Karachi's Safety Ranking Climbs Amid Declining Crime Rates

[RiazHaq]

http://www.riazhaq.com/2018/02/karachis-safety-ranking-climbs-amid.html

Karachi, one of world's fastest growing megacities, has seen its crime index ranking improve dramatically from 6 in 2013 to 50 in 2017, according to a survey of 327 world cities conducted by Numbeo. Karachi was ranked 47 in 2016. Reduction in violence is helping revive Pakistan's economy, making it the third fastest growing trillion dollar economy among the top 25 world economies by purchasing power parity.

Comparison to Major Cities:


Creek Vista, Karachi, Pakistan
In South Asia region, Karachi, now ranked 50, is safer than Bangladeshi capital Dhaka ranked 18 and the Delhi suburb of Gurgaon ranked 40. Delhi is ranked 60, Lahore 138, Mumbai 160 and Islamabad 226.

Karachi is also safer than American cities of Detroit, MI (17), Baltimore, MD (20), New Orleans, LA (21), Albuquerque NM (27), St. Louis, MO (30) Oakland, CA (33) and Milwaukee, WI (46).

The year 2013 marked the beginning of the deployment of Pakistan Rangers in Karachi to fight rampant extortion, terrorism and violence by armed gangs patronized by some political parties. Evidence suggests that some of the politicians involved had links to Indian intelligence.

Impact on National Economy:

Reduction in violence in Karschi is helping revive Pakistan's economy, making it the third fastest growing trillion dollar economy among the top 25 world economies by purchasing power parity.

In a recent article titled "Pakistan Keeps Terrorists on the Run and Economy on a Roll", leading Japanese publication Nikkei Asia Review reported from Karachi that the negative perception of "terrorism, corruption, misrule" are "becoming outdated, and businesses are taking notice... thanks to sweeping operations by the army and a powerful paramilitary force". Here's a more extended excerpt of the Nikkei story:

"The Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary law enforcement organization overseen by the military and the Interior Ministry, set out to tackle the violence head-on. In 2013, the Rangers Sindh -- which operate in Sindh Province, including Karachi -- mobilized 15,000 troops. The provincial legislature granted them broad powers to search homes and make arrests, enabling them to quickly turn the tide. In 2017, there were zero bombings and only five kidnappings, according to Saeed, who serves as director general of the Rangers Sindh. This is no small feat in a city with a swelling population of 17 million -- perhaps even 20 million if migrants from rural areas are factored in. "We destroyed all of the terrorists' pockets," he said, adding that hotel occupancy rates are over 90%."

Summary:

Karachi, one of world's fastest growing megacities, has seen its crime index ranking improve dramatically from 6 in 2013 to 50 in 2017, according to a survey of 327 world cities conducted by Numbeo. Last year, Karachi was ranked 47. Reduction in violence is helping revive Pakistan's economy, making it the third fastest growing trillion dollar economy among the top 25 world economies by purchasing power parity. As the country's largest city and its financial capital and economic hub, a safe and healthy Karachi bodes well for Pakistan's future. The Pakistani military played a crucial role in securing the nation's future by bringing peace to Karachi.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Gangs of Karachi

Gangster Politicians of Karachi

Karachi is World's Fastest Growing Megacity

Karachi's Human Development Index

Pakistan Rising or Failing: Reality vs Perception

Pakistan's Trillion Dollar Economy Among top 25

MQM-RAW Link

http://www.riazhaq.com/2018/02/karachis-safety-ranking-climbs-amid.html

 

[coffee_cup]

Credit goes to Rangers who have restored peace in our city of lights. Zardari and that MQM p$§ sitting in London had done their best to destroy our great city, but Almighty had other plans.

Well done! May peace, brotherhood and economy flourish in Karachi and Pakistan!

 

[Menace2Society]

Karachi must become a wealthy port city. It has all the ingredients just needs to deliver.

 

[Saif-ud-Din Qutuz]

I wish if it was done long ago. I don't know what our political governments and armed forces were waiting for. Giving Karachi to MQM was the worst thing Mushy regime did.

