Region 
 

Shikarpur

Blackhole

Crime is happening in Sindh with the blessings of powerful hands in the background.

By Imran Jan | July 2021

A dying star eventually ends up becoming a blackhole, and becomes the centre of intense gravity, in fact, so intense that even light cannot escape it. That is pretty much what all humanity knows. Sindh for years, if not decades, has been the blackhole of criminality where morality comes to die never to be resurrected again. I grew up in Pakistan and during the 90s and the 2000s, it was common knowledge that many parts of the country were a no-go area unless one wanted to end up in deep trouble. Besides the border with Afghanistan, many parts of Sindh were a constant reminder of those dangerous places.

While the blackhole in the cosmos isn’t fully understood, the blackhole of Sindh absolutely is. The crime was and still is happening with the blessings of powerful hands in the background. That is why it has been such a rocket science to find a solution.

The Shikarpur incident where the kidnappers had many people in their custody, including Naqeebullah Pathan and Inayat Pathan, is another episode that serves to remind us that the law breakers are stronger than the law enforcers. The police went to recover the kidnapped through mediation. The dacoits attacked the police in their armoured personnel carriers (APCs) using anti-aircraft rockets. Their APCs were damaged and several policemen killed, including a photographer. It is a remarkable display of chutzpah to not only attack the police but attack them when they come in peace. It wasn’t some sort of a firefight or a police encounter. The kidnappers didn’t indulge in an act of self defence. This was pure and absolute impunity.

The criminals are not only stronger and supremely confident in their impunity than those whose job it is to stop their crime, but also safer and brash. The police might end up in trouble for fighting the crime such as the killing of the police officer who had caught Ayaan Ali red handed. Similarly, the drunken politician MPA Majeed Achakzai was acquitted after he ran over a traffic policeman on duty. There are countless other stories. The criminals come out clean and unscathed after killing law enforcement personnel. In our childhood stories, the good guy always won. In today’s practical and filthy stories of Sindh, no kid would want to grow up to be the good guy because that image is that of a loser whose life and death do not matter. Those who matter (powerful) do not care and those who care (relatives and loved ones) do not matter. The bad guy wins every time. Alas, we don’t have Dexter in Sindh.

Sindh is a perfect example of nurture, not nature. Yes, crime is man-made, generally. The region has been prevented from being a peaceful place by those in power. Getting things done requires a team and meticulous planning, especially when the goal is immoral and criminal in nature. That brings us to the rampant corruption of Sindh. Corruption is the middle name of those who have been in charge of Sindh for decades now. When the most powerful cultivate and water the culture of corruption, it transcends down to the lowest office. When the system is rigged against honesty and sincerity, the personnel with character will find themselves at the receiving end of such rockets. Worse, their loved ones will never get justice.

“Sindh province has a long history of dacoits in this region where through the centuries dacoits have renamed active to commit the crime under an organized system.”
– Imdad Hussain Sahito

If one has to raise an accusing finger at someone, it should be the top dog and the most powerful men in Sindh. Because as I mentioned above, this is not some natural growth but rather allowed and nurtured. This isn’t negligence, but rather the work of great attention and planning.

Change won’t come by punishing the foot soldiers of this criminal empire and criminal culture. Arresting some of the linchpins such as Sardar Tegho Khan Teghani and his sons is great but that is only a tiny dent in this mammoth empire, which would be fixed before we know it. Dismantling the entire criminal empire would be the first step towards replacing the lawless and crimefertile land of Sindh with one where humanity, justice, and peace will sprout and prevail.

What Sindh needs is less noise-making politicians and more aggressive steps taken toward establishing law and order. This is not just about punishing the criminals, but deterrence too. Because people not only need a sense of peace and justice, but also a fear from thinking about committing crime. When ordinary people feel that there is no punishment for crime, everybody would get funny ideas about freedom to act in the most criminal ways to claim their piece of the pie. What Sindh needs is draining the swamp, which right now occupies the most beautiful houses there.

Read More