A month after citizens protesting in Islamabad were assured of police action in Kashmore, there isn't any notable progress in the context. There has been a change in police command, but the oppression of citizens, including kidnapping for ransom, extortion and other heinous acts, continues unabated, as it has for years. Four kidnapped individuals remain in the captivity of bandits for ransom in the district. Highway and shop robberies in broad daylight — as well as motorcycle and mobile phone snatching in Kashmore, Tangwani and Ghouspur — show no signs of abating.

Moreover, for years, bandits and their sympathisers have targeted the Hindu business community and the already scarce professionals, forcing many to flee the district. Now, they have begun targeting ordinary citizens for their assets, with the Naich tribe of Kashmore being the latest victims.

Though feudal and tribal warlords, ethnic and tribal sensitivities, tribal clashes, patronisation of bandits, rough katcha terrain, considerable influence of pirs, negligible role of the........

© The Express Tribune