The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan has urged the Sindh High Court chief justice to extend the domain of Pakistan Rangers from Karachi to the whole province given the worsening law and order situation in the province.

“Rangers have demanded the SHC chief justice to give them powers in the whole province and we will ensure law and order. Definitely, they should be given the powers,” MQM-P leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan said at a press conference in Karachi on Sunday.

On Saturday, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi ordered the officials to ensure peace in Karachi and other cities within a month. He also ordered law enforcement agencies to launch a crackdown on criminals, their handlers and facilitators to curb street crime in Karachi and improve the security situation in other parts of the province, particularly the riverine area.

At the meeting, Rangers sought police-like powers to control the law and order situation.

Last week, the MQM-P hinted at parting ways with the PML-N-led coalition government if the killing of innocent people was not stopped.

“Karachi is Sindh and Karachi is not separate from Sindh. So Rangers have complete authority in Karachi and they don’t have in Sindh,” Hassan said and lamented that two systems were running in the province.

When asked, Faisal Subzwari agreed with the suggestion that Sindh Rangers should be given additional powers for the protection of citizens’ lives and belongings. He wondered who would not give the authority to the institution.

He added that political forces should show some seriousness towards the protection of people’s lives.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan has accused the Sindh government of inaction on the issue of rising street crime in Karachi.

MQM-P Senator Faisal Subzwari said that the PPP had been ruling the province for the last 16 years, yet citizens from Karachi to Kashmore were not safe. The comparison of the two cities was in relation to the Sindh-ruling party’s slogan.

Subzwari claimed that no action was being taken against armed gangs and dacoits in Kashmore or against street crime in Karachi.

He urged Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to visit the city and summon Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and provincial officials. He called on the minister to form a committee.

In the recent past, the southern province of Pakistan has seen an increase in crime and many people have lost their lives. Street crimes and the presence of dacoits in the riverine areas, better known as Katcha, have disturbed the situation.

Officials told the Sindh government last month that nearly 16,000 street crimes had so far been recorded in the metropolis since January. Home Minister Zia Lanjar and IGP Riffat Mukhtar had said that 7,822 cases of street crime in the city were recorded in January 2024 and 5,876 in February and 2,234 in March (till 12 March).

When asked about the issue of dacoits in the border regions of Punjab and Sindh, PPP leader Khursheed Shah told Aaj News that the issue would be resolved in a month.

“We requested that a neighbourhood watch system should be implemented. If the Sindh government won’t, then we announce that we will,” Subzwari said and added that residents concerned would guard their areas and work on the security and safety of their own neighbourhoods.

He called for an increase in police patrolling in middle-class and poorer areas of the city.

The MQM-P senator said that those describing incidents “mere street crimes” should have some shame. He added that Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, would have to fix his “attitude” and called on him to open his eyes and ears before “opening your mouth”.

Subzwari said that the MQM-P would hold meetings in every neighbourhood in an effort to find a solution to street crime. “Whatever solution can be implemented, we will do it.”