KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Abdullah Zaki, while reviewing the overall security situation of Karachi, has stated that the ongoing Karachi operation has failed to achieve the desired results so far as instead of improving, the law and order situation of Karachi has deteriorated drastically which is matter of grave concern and needs to be reviewed.
Speaking at the 1st meeting of KCCI’s Law and Order sub-committee, Zaki said, “Although the government has claimed that Karachi operation has smoothly entered the third phase but the progress and achievements of first phase and second phase were never publicized, which has triggered reservations amongst business community. The ground reality is totally contrary to the claims as the operation undertaken by the law enforcing agencies around four months ago has failed to deliver the desired results so far.”
Chairman of Businessmen Group and former president KCCI, Siraj Kassam Teli, Vice President KCCI, Muhammad Idrees, Chairman of Law & Order sub-committee KCCI Haji Asif Chamdia, Advisor Law & Order Sub-Committee Saleem Farooqui, Senior Vice Chairmen Law and Order sub-committee, Tariq Awan and Naveed Farooki, Vice Chairman Law & Order sub-committee, Rafiq Jadoon, Managing Committee members Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, Shehzad Mobeen, Secretary General KCCI, S. M. H. Rizvi and others were also present at the meeting.
KCCI President mentioned that the law and order situation has worsened in many areas of the city, which has triggered anxiety among the members of the business community. The operation against criminals and terrorists needs to be intensified and must not be stopped at any cost, he added.
Abdullah Zaki further stated that the Karachi Chamber has been closely monitoring the security situation and raising its voice against the rising lawlessness. In this regard, KCCI maintains strong liaison with all high-ups of various Law Enforcing Agencies in order to bring various issues to their notice. KCCI has recently held meetings with Corps Commander Karachi, Inspector General Sindh Police, Director General of Pakistan Rangers Sindh and many others to discuss and resolve issues due to lawlessness being suffered by Karachiites.
Speaking on the occasion, BMG Chairman Siraj Kassam Teli advised the office bearers of KCCI to ensure that the meetings of various sub-committees, particularly of Law and Order sub-committee, are being organized on monthly basis so that the progress of these sub-committees could be thoroughly reviewed.
Earlier, while welcoming the participants of the meeting, Law and Order sub-committee Chairman Haji Asif Chamdia requested KCCI office bearers, chairmen of various sub-committees and Managing Committee members to support him in attaining the objectives and goals of KCCI’s Law and Order sub-Committee.
He said that the Law and Order sub-committee of KCCI plays an important role in resolving the security issues being faced by the members and is making all out efforts to for a peaceful atmosphere in Karachi. In this regard, the Sub-committee remains vigilant and is in constant touch with various Law Enforcing Agencies so that the problems being faced the businessmen and industrialists, who approach KCCI for assistance, are prioritized and amicably resolved.
He pointed out that the business community faces various issues particularly street crimes thefts, burglaries, extortion, kidnapping for ransom, and target killings etc. Moreover, the vehicles carrying trade goods are also being fearlessly looted and the insecurity all over the place has aggravated the hardships of business community.
On the occasion, Law & Order sub-committee Advisor Saleem Farooqui suggested members that instead of verbal complaints, they must submit these issues in writing to the sub-committee so that concerned authorities could be promptly approached for assistance.
He also advised KCCI office bearers to meet authorities in Traffic Police Department and officers in Land Department who are responsible for dealing with the encroachments. Encroachments in various areas of the city along with absenteeism of traffic police officers are causing severe traffic jams at some of the leading roads of Karachi city nowadays, which provide a perfect opportunity to criminals to fearlessly rob and easily flee from the crime scene after depriving the commuters from cash and valuables.
He further advised KCCI members to form committees at grass root level in their respective areas and enhance coordination with concerned police stations, DSPs, SPs and SSPs to highlight their problems, which will greatly help in improving the situation by promptly bringing law and order issues to the notice of officers concerned and high-ups.
Law & Order sub-committee Vice Chairman Rafiq Jadoon mentioned on the occasion that little improvement was seen for a very short period when Police and Rangers started Karachi operation but the overall situation has once again deteriorated sharply across the city. He also expressed deep concerns over the illegal detention of small traders for questioning by the officers of secret services and sensitive departments, who keep local police uninformed about such detentions whereas the families of these small traders face immense difficulties in locating the detainees as they are totally unaware of their whereabouts. He requested the Karachi Chamber to take up these pressing matters with the authorities concerned in order to give some relief to small traders who are either being threatened by elements of Bhatta Mafia or being regularly lifted by the officers of secret services for questioning.
“We are regularly paying taxes to the government and should be treated accordingly. The government should provide us a secure atmosphere and if it fails to do so, we will stop paying taxes”, he added.