Karachi's "Dirty Harry" Killed by the Taliban
By Riaz Haq
CA
“As a Muslim, my faith tells everyone has to die one day. I’m not afraid of it.”
The above quote is from Police Superintendent Chaudhry Aslam Khan, the head of Karachi City's anti-terror operations, who was a brave cop indeed. He ran out of luck today after flirting with death every day for decades. He was killed in a suicide attack near Essa Nagri at the Lyari Expressway in Karachi on Thursday. May his soul rest in peace!
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP ) has claimed responsibility for the "successful" attack, according to media reports . TTP central spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told Newsweek Pakistan : “Chaudhry was on our hit-list. He was directly involved in killing more than 50 mujahideen and anyone who dares to launch an operation against the mujahideen will be our target."
Earlier in the day, an anti-terror team led by Aslam conducted a raid along the Northern Bypass in the Manghopir area of Karachi and claimed to have killed three militants. A policeman also suffered injuries during the raid.
Chaudhry Aslam Khan had been shot at dozens of times in his career. He survived a massive bomb attack in September 2011 which left a huge crater where his home stood in Karachi's Defense Society neighborhood.
A 2011 Guardian newspaper story described Aslam in the following words: "Few know the dark streets as well as Aslam, a grizzled police veteran of 27 years' experience. Profane, chain-smoking and usually armed with a Glock pistol, he has earned a controversial reputation as Karachi's version of Dirty Harry – the cop who will do whatever it takes to keep the peace."
For those unfamiliar with "Dirty Harry" character, it is the name of a fictional San Francisco Police Department Homicide Division Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan which was immortalized by Clint Eastwood. Dirty Harry has come to symbolize a no holds barred cop who relentlessly pursues bad guys to remove them from the streets.
Chaudhry Aslam was a very courageous officer who put his life on the line to protect the citizens of Karachi. It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to replace such a dedicated and committed police officer.
Terror deaths decline 2013 but threat remains : Total number of deaths in Pakistan terrorist violence declined from 6,211 in 2012 to 5,279 in 2013, the lowest since 11,704 fatalities suffered in 2009, according to figures compiled by South Asia Terrorism Portal .
While civilian casualties remained essentially flat -- down only slightly from 3007 in 2012 to 3001 in 2013 - most of this drop occurred in fatalities suffered by the security forces and the terrorists.
Pakistan's biggest province Punjab with more than half the country's population remained relatively unscathed by terrorist violence with just 81 terror casualties in 2013. By contrast, FATA, Sindh and KP suffered disproportionately with 1,716, 1668 and 936 terror-related deaths respectively.
Sindh suffered the most civilian casualties in 2013 with 1285 dead in terrorist attacks. It is followed by 718 in Balochistan, 603 in KP, 319 in FATA and 64 civilian deaths in Punjab. Few terror-related deaths in Punjab, Pakistan's biggest province, appear to be the main reason why terrorism is not seen as a major problem by majority of Pakistanis in public opinion surveys . According to a survey conducted by the International Republican Institute (IRI), 42% respondents said electricity is the single most important issue facing Pakistan; while 21% said inflation, 12% said unemployment, 10% said terrorism and 3% each cited law and order, corruption and poverty as the most crucial issue. Only 1% considered gas/petrol shortage as the single most important issue of Pakistan.
It seems that Pakistan's new prime minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif's agenda is set in response to the surveys like the IRI survey which are heavily influenced by the perceptions of his party's political base in Punjab. While the Sharif government is focusing on the energy and the economy, it is hard to de-link these priorities with action on terrorism. With Pakistan's domestic savings rate at an all-time low of just 4.3% of GDP , the country badly needs foreign direct investment in energy sector to revive the economy. Such foreign investment is unlikely to materialize in a big way without first tackling the scourge of terrorism in the country. What is urgently needed is a comprehensive strategy and a clear plan to action to fight terrorism in a coordinated fashion.
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