 

[Mr ambassador]

Karachi is growing but there is no proper urban infrastructure planning like Kuala lumpur city.

 

[One Man Think Tank]

Yep its growing , people are earning and spending more then before, businesses are flourishing . But infrastructure is getting worst day by day . We need Mustufa Kamal type of a guy right now

 

[BetterPakistan]

Great work done by Rangers and Pakistan Army.

 

[RiazHaq]

Here's a video of a Karachi Mall:

 

[Indus Pakistan]

@RiazHaq I respect your optimism but we need to be brutally honest. The improvement in Karachi is transient and not structural. Transient because Rangers have brought semblance of order but that is addressing the symptom. The underlying dynamic that caused the law/order issue is still there. The fact is Karachi has too many "guests" and not enough "natives". Most Karachites have dual identities. The Mohajir's identity is largely drawn from regions of present day India and that informs their ideal Pakistan. Then you havde the upper country residents from Punjab/KpK who also have their identities that reflect their regions. Then you have the "native" Sindhi's who are a minority in their "jewel on the Arabian Sea".

All this has created forces that conflict and grind as they all compete for the finite resources in the city. And you see the result. As soon as Rangers are pulled it things will swirl back to status quo ante. Karachi does not have a "glue" that can bind everybody.

 

[RiazHaq]

@RiazHaq I respect your optimism but we need to be brutally honest. The improvement in Karachi is transient and not structural. Transient because Rangers have brought semblance of order but that is addressing the symptom. The underlying dynamic that caused the law/order issue is still there. The fact is Karachi has too many "guests" and not enough "natives". Most Karachites have dual identities. The Mohajir's identity is largely drawn from regions of present day India and that informs their ideal Pakistan. Then you havde the upper country residents from Punjab/KpK who also have their identities that reflect their regions. Then you have the "native" Sindhi's who are a minority in their "jewel on the Arabian Sea".

All this has created forces that conflict and grind as they all compete for the finite resources in the city. And you see the result. As soon as Rangers are pulled it things will swirl back to status quo ante. Karachi does not have a "glue" that can bind everybody.

Karachi is a major metropolis and a microcosm representing Pakistan's diversity....the kind of diversity that I am used to seeing in highly successful Silicon Valley. It's "e pluribus unum"...from many to one...in action. It can be a win-win, not a zero-sum. I believe it's an asset rather than a liability.

 

[coffee_cup]

Karachi is a major metropolis and a microcosm representing Pakistan's diversity....the kind of diversity that I am used to seeing in highly successful Silicon Valley. It's "e pluribus unum"...from many to one...in action. It can be a win-win, not a zero-sum. I believe it's an asset rather than a liability.

Spot on, you nailed it sir!

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Karachi is a major metropolis and a microcosm representing Pakistan's diversity....the kind of diversity that I am used to seeing in highly successful Silicon Valley. It's "e pluribus unum"...from many to one...in action. It can be a win-win, not a zero-sum. I believe it's an asset rather than a liability.

With respect I disagree. For one Karachi is a huge city analogous to New York rather than very distilled elite zone. Further it does not represent Pakistan's diversity. Rather it distorts it unless you are suggesting Karachi's demographic pie is representative of Pakistani federation. Which it is not.

And diversity is good but every country has a backbone that defines it. Rest of the minorities gel around the lattice provided by the backbone. In US it is the Anglo-Saxon elite that began the journey that would end with the United States of America. They have been the dominant group and have along the way co-opted other migrants from Europe. They form the backbone of that country.

In London we also have huge diversity but I think nobody doubts that all the diverse groups are aggregated around the English core that makes and glues UK together. In the case of Karachi there is dominant group. All are migrants. All are out to become the defining group. And this competition will spill into violence.

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

If you have a patriotic Deep State you get such benefits even during the war at seven different fronts waged against the most powerful black entities and their proxies !!! If you have no Deep State and only proxies you go for absolute capitulation - the case being BD!!!! Only now Turkey is building one effective Deep State, after a lapse of 100 years, to show some positive results....

