In recent months, a number of shopkeepers have also been murdered in hit-and-run attacks in busy commercial areas. Not surprising then that as the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led government continues to allow matters to spiral downwards, a climate of fear and insecurity and a general sense of hopelessness prevails among the citizens of Karachi.
“The business environment has never been as bad as it is today,” Muhammad Saeed Shafiq, president of KCCI, told Newsline. “It is not just the country’s economic situation which is challenging. It is the poor law and order and the 24/7 insecurity that has shaken the confidence of the business community. Almost every second or third day shops and businesses are being forced to close in many parts of the city under one pretext or the other. Ongoing incidents of extortion, kidnappings and other crimes have made Karachi one of the most unsafe places for doing business.” (See interview on page 19)
Ikram Sehgal, chairman of private security firm G4S, and a leading security analyst, disclosed that leading private security companies have been innundated by requests from nervous businessmen, industrialists and professionals, who want security guards for themselves and their families.
“We simply cannot meet their demand because of the lack of trained manpower,” he said. “The criminals’ numbers have burgeoned. And now they are not just targeting the small affluent elite, but the upper-middle class as well. Only a day ago, two of my friends each got threatening calls that their son or daughter would be kidnapped if a hefty ransom amount was not paid.”
It is true that in Karachi today virtually every second or third person has a harrowing story to tell about a direct encounter with criminals, or their friends, relatives or acquaintances running out of luck. The numbers speak for themselves.
A majority of Karachi’s 110 police stations report a massive increase in the crime rate. In 2010, there was a formidable 20% jump from the previous year in reported-crime cases: 59,000 compared with around 49,500 in 2009, according to official Sindh police statistics. The rising crime tide has shown no signs of reversal in the first three months of 2011. The total number of killings in Karachi since January to the present has crossed the 200 mark. In the first 25 days of March alone, more than 150 people fell victim to targeted assassinations in the city. According to the police, around 50% of these fall into the category of political and religions or sectarian murders, while the rest were killed because of personal feuds or were routine crimes.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 242 people were killed in political strife in 2009 and 748 in 2010. The police put the total number of murders in 2009 at 801 and 1,339 in 2010. These include crimes of every nature, not just politically or religiously motivated killings.
The statistics of reported crime, though mindboggling, do not, however, reflect in entirety the state of a city where the majority of citizens live on the knife’s edge. Experts say that reported crime remains only the tip of the iceberg, as even according to conservative estimates, more than triple the number of crimes that occur remain unreported. Fear of reprisal from criminals, or the peoples’ lack of confidence in the police are not the only factors that stop people from lodging first investigation reports (FIRs). Policemen themselves discourage many victims from registering complaints in an attempt to keep the number of reported crimes low in their respective jurisdictions.
CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy reveals that extortion has emerged as the top crime in Karachi. “But the problem is that barely 30% of the victims of extortion or even street crime come forward to report. The rest remain silent,” he said. “Until people report crimes, the police or we will be unable to help them.” That notwithstanding, CPLC information call centres remain flooded with distress calls spiking of late to 4,500 a day on the average in recent months.
While all the major political parties in the country have a history of patronising criminals, the recent unprecedented surge in crime has been blamed largely on the newest entrant on Karachi’s political horizon – the Peoples’ Amn Committee of Lyari. Although the Amn Committee, comprising mostly known gangsters and disgruntled PPP workers, announced a closure of its offices and claimed it was disbanding following Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s March 17 announcement that the government plans to ban it, business leaders say that its activities continue. (See box: La Cosa Nostra)
A police officer acknowledged, “More than two weeks down the road since the government announced the ban on the Amn Committee, there has been no operation against gangsters. The ban remains only on paper.”
Echoing this, said a leading businessman, requesting anonymity: “Nothing has changed on the ground. All the major retail and wholesale markets located in Lyari’s vicinity remain at the mercy of gangsters, who continue to extort money and rob people. All the notorious criminals continue to roam freely.”
Some of Karachi’s oldest and busiest markets, including Jodia Bazaar, Sarafa Bazaar, the Timber Market, Bolton Market, Jamaa Cloth, Denso Hall, Shoe Market, Burns Road, and even Saddar suffer the brunt of the spiralling crime, because of their proximity with Lyari.
A senior police officer, who also asked not to be identified, said criminals from Lyari fan out in the city’s main commercial areas to carry out their activities. “But ironically, this area, one of Karachi’s oldest neighbourhoods, is not itself among the top 10 most crime-infested areas of the city.” The reason, he said, is a lack of reporting of crime, as well as the fact that Lyari’s gangsters usually strike in neighbourhoods outside their own.
However, the closure of many of Lyari’s storage houses and cottage industry is contributing to unemployment in the area. Lyari residents contend that many young men are thus forced to resort to criminal activities.
While Lyari residents feel the authorities are missing in action when it comes to readressing their grievances, Sharfuddin Memon, a former CPLC chief, who now works as a consultant on planning, policies and public relations at the Sindh Home Ministry, said that the perception of inaction against criminals is wrong. According to him, the police have arrested 89 people involved in targeted killings in recent months. “There have been raids in Lyari as well, along with other pockets of the city,” he said. But, he conceded there should be a continuity in operations and all three coalition partners – the PPP, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP) – should work together to establish the rule of law. He added, “The law and order agenda should never be mixed with other issues.”
While the politics of expediency have prevented an even-handed crackdown on law-breakers, criminals and terrorists since the early 1980s, the Karachi of 2011 has never been more unmanageable and ungovernable than it is today. Now state institutions themselves play one political group against the other and nurture the trend of criminalisation of politics, ignoring the killings and criminal activities conducted by their stooges – if not overtly or covertly supporting them.
Memon said that a key impediment in fighting crime remains the poor prosecution of criminals. “The conviction rate is less than 5%. When the conviction rate is so low and there is no fear of accountability, then of course, criminals will take advantage.”
In fact, criminals get away not just because of corruption in lower courts and poor prosecution – they escape justice because they also threaten judges, witnesses and policemen.
Memon disclosed that a landmark witness protection plan has been approved by the Sindh cabinet, which will be tabled soon in the provincial assembly. “It will help us protect witnesses, who are afraid to testify.”
Farooq Sattar, MQM’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly told Newsline that his party had held two rounds of talks with President Asif Ali Zardari who assured them that criminals would be taken to task regardless of their political association. However, since then – in just the month of March alone – crime and violence has intensified in the city – and the MQM has lost nearly 35 of its members in targeted killings. Said a disgruntled Sattar, “Criminals and terrorists are striking with impunity. We have recommended that a special PPP-MQM committee on crime, headed by the chief minister, should meet daily to address Karachi’s law and order challenge.”
Sattar added, “We have to regain the confidence of traders, businessmen and investors, who have stopped putting their money in Karachi. If this situation continues, there will be a flight of capital, which to an extent has already started. This trend needs to be arrested as it will impact not just Karachi, but the overall economy of the country. We have to revive Karachi’s role as the country’s main commercial hub.”
Taj Haider, a senior PPP leader, concurred that there should be a crackdown on criminals without any discrimination, fear or favour. “The city needs to be liberated from criminals and militants – there can be no dispute on this. For this we have to work together. Our resolve is firm,” he maintained.
That may well be, but it has not translated into any concrete action. So far the government has not managed to walk the talk. As the key political players in the ruling coalition remain sceptical about one another, their ability to rise above petty party politics remains moot. And till that happens, chances of peace and prosperity in Karachi remain elusive.

