Deadlock over Rangers powers ends

PTI’s Arif Alvi says it was unfair to stop the Rangers from operating in other parts of Sindh

ISLAMABAD: A day after a verbal duel between Sindh and the Centre, the interior ministry notified a yearlong extension in the stay of the Rangers in Sindh with special policing powers for the paramilitary force for 90 days in Karachi. The ministry issued two notifications late Wednesday night.

Official sources said on Wednesday that the ministry has extended full policing powers to the Rangers in Karachi rejecting a Sindh government request that the paramilitary force should not conduct any targeted operation in the province without first informing the chief minister.



The Sindh government sent two summaries on Monday to the interior ministry requesting that notifications be issued forthwith. The interior ministry’s legal wing pored over the summaries and concluded that one of them relating to the Rangers special powers doesn’t conform to Article 147 of the Constitution.

However, media reported that the interior ministry had rejected the summaries, triggering scathing criticism from leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party, which is in power in Sindh. PPP Senator Saeed Ghani went as far to accuse Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of trying to behave like a ‘viceroy’.

A spokesman for the ministry said the PPP leaders’ criticism was quite surprising and beyond understanding. He said in a statement that the ministry received a notification regarding extension in the Rangers’ authority on Tuesday. “Neither the ministry had rejected the notification of the Sindh government nor was any announcement made in this regard.”

During the last two weeks the Rangers had been present in Sindh without any authority and in spite of repeated reminders, the provincial government neither positively responded nor its leadership showed any impatience which is being expressed now, the spokesman said.



The issue also figured in the proceedings of the National Assembly. “Such moves create an impression that the Rangers cannot operate in Sindh other than Karachi,” PPP parliamentary leader Naveed Qamar said while speaking on a point of order.

According to the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, there is no restriction on the Rangers to pursue criminals in certain areas, he added. “In coordination with police, the Rangers can go after criminals anywhere in a hot pursuit.”

However, he said, it is a prerogative of a province – according to Article 147 of the Constitution – to give the Rangers the policing powers in a city or the whole province. “The interior ministry has no right to reject the summary of a province and the federal government should clarify its position with regard to the statements in the press,” he said.

MQM lawmaker Asif Husnain said his party was the first to demand special powers for the Rangers in Sindh.

“If something is wrong in Karachi, then the Rangers takes action but it is supposed not to, in case of crimes in other parts of province,” he said angrily. “Karachi is neither a colony of the establishment nor someone’s inherited property,” he said before staging a walkout.

PTI’s Arif Alvi said the issue of Karachi was quite sensitive, and mishandling would lead to hatred in and outside the Karachi. “We need to frankly accept the reality that the Rangers deployment has had a phenomenal affect with a decline in killings.” He said it was unfair to stop the Rangers from operating in other parts of Sindh.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2016.