KARACHI: In a city plagued by violence, only 16 weapons without licence were surrendered during the two-week drive against illegal weapons which ended yesterday.
The drive, which was backed by a massive campaign worth Rs30m, was started by the Sindh government following the Supreme Court’s directive to clean Karachi of weapons.
Residents were told that they could surrender their illegal weapon at the police stations, offices of the deputy commissioners and of assistant commissioners by October 12 to avoid prosecution. The public response, however, was unsatisfactory to say the least.
“Only 16 weapons have so far been surrendered in two weeks,” said Karachi Additional IG Shahid Hayat. The law enforcement agencies will now conduct door-to-door search operations for weapons without licence. According to the police records, the 16 weapons, including four rifles, five shotguns and seven pistols along with 202 ammunitions, were surrendered at 10 police stations.
A businessman who surrendered his .22 rifle was among those who thought it would be best to follow the law. “I got this weapon for safety reasons but I surrendered it as having an unlicenced weapon also put me and my family at risk. I first thought of dumping it somewhere but later decided to surrender it to the police station.”
The identities of the people who surrendered their illicit weapons were kept confidential. But understandably, that is not an incentive for criminals to come forward and give in their weapons.
“In our field, you are nothing if you don’t have a good weapon,” said a Karachi-based criminal showing a pistol, adding that weapons are necessary, especially to survive in the society or for safeguarding their lives. “We’re not fools that we surrender our weapons when we could need them to defend ourselves from our enemies - or even to attack them.”
On the other hand, citizens without criminal records are also hesitant to give up. “I have a weapon but I will only surrender it once the government or law enforcement agencies give me assurance that my family would be safe in Karachi,” said a resident who has applied for his weapon’s licence but still waiting for its issuance by the government. “In Karachi, it is easy to get weapons but very difficult to get licence.”
Internews