Karachi: Security is nobody's business

Businesses from a volatile Karachi are being shifted to Dubai, Malaysia, and even Bangladesh

By Amir Zia
The News On Sunday
Nov. 7, 2010

For a vast number of people in Karachi, it is life on a razor's edge. With criminals and political zealots enjoying a free hand, ordinary citizens seem to live in a constant fear and uncertainty in the country's industrial hub, which witnessed a sharp increase in crime, extortion, kidnappings, targeted killings and political and religious violence since the Pakistan People's Party (PPP)-led government assumed power in early 2008.

Along with old power players, new gangs of thugs and criminals have emerged in recent years. They take pride in affiliation with this or that political party, seeking their pound of flesh in this brutalised city. No social class, ethnic background or religious belief guarantees one safety in Karachi. It is just a matter of luck for how long you can escape the long hands of criminals, who can make your life hell anywhere -- from an affluent neighbourhood to the low-income one; from a bustling market to any of the industrial estates of the city.

The result is not just an intangible psychological pressure under which people of Karachi now live, but the constant fear and insecurity have hit hard the small and big businesses, markets and the industry.

"In Karachi, we have not just to deal with demons of constant power failures and rising cost of doing business, but also with criminals and extortionists," Sultan Chawla, president of the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), told TNS. "The situation is getting from bad to worse."

Indeed a new "breed" of extortion mafia has emerged that appears more brutal, politically connected and fearless than the old one. Police, of course, are helpless and have lost confidence of the people.

