Business community calls for meeting with government after KPO attack

The business community of Karachi, Pakistan’s financial hub, has urged government authorities to conduct a joint meeting as soon as possible to address concerns about the deteriorating law and order situation.

The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) wrote a letter, dated 20 February, to Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, and high-ups of law enforcement agencies including Sindh Police and Rangers.

It said the poor law and order situation "has triggered extreme anxiety amongst the members of the business and industrial community who are dubious of whether to continue their business in this city or move to somewhere else."

It went on to say rising lawlessness has tarnished the image of the city, particularly after the "gruesome" terrorists' attack on Karachi Police Office (KPO) at a time when the law enforcement agencies were already on a high alert due to ongoing Pakistan Super League.

“We would like to mention that this chamber has been cautioning time and again about such threats but unfortunately no concrete steps were taken and the recent wave of lawlessness clearly indicates how fragile Karachi's law and order has become,” read the letter.

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In the letter, the business community requests a meeting at the chamber "at the earliest possible time within this week" to address concerns so that world knows what measures were being adopted to deal with the situation.

It went on to say that the Karachi Chamber's My Karachi Exhibition, which is being staged since 2004, is set to be organized at the Expo Center on March 3-5 "but keeping in view the current state of affairs, we need advice on how to safely organize this event."

KCCI shared that the chamber is expecting a footfall of around 800,000 visitors at the event this year, and needs advice on how to hold a major event in a safe and secure manner.