Karachis crime malaise

By Amna Lone Published: August 18, 2011

Express Tribune:
Youngsters from highly affluent families have also been found involved in criminal activities
Karachi, with a population of nearly 20 million, has its fair share of problems like all other
major metropolitans. Its weary residents have had to put up with a multitude of problems,
including a huge slum population, frequent power cuts and poor infrastructure.However,
few cities have as bad a reputation for crime, particularly street crime, as Karachi. Be it mobile
snatching, car theft, robberies at ATMs or traffic signals, there will be few Karachiites who do
not have some sort of a story to tell of their or their acquaintances encounters with street
crime.Many will be quick to attribute this meteoric rise in the crime rate of the city to poverty,
unemployment and lack of opportunities and, no doubt, these are important contributing factors
to this malaise. However, the poor economic situation alone cannot be held responsible for the
dismal state of affairs.Youngsters from highly affluent families have also been found involved in
criminal activities, which points to serious parental neglect and a breakdown of social and moral
values. Our society has turned into a highly materialistic one with a thirst for high living and a
desire to make a quick buck at all cost, whether the means are right or wrong. Not to be
discounted is the role of some political parties of the city that seem to have allowed their workers
the liberty to engage in these activities as a part-time hobby.Added to this is the police force in
Karachi, which is worthy of pity. A highly underpaid, grossly under-staffed but extremely
overworked police isnt the ideal way of going about fighting crime. Theirs is a thankless job
guarding VVIPs and dealing with target killings and gang warfare, leaving only limited numbers
of them to investigate street crimes i.e. if some of them are not already complicit in them.As
things stand today, street crime and the occasional deaths it may result in, are not going away
anywhere. The citizenry of this metropolitan have accepted it as a fait accompli and, therefore,
must pay the price for it.