Cost of security.

Byline: Hajrah Mumtaz

FOR all those living in Karachi, urban crime is a fact of life it is almost a 'tax' that one might pay for all the services that one does not, in fact, get.

Rare is the man who has not been threatened, often at gunpoint, even if he be as recognisable a person as Wasim Akram (who was not held up, but suffered being fired at in the aftermath of a road incident). The streets are for various, well-documented reasons awash with firearms, with much of the city's petty crime occurring because the weapons are already at hand.

This is hardly the case in lovely, leafy Islamabad or so it is thought.

The rates of urban crime in the capital are certainly far lower than in Karachi, but they are climbing up nevertheless. The 'war on terror' and the country's action against militancy have taken a formidable toll, not just in terms of the weaponisation of the population, but also in correlating aspects such as rural-to-urban migration, the loss of lifestyles and livelihood, and a diminished tribal bond.

Efforts to provide safety to the...