PARLIAMENTARY Secretary for Interior Shaukat Ali informed the National Assembly on Wednesday that there had been a marked reduction in heinous crimes in the Federal Capital in 2020 as compared to 2019. He pointed out that the United Nations has declared Islamabad as a ‘family station’ and a ‘safe city’.
The figures about the significant drop in crimes – kidnapping for ransom dropped by 50%, dacoity 18.42%, thefts 67.74%, robberies 34.27%, and car-lifting by about 27% – speak volumes about the success of the police and law-enforcing agencies in improving overall security in the capital. It was also encouraging to hear from the Parliamentary Secretary that 90% of the cameras, installed under the safe city project, were in working order. In fact, the decision of the Interior Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, to abolish a number of check posts in different areas of Islamabad is also motivated by a clear improvement in the overall security environment in the capital. Like the overall country, Islamabad also gets negative coverage whenever some stray incident takes place, which is also a case in other capitals and countries of the world. In fact, some vested interests are always on the lookout to blow such issues out of proportion with a view to maligning Pakistan. The credit, however, goes to the police and other security agencies for working hard to address the menace of terrorism and serious crimes effectively and as a result, one can witness full-scale activities of routine life in each and every part of the country. As against a few years back, there are no security concerns by prospective investors and visitors and the country’s economy is on its way to receive a boost once the Covid-19 situation improves.
