[Dawn] A meeting between representatives of the Baloch and Kutchhi communities held here on Monday at the commissioner's office agreed on an operation cleanup to rid old city areas of illegal arms but concluded without reaching a decision on where and when to start the process.Sources privy to the meeting told Dawn that another Baloch-Kutchhi meeting would be held within the next few days at the office of the deputy commissioner of south to fix the date and identify the areas, with agreement of both the communities, to launch the operation from.
The sources said that representatives of both the communities were insisting at the meeting chaired by Commissioner Shoaib Siddiqui that the operation be started from the area inhabited by the other community.
Police suggested the operation be started in a straight line from one side and pushed ahead till it reached the other side in order to comb all areas in between, said the sources.
Zafar Baloch who represented the Baloch community at the meeting said that he suggested the operation be launched from Mandra Mohalla and Alfalah Road which were recently affected by gang warfare and people felt threats to their lives.
But, he said, Kuchhi representatives did not agree to the suggestion. He hoped they would soon come round and help rid their area of illegal weapons.
He said the date to start the operation from had not yet been fixed. It would start only after a consensus was reached between the two communities, he said.
He said the Baloch fully supported the operation and believed that it be launched not only in Lyari
...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot....
but in the entire city to cleanse it of illegal weapons and restore much-needed peace to Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous....