The Pakistani caretaker government March 26 announced a ban on tinted auto glass and motorcycle helmet visors as part of an effort to improve the law-and-order situation ahead of the May 11 election.
"On March 19, Karachi police announced a seven-day deadline for the motorists to remove tinted glass and to stop using helmets with black face masks," Imran Shaukat, senior superintendent of police and spokesman of Karachi police, told Central Asia Online. Police consequently started enforcing the law March 26. The aim is to keep an eye on militants and other criminals and maintain peace in the city, he said.
Other precautions
Officials also banned public possession of weapons. A ban on permits for weapons is effective immediately and a new policy is coming soon, the Interior Ministry indicated.
In addition to the ban on bearing even legally owned weapons in public, Inspector General of Sindh Police Ghulam Shabbir Sheikh announced a one-week deadline to surrender all illegal weapons. Urging the public to surrender all illegal arms within a week while talking to media March 26, the Sindh police chief said that after the deadline violators would be liable to prosecution under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Police will impound vehicles, confiscate weapons and arrest their owners, to enforce the bans Shaukat said.
Law's reach is extensive
Authorities are even forcing VIPs to remove black tinted glass from their vehicles and abide by the law. The use of tinted glass in big cars is part of the VIP culture in the country – showing the wealth of the passenger – but this culture no longer seems acceptable.
The reason for the law is that militants and criminals can use vehicles with tinted windows to conceal their movements or to allow them to transport weapons or carry out other illegal activities, Shaukat said. In the same light, criminals have relied on opaque masks on their motorcycle helmets to prevent identification.
Crackdown already shows results
Progress already is visible, police say.
"The Karachi police strategy … has produced positive results as the law-and-order situation has improved considerably in the city," Shaukat said. Police have already begun making arrests, and as the law-and-order situation in the mega-city continues to improve, law enforcement will further step up its targeted operations, he added.
So far, citizens are taking the crackdown seriously.
"We have removed black tinting from the windows of our Land Cruiser as we saw strict inspections on roads and arrests of motorists using tinted glass," Mairaj Ellahi, son of an influential person in Karachi's Defence Housing Authority (DHA) neighbourhood, told Central Asia Online March 26.
Karachi's fight against violence
Karachi has battled sectarian and ethnic violence for years. Last year, the city of 18m recorded 3,105 homicides.
Karachi police and Rangers have arrested hundreds of suspected militants and criminals and have seized many weapons during on-going targeted operations, snap checking and searches, Shaukat said. The detainees belong to the Taliban or sectarian groups or are career criminals involved in terrorism, targeted killings, kidnapping for ransom, extortion and street crimes, he said.
Police, Rangers and other security agencies are co-ordinating with each other to identify militants and criminals and to carry out targeted operations, he said, adding that the plan seems to be working.
