KARACHI - The National Organisation for Working Communities (NOWC), encompassing peace activists, political representatives and members of civil society and media, on Wednesday expressed deep concerns over the continuing violence in the city which, according to it, is manifested in the politically-motivated targeted killings, ethnically-induced land grabbing and sectarian clashes.Taking cognisance of the recent events, the NOWC also noted the regrettable failure of the coalition government and lack of will in the leadership on both sides of the political divide in curbing bloodletting, which has not only resulted in loss of human lives and property but has also caused irreparable losses to the economy.Taking serious notice of the proliferation of killer weapons of all sorts and questionable failure of the law enforcement agencies in checking this traffic, this conference also held the provincial government and ruling coalition partners and their opponents responsible for the prevailing state of affairs.Noting that nothing concrete had been done to restructure the local police and to free it from political interference, the gathering also demanded that the legislators should move beyond the passage of resolutions condemning killings and violence, and come up with legislation in this regard.It was of the firm view that increasing unemployment, marginalisation of minority communities, breakdown of trade union activities, ethnic and sectarian hatred had further accentuated violence and worsening law and order situation in the city. It demanded that all those organisations and pressure groups that advocated ethnicity and sectarianism should be immediately banned.The NOWC believed that a vibrant and party-based local government system and community policing were essential for peace and development in the city. The NOWC demanded holding of LB elections without further delay and urged all the stakeholders to honour their heir pledged to the people in this regard. It also demand that there should be only one municipal body for the city and Cantonment Boards and other such bodies should be merged with the City District Government whose elected council should take all decisions about the development of the metropolis.The meeting was of the view that community policing should be introduced to weed out corruption in the police force and make it more responsive to the people’s security needs. It was noted that presence of various mafias in the city was the result of faculty foreign and domestic policies. It was noted that mafias gained strength after the 1979 Afghan war. The presence of the so-called Taliban is connected with that phenomenon. Land and drug mafia and gun runners were also connected with each other and have made serious inroads into the various political parties. This meeting therefore demands that all political parties must purge such elements from their ranks and in fact join hand against them to make Karachi violence free. People also wish that economic development should take place in other cities as well to provide employment opportunities for those who migrate into Karachi on regular basis. The meeting also noted that malfunctioning of public utilities such as KESC, KWSB and others was also causing tension and law and order problems in the city.