Empowering the Rangers

It is reported that the Sindh government has decided to extend the special policing powers of the Rangers in Karachi for another 90 days. It is further reported that the senior leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had directed Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to make the three-month extension. The extension of powers under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 allows the Rangers to carry out raids and arrest suspects. The last extension expired on Monday 16^th January, and the Sindh government had the choice of allowing it to remain lapsed or make an extension. It was correct to choose the latter.

Any ‘controversy’ around the extension of Rangers powers is largely manufactured. There have been disagreements between Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan and various members of the Sindh government over the role of the Rangers. Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah is said to have been displeased at raids on the offices of Anwar Majeed, a former close associate of former President Asif Ali Zardari which were timed to coincide with Mr Zardari’s return to Pakistan. Apart from documents the raids netted 17 Kalashnikovs, 4 pistols, 3,255 rounds of ammunition and 9 ball bombs.

The cleaning up of Karachi is no ordinary policing operation. The police forces are highly politicised and deeply corrupt. They are in the pockets of criminals and terrorists alike. The Rangers are not, and the renewal of their powers has proved to be effective in the past in reducing crime and incidents of terrorism, and will be effective into the future for as long as necessary. The renewal of Rangers powers should be a matter of routine rather than a political ping-pong match every quarter. There is criticism that the Rangers are heavy-handed, more so than the police and that may well be true — but then again urban warfare such as is being waged in the city was never going to be pretty or palatable. If the city is ever to be truly pacified, de-weaponised and de-criminalised then the Rangers are a vital tool in that process. No pain no gain goes the saying. Continue as before, gentlemen.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2017.

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