 

[Kabira]

If anyone doesn't give credit to N league for this then he is delusional and a liar. You can blame Nawaz for tax evasion but also give him credit for cleaning up Karachi once for all. But rangers are not long term solution.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Good points

Let me give a quick summary of the situation in Karachi or what I called "structural problems". Karachi is the capital of Sindh province which is one of the four federating provinces that make Pakistan. A ancient region mostly semi-arid desert through which flows the Indus river terminating into the Arabian Sea and forming a delta. It was this region that become known to Greeks and the river gave it's name to the region - India and over time that meaning extended to mean the entire sub-continent. Sind is the site of some of the earliest centres of civilization like Mohenjo Daro. The natives of Sindh are called Sindhi and speak their own language called Sindhi. They are recognized group with their own culture and identity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sindh

The British conquered Sindh in 1843 and brought to end the rule of the local Talpur Amirs. The Sindhi's fought valiantly but lost their kingdom against what was then a superpower - the British Empire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Miani


Karachi was then a small fishing village. But the British saw that it's location on the lip of land west of the Indus Delta afforded it a prime geographic location for a port that would have monopoly over the entire Indus Basin [present day Pakistan] and if not even further to Afghanistan, Central Asia and even Chinese Sinkiang Uighur province.

All that was required was transport links up north with the huge hinterland. In something similar to how China is fast working on CPEC and Gwadar port the British laid rail lines along the Indus River connecting the north to the new port of Karachi. By 1900s Karachi was a well established city with a flourishing port that had the entire Indus basin as captive hinterland with which it was now connected by rail and roads. There was significant British presence and again echoing what is happening now in Gwadar Karachi became known as the cleanest and best kept city in South Asia.

In 1943 Sindh Assembly became the first to pass a resolution for the idea of Pakistan. In 1947 Punjab, the present day Khyber Pakhtunkwa [NWFP], Balochistan would also federate into Pakistan. Kashmir of course remains a contested region.

https://www.dawn.com/news/871700

However as the British left with newly emerging Pakistan and India millions of migrants began moving. The Hindu/Sikh minority in Pakistan moved east into India. Millions of Muslim migrants streamed in from India into Pakistan and most headed for Sindh province and in particular Karachi which was made capital of Pakistan.

These migrants from differant parts of India came in such huge numbers that Karachi by 1950 was a Muhajir dominated. The term Muhajir [migrant] came soon to mean the Muslim migrants from India who settled in Karachi or wider Pakistan. Many of these Mujahirs came from urban areas in India that had been under British rule for centuries and had better education then the native Sindhi's. Karachi soon was entirely dominated by this group. Today the Muhajir population is about 7% of Pakistan but in Karachi they make just under 50%.

Post 1947 when there was the first deluge of Muhajirs from India the figure hit well above 50% within a decade of 1947. However over the last 40 years internal migration from [rest of Pakistan] up country Punjab, K-Pk [Pashtuns] and rest of Sindh has slowly been whittling away at the Muhajir %.

The result today is we have Muhajirs who have mostly congealed around the Muhajir Quami Movement [now with a slight change in prefix] or MQM which represents the Urdu speaking community that migrated to Pakistan in 1947 from what is now India. The Punjabis, Pashtuns and Sindhi's who have slowly been changing the ethnic balance are also aggregated around their own ethnic based parties. With the border with India becoming frozen the number of more migrants from that country has reduced thus MQM's majority will shrink further as other ethnic groups from Pakistan move there.

The result has been a ethnic based conflict which at times resembles civil war. All sides are armed to the teath and will fight to defend their economic interests. MQM has also been accused with some strong evidence that it retains strong links with India and is possibly being financed by Indian RAW intelligence.

This is the fundamental problem or structural as I called it in Karachi. I don't think the present calm is anything but a temperory abeyance. The underlying dynamic will rip open at some point. To make matters worse Sindh province is ruled by PPP a Sindhi dominated party whereas Karachi is in the hands of MQM. All this makes for a crazy pot pouri that I think even highly developed countries would have problems let alone a under developed country like Pakistan with a conflicted, divided polity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33148880