Karachi safer than New York and London, says Zia Ul Hassan Lanjar

KARACHI: Following Sharmila Faruqui, another Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) minister, Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, has compared Karachi to New York City, claiming it is even better than the iconic US metropolis.

Earlier, Sharmila Faruqui, on the ARY News program,’ Masoomana show with Waseem Badami, ‘had said that living in Karachi is like living in Paris, France.

In a recent statement, Home Minister of Sindh, Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, has claimed that Karachi, the capital of Sindh, is now a better city than New York, citing an improvement in its global safety ranking.

Speaking during a budget session of the Sindh Assembly, Zia Lanjar has said that metropolitan city Karachi is now ranked 170th among the world’s most dangerous cities, arguing that it is safer than New York.

However, he acknowledged that motorcycle theft remains a major challenge and said new legislation would be required to tackle the problem.

“Motorcycle theft will not decrease until trackers are made mandatory on bikes,” Sindh Home Minister added.

Zia Lanjar alleged that successive governments had allowed uncertainty to persist in Karachi, adding that there would be “no compromise” on maintaining law and order.

Addressing the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), he accused the party of trying to recreate the situation of 1992. He added that action would be taken against any member of the provincial assembly who took the law into their own hands.

The minister also said the PPP government would not allow a return to the era of “body-bag killings” (bori band lashain), warning that if this remained MQM’s policy, it would be unacceptable.

He further stressed that Karachi belongs to all communities, including Sindhis, Urdu speakers, and Punjabis, and emphasized that the city “is and will remain” the capital of Sindh.