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Private security booms in Karachi
‘Insecurity among the people has increased. They obviously need to do something to feel secure.’ — AFP KARACHI: Karachi, Pakistan's buzzing port city, is a hub of beaches, malls, restaurants — and the odd shooting range where an army of private security guards train to protect the well-heeled. As growing insecurity grips the nation — with the military battling Taliban militants in swathes of the northwest and deadly bombs hitting key cities with crime on the rise — the security industry in quietly booming. Rashid Malik, who owns the firm Security 2000, has his men carry out target practice in the basement of a bungalow in an upscale Karachi neighbourhood, but even with 10,000 employees, he is struggling to keep up with demand. ‘I have to turn down many requests from people and businesses because I still have not enough capacity to provide security to all the people,’ said Malik, a retired army brigadier. ‘After the army and police, private security guards are the third largest force in Pakistan — we are just a few years away from outnumbering the police force in the country,’ he adds. There are 600 security firms in Pakistan, according to figures from the All Pakistan Security Agencies Association (APSAA), with 200 of them operating in Karachi, protecting businesses big and small, as well as the homes of wealthy clients. Karachi — Pakistan's biggest city with a population of about 16 million — was once known as the City of Lights and is the country's economic engine, but has been plagued by sectarian tensions for years. Clashes between Pashtun and Urdu-speaking groups left at least 34 people dead in April. Now, the threat of terrorism also grips the city, with attacks by extremists gathering pace across the country after US-led forces ousted the Taliban regime from Afghanistan in late 2001. More than 1,800 people in Pakistan have been killed in less than two years in attacks linked to Taliban and other militant groups, and Karachi has not been spared. In January 2002, Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl was kidnapped in the city while researching militancy in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in the United States. A video showing him being beheaded was delivered to the US consulate in Karachi nearly a month later. The city has also seen a string of other incidents, including suicide attacks on French engineers, the US consulate and a bomb targeting late politician Benazir Bhutto in October 2007 which killed 139 people. ‘Our business witnessed huge prospects after the 9/11 attacks,’ said Malik, who also heads the APSAA. The city is also seeing rising crime, including robberies and kidnappings. ‘There is a serious law and order situation in the whole country, which has left us with no other option but to buy security to secure our lives and our huge investments,’ Mohammad Ali, a steel importer, told AFP. For 170 million Pakistanis, there is just a 383,000-strong police force. In Sindh that figure is 99,000 police, while there are 100,000 security guards patrolling the streets of Karachi and the rest of the province. Most officers are ill-trained, poorly educated and badly paid — a regular constable's monthly salary is just 100 dollars, and his family receives a lump sum of 6,000 dollars if he is killed in the line of duty. ‘We have hired security guards for our safety because police have failed to stop criminals from robbing and killing people,’ said Mohammad Waseem, a resident of the city's central Gulberg neighbourhood. On his street, private security guards man a kiosk at the corner, letting only those living in the area pass through. ‘You can see this arrangement in most areas of Karachi,’ Waseem said. Malik said one problem was getting trained guards. ‘Most of our guards are ex-military soldiers but that does not meet our increasing demand so we have to go to Punjab and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) where people acquainted with weapons could be found easily,’ he said. The country's lawless tribal areas and several other NWFP districts are currently plagued by a Taliban insurgency. The Pakistani army is engaged in an operation to quell an uprising across the three districts of Swat, Buner and Lower Dir, and the Taliban have vowed to avenge the onslaught with attacks on major cities. Sociologist Fateh Mohammad Burfat said that in uncertain times, residents take comfort from the presence of uniformed security guards standing on street corners of the cosmopolitan city. ‘Insecurity among the people has increased. They obviously need to do something to feel secure,’ said Burfat, who teaches at Karachi University. — AFP DAWN: Tuesday, 09 Jun, 2009 |
