Corps Commander Karachi Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar observed on Saturday that the Karachi operation is completely apolitical, across-the-board and indiscriminate and will continue till peace is restored and all types of terrorism and facilitators are eliminated from Karachi. Addressing a National Defence University Seminar here, the Corps Commander said that along with the presence of terrorist groups several mafias, like land and tanker mafias, were also active in the city.
He stressed that maintaining peace in the city was law enforcement agencies' responsibility. The Corps Commander outlined reasons behind Karachi's spiral into violence over the last three decades, stating that authorities responsible for governance and institutions had failed to provide infrastructure to tackle the city's rising population.
"Karachi's struggling problems are generally a result of political, sectarian and ethnic rivalries. However, its roots run deep into an incredibly complex structure of this city where special interest groups, criminals, terrorists and mafias compete for power, resources and survival. Law and order situation in Karachi over a period of time has suffered from a series of failing and errors including administrative incompetence and political dysfunction," he remarked.
He added: Some of the reasons behind these problems are structural but some are the results of bad choices made by important players and some of those can and should be corrected now." The Corps Commander said Karachi's police and administration need to be liberated from interference. He said maintenance of peace is our responsibility and extra-ordinary measures will have to be taken to face the challenges. He vowed that the sacrifices made by the Rangers and the police would not be allowed to go waste.
He said they will have a long way to go to fully restore peace but the myth has been broken and all criminals and their facilitators and networks are being challenged in enormous parallel efforts. He cautioned that terrorists might try to regroup but made it clear that the army not allow them to do so. The Corps Commander said the operation is apolitical, across-the-board and indiscriminate and in larger national interest and declared to re-establish the writ of the state.
He stressed the need for bridging ethnic and sectarian disharmony and abolishment of perceived parallel governments and power centres. He said there is no quick fix solution of these problems but made it clear that it is army's resolve to confront the grave challenges.