KARACHI, May 25: Representatives of different political parties, minority communities, trade unions and civil society at a conference on Friday called for an across-the-board operation to rid the province, particularly Karachi, of illegal weapons, sought legislation to make the possession of illegal arms a non-bailable offence, and purging of armed youngsters from the student wings of political parties.

The conference, Deweaponisation challenges, prospects and role of stakeholders, organised by the National Organisation for Working Communities (NOWC), was attended by leaders of the ANP, PPP, PTI and representatives of the minority communities and civil society. A leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement invited to the event excused himself from attending the event.

The participants in the conference were of the opinion that the real issue at the grass-roots level was a clash between democratic and anti-democratic forces that resulted in waning of government writ.

“There can be no improvement in law and order without cleaning up the province, particularly the metropolis,” said Syed Bachal Shah of the Pakistan People’s Party.

He said while he had moved a resolution in the Sindh Assembly on deweaponisation, merely adopting a resolution on the subject was not enough. He highlighted the need for ‘do more’ on the issue. “Instead of indulging in blame game we must bear down on criminals with courage and determination,” he said.

As far as legislation was concerned, he said, there was a need to make changes to Section 13-D of the Pakistan Arms Ordinance, 1965, to make possession of an unlicensed weapon a non-bailable offence. “A person arrested for possessing an illegal weapon must not be granted bail at least for one year,” he suggested, emphasising the need for a deweaponisation campaign.

However, Mr Shah said, this drive should be conducted with the consensus of all parties for which the reconciliation policy being pursued by the PPP and its coalition partners was a prerequisite. He added that the policy had ushered in a new political culture. Representing minority communities, lawmaker Saleem Khursheed Khokhar said the country was facing crises because the nation had deviated from the guiding principles of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He blamed military interventions for the present state of affairs.

Curriculums

Mr Khokhar also called for revisiting school curricula to remove the material that generate hatred and discrimination against different religious or ethnic entities. He said an effective ban on toy weapons would also help change the mindset of our young generation.

Recalling that the Awami National Party followed Bacha Khan’s non-violence policy, the party’s Sindh chapter president Senator Shahi Syed said militancy in society increased due to prolonged military rule by generals Ayub Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf.

There was an ongoing fight between democratic and anti-democratic forces, he said, adding that the issue of frequent killings could not be addressed when the leader of a party asked his followers to sell television sets and purchase weapons.

Seeking an across-the-board crackdown on criminals, Mr Syed said law-enforcers were welcome to begin an operation from his own home.He condemned the ethnic killing of seven bus passengers near Sakrand on Friday and said the number of killings on ethnic grounds had declined during the Lyari operation, but it revived soon after the operation was stopped.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Michael Javed also shared his views during the programme.

MQM leader Nadia Gabol was invited to the conference but she informed the organisers that she was unable to attend the event due to her more pressing engagements.

Resolution

The meeting adopted a declaration, expressing concern over recurring violence in Karachi manifested in the form of targeted killings on political, ethnic and sectarian grounds.

It also deplored the failure of the coalition government and lack of will in the leadership on both sides of the political divide to stem the bloodletting which had not only resulted in loss of lives and property but has also caused irreparable loss to the economy.

Taking serious notice of the proliferation of weapons of all sorts and the failure of the law-enforcement agencies in checking this traffic, the resolution held the provincial government, the coalition partners and their opponents responsible for the prevailing state of affairs.

It demanded an honest and wider operation to rid the province of illegal weapons and to setting up of a joint intelligence network to permanently monitor the movement of such weapons.

Noting that nothing concrete had been done to reform the police and to free the department from political interference, the resolution demanded that legislators do more than mere lip service or passage of resolutions.

The speakers were of the opinion that community policing should be introduced to purge police from corrupt officials and make the department more responsive to security needs of the people.

The declaration demanded that all political parties must remove anti-social elements from their ranks and their student wings and join hands against them to make Karachi peaceful.