KARACHI: As Ramazan comes to an end, the country was rocked by the news of blasts in Quetta and Parachinar on Friday, leaving 50 dead and many injured. In Karachi, four cops were gunned down in one of the deadliest attacks on the police this year.

However, the incidents did not dampen the mood, with markets swarmed by customers and window shoppers.

A visit to Karachi’s various markets (Zainab Market, Bohri Bazaar, Hyderi and Jama Cloth), shopping plazas (Gulf Way, Rabi Centre, Gold Mark I and II) and malls (Dolmen, Forum and Atrium) highlights the stark contrast between the security steps taken to keep harm at bay.

While the malls spend millions on monthly security, the crowded markets and shopping plazas, despite having more shops and high sales, very often have chowkidars in a guard’s uniform.

Sources in Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Multan shared similar views on the main markets in their cities.

Gulfway Shopping Mall on an average receives 10,000 customers every day, with the number reaching 30,000 as Eidul Fitr nears. On Chand Raat alone, one can spot hundreds of ladies hired for applying mehndi (henna) to thousands of women and children on the roadside near Teen Talwar to Uzma Shopping Centre.

This year, a sizeable number of policewomen have been posted alongside policemen at all busy spots.

“So far, we have nabbed a few women and children involved in shoplifting and mobile theft, but that’s about it. Eve-teasers have been caught too, but they were warned,” said a policewoman on duty outside Gulfway.

A jeweller in the main gold market in Saddar area said he has beefed up the number of security guards over the years, installed CCTV cameras and even bullet-proofed his shop and cars, but has been unable to convince the shopkeepers’ association to do something collectively.

“I can’t move my business because this market is central and I have walk-in clients from all over the city,” he said. “But while I do have two guards within my shop at all times, I cannot control what goes on in the market. The rush of people, you can’t tell if someone is going to explode.”

He suggested installing walkthrough gates at the entry points of all shopping plazas and markets as well as having replicating Islamabad Safe City Project.

Unlike most open markets where the lack of security is evident, at Zamzama practically every third shop has guards posted outside its premises.

“We have an annual security budget and it’s pretty big,” the owner of a salon and boutique said. “We are one of the pricey salons and boutique on this location but we do offer security to all our clients.”

Mian Muhammad Naeem, president of the Boat Basin Shopkeepers Welfare Association, said security was of utmost importance. “People visiting shopping centres in Clifton end up at Boat Basin, one the oldest and organised food streets in the city, with well over 60 units operating on the strip,” he said.

He said Boat Basin’s security was manned by private guards as well as policemen. “We have three guards in the day but the number goes up to eight in the night. We have been extremely lucky that no untoward incident has happened here so far.”

As much as Rs120,000 was spent on private security every month, said Mr Naeem, who was the only association head who shared the expenses in this regard.

Shop owners at Zainab Market said walkthrough gates cost around Rs1,000,000 while hiring three security guards from a small firm would cost them around 150,000 per month. “We don’t have this sort of budget. Bas Allah ke hawale!”

Measures taken by many markets in the city include supplying tea boys from nearby teashops/restaurants with identification cards or marked T-shirts, increasing the number of chowkidars or guards and at times even getting temporary female guards (mostly women who work as maids/waitresses with no formal security guard training) on super busy days. An extreme measure includes hiring off-duty policemen to stand outside in their uniforms.

However, security adviser Norbert Almeida believed that markets and malls have to be customer-friendly. “No one would like to go to a mall where they have three tiers of security frisking you and checking your bags, and then the walkthrough gate and metal detectors,” he told Dawn. “People might as well avoid them due to inconvenience.”

“Across the country at the shops and shopping plazas as we know them, security measures are not of high standard. That is simply due to the way our businesses and operations are set up. They are not geared towards security,” said Mr Almeida, who also runs a security and personal safety blog.

He said security in public places is a tricky question. “It has to be about vigilance, and not just a guard standing at gate; there should be observation teams around and people roaming the floors capable of picking out people.”

“In malls, primary concern during festive seasons is pickpockets. It’s not terrorism; no individual or commercial establishment can prepare to ward off an attack. This is the state’s job. What we see now is that law-enforcement agencies provide additional support to market places and general large public place,” he added.

The primary aim of security presence at a facility was to make a facilitator reconsider the target, he said, and explained that logistically it was impossible to check strollers and bags or frisk all visitors.

“By not having security, you are inviting trouble. The persons will move away from a store which has security to one which has no security,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2017