Chawla said that extortionists distribute receipts or what is called "parchi" to shopkeepers, businessmen and industrialists for forced donations. "This is taking its toll. If you are constantly insecure and under pressure, you can't make long-term or even medium-term investment decisions."

And Chawla's perspective can be substantiated on the ground. In the congested, polluted, crime-ridden old parts of Karachi, including Kharadar and Meethadar, where from small shop owners to large-scale whole-sellers operate businesses, life has become tougher in recent months.

Here, shopkeepers and traders receive so-called donations slips amounting to a couple of thousand to up to two hundred thousands rupees on monthly basis. Failing to meet this demand means threats, a robbery or a bullet for the owner or his near and dear one.

And it is not just the story of one or two neighbourhoods. This lawlessness is rampant all over the metropolis, where police and other state institutions seem to have conceded complete or partial powers to criminals, drug barons, land encroachers, extortionists and political and religious zealots of all shades and kind.

A retired army doctor had to shut his clinic located in one of the main markets of the affluent DHA neighbourhood and shift it to some other place after he received a series of anonymous phone calls demanding millions worth rupees "bhatta". He went to the police, but realised that it was a futile exercise. He felt more insecure and exposed to the danger in a city where even doctors remain on terrorists' hit-list. "Going to the police proved a waste of time… they treated me as I myself was a suspect," said the doctor requesting anonymity. "Life is more precious. I had to shut my clinic -- one of the oldest in the neighbourhood."

Kheirun Nisa, 55, a housemaid, was stopped by two gunmen in the volatile Malir neighbourhood. It was the first of the month and like most working-people, she carried her salary -- six thousand rupees -- in one of the pockets of her long Balochi-style kurta. The gunmen took away her hard-earned money. She did not go to police. She just wept.

While the plight of the common people goes unnoticed, the business community has started making noises following the October 19th massacre of 13 shopkeepers in Kabari Market. Business leaders say that the Kabari Market incident occurred because shopkeepers refused to pay extortion money.

A leading businessman, who is also an advisor to the Sindh chief minister, said, requesting anonymity, that there has been a total breakdown of law and order in Karachi.

"At the Kabari market, up to 60 armed men came… some of them blocked the escape routes, while other started shooting ruthlessly. They identified people first and then killed them in cold blood," he said. "There is no law now. This city has become a gangsters' city. All the ethnic groups have their gangs of criminals. And each one of them is fearless and cold blooded."

While President Asif Ali Zardari, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and many other top government officials have vowed to provide protection to businesses and industries, there seem to be a lack of political will to do the job as the Sindh province coalition government remains divided.

The result is a steep rise in violence, killings and crimes in Karachi since early 2008. According to the Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) data, the number of killings more than doubled to 777 in 2008 compared with 344 in 2007. In 2009, more than 800 people became victims of what police describe as targeted killings. And from January to October this year, 1,212 people have been killed in hit-and-run attacks or tortured to death after being kidnapped.

"So far, October has been the bloodiest month this year in which 169 people lost lives in targeted killings," said CPLC chief Ahmed Chinoy. "Out of these 169, one was a doctor, three were policemen and the remaining 26 were political activists. Who were the other 139 victims – no body knows."

And it is not just the killings. There has been a 50 percent rise in kidnappings during the last three years compared with 2007 in which around 60 kidnapping for ransom cases were reported. But for the last three years, this average is hovering at around 90 kidnappings a year, the CPLC data shows. Similarly, vehicle and mobile phone snatchings have also surged in the city.

The advisor to chief minister said that police arrest criminals, but they get bail and acquittal through courts. "They are so organised that they even threaten judges. They give them details about their family members and threaten to kill or kidnap them with the help of their accomplices."

Mohammed Saeed Shafiq, president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), told TNS that confidence of investors and businessmen had plunged to its lowest. "We have formed a special Police-Chamber Liaison Committee, which receives at least eight to 10 complaints regarding extortion every day, but this is only tip of the iceberg. Majority of people never approach us. Even overseas Pakistanis are scared of coming to Pakistan and making investments here."

While big industries and businesses manage to arrange private security, it is the small traders who remain worst hit due to lawlessness in the city. Chawla, president FPCCI, said countless businesses are being shifted abroad with Dubai, Malaysia, and even Bangladesh as some of the favourite locations. "When your life, money, property and honour are at stake, how can you think of business?"

With the government struggling to fulfill its promise of stemming crime and lawlessness in the country's financial capital, few have faith in its performance because criminals not just operate under the cover of political parties, but have started to patronise politicians.