Killings Taking Place Under Administration’s Nose, JUI Questions Safe City Cameras

Quetta — Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) Quetta leaders have said killings and lawlessness are continuing in the city despite the presence of the administration, and have asked what use Safe City cameras are if assailants escape in broad daylight.

Addressing a meeting of amirs and nazims, district amir Sheikh-ul-Hadith Maulana Abdul Rahman Rafiq, secretary general Haji Ainullah Shams and other leaders condemned the target killing of trader Salahuddin Noorzai. They said citizens were being shot dead during the day and the attackers were fleeing easily, while the administration and law-enforcement agencies appeared unable to protect people.

They said the safety of life and property was a basic duty of the government, but traders, labourers, ordinary residents and even children in Quetta no longer felt secure. Billions of rupees had been spent on Safe City cameras, and checkposts were in place across the city, yet target killings and serious crime continued. “If killers can target citizens in broad daylight and escape, what illness are these billion-rupee Safe City cameras supposed to cure?” they asked. Cameras alone, they said, do not make a city safe.

The leaders claimed Quetta was becoming a centre for criminals, killers, drug dealers, thieves and robbers. The continuation of crime despite blockades and checkposts, they said, showed administrative failure. The government, they added, must decide who is responsible for public safety, as people were living in fear.

They also expressed concern over what they called the spread of obscenity, indecency, drug dealing and drug use. After evening, they said, squares and main roads became hubs of these social vices, and the open activity of such elements in the presence of the government pointed to official neglect.

JUI Quetta said it had repeatedly raised these issues and demanded protection, but the situation remained unchanged. Citizens could not be left at the mercy of killers, robbers and drug dealers, they said, calling for immediate control of law and order, arrests in target-killing cases, protection of life and property, and practical steps against drugs and other social evils.

The party said it would not stay silent. A future meeting would set a clear line of action. If the administration failed to curb criminals and protect citizens, JUI would not hesitate to launch a full public protest. Amirs and nazims from all tehsils and units of JUI Quetta attended the meeting.