Pakistan's Economic Crisis Drives Rising Gun Culture and Criminal Violence
© AP Photo / Muhammad Sajjad
Subscribe
The unprecedented inflation on food, medicine and fuel has led to extreme hardships for a large section of the Pakistani population forcing some to commit violent crimes. Sputnik got in touch with a senior police officer and citizens of Lahore to understand the gravity of the situation.
Pakistan is in the midst of an ongoing economic crisis and political unrest which has caused severe internal challenges for months. High inflation, political conflict between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and surging terrorism, are some of the issues the country is facing. There is also risk of a default due to its massive external debt obligations. All these factors are taking their toll on civilians as millions struggle to make ends meet.
Retired bureaucrat and vice president of a gated housing society in Lahore, Khalid Shikari told Sputnik that high rate of unemployment and rising inflation is forcing many young men to commit crimes, which in turn affects the everyday life of peaceful civilians.
"As a vice president of HBFC society I am responsible for the safety of the people living in our society. There are a little over 100 houses here and families have expressed their concerns regarding safety because every day in the news we see incidents of robbery, breaking and entering." Shikari said. "We had to increase the number of security guards working at the entrance point of our gated housing society, install more cameras on the streets to record any unwanted incidents, and thoroughly check who is coming into the society if they don't reside here," he added.
Factors Contributing to the Rising Crime Rate
The economic crisis coupled with the devastating floods of 2022 have increased extreme poverty in Pakistan. Much of the research done in the country over the years highlights that higher unemployment is more likely to increase illegal activities.
There is also a significant negative relationship between the crime rates and higher education. More education directly induces high earnings of individuals and may increase both the opportunity cost of crimes and the cost of time spent in criminal activity, as highlighted by a research paper published in Arab Economic and Business Journal.
In Pakistan following the devastating floods thousands of schools and colleges were destroyed and millions of adolescents were left without education. Furthermore, destruction of crops resulted in loss of income for thousands of farmers, tractor drivers, shop vendors, factory workers, and laborers. Mass exodus from rural areas into urban dwellings contributes to higher crime rates because people are displaced from their familiar environments into the new ones.
Furthermore, political instability and rampant corruption result in poor accountability in law enforcement agencies and courts.
On the condition of anonymity, a senior Punjab police officer told Sputnik that Pakistan is facing a significant increase in crimes as compared to previous years.
"One could actually write a whole research paper on this topic because it is so vast. Every year police officers in the field put together detailed crime reports for their senior officers, in which they state how many crimes against persons were committed, how many offenses against property were done," the officer said.
Research project conducted by Pakistan’s premier think tank, the Islamabad Policy Research Institute revealed some shocking details. During a survey, conducted in five key districts of Pakistan’s most-densely populated province, namely Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Lahore, Multan, and Rawalpindi, it was noted that the total number of reported crimes increased by 67% in 2020, as per the statistics quoted by the "Punjab Development Statistics of 2021".
Likewise, in the year 2021, Punjab Police confessed that gender and religiously motivated violent crimes against citizens constituted 10% of all reported crimes.
Similarly, in southern Sindh province, police recently informed the Senate Standing Committee about an “alarming increase” in street crime in Karachi.
Sharing data about the law and order situation in the port city of Karachi, Sindh Police said that some 84,000 cases of street crime were reported in 2021. More disturbingly, the megapolis has witnessed some 400 reported murders in the past year.
"It is no doubt that the crime rate in Pakistan rises with each year," the police officer told Sputnik.
Gun Violence and Assaults
Across cities, mobile phone theft and purse-grabbing are also on the rise. There are many videos circulating on social media that show street cameras recording men on motorbikes approaching cars and pointing a gun at the driver demanding cash and mobile phones. Similar videos show middle aged men approach ATM machines, small shop vendors and other public places demanding that people empty their pockets.
"I drive myself to work for about 30 minutes each day. Thankfully, I have previously not faced a bad experience, but recently with the unfolding situation in the country I feel the tension on the roads, motorbike riders especially seem so frustrated because they have so much stress, they drive so recklessly and seem ill-tempered," a Lahore based teacher, Hina Jawad told Sputnik.
She went on to say, "In the news we see so many incidents of people getting robbed at gunpoint on red light, so my family has been asking me to hire a driver and not be on the roads alone because they worry for my safety. Possibly I will hire a driver to avoid any unfortunate incidents as I feel that being a woman alone on the road these days, especially at night, can make thieves see me as a target," the teacher added.
In some cases, victims have been mercilessly shot and killed for resisting.
