Preparing for elections: Over 3,000 army men arrive

After continued demands for deployment, army sends it troops ahead of May 11.

KARACHI:

The army has finally sent in over 3,000 troops into the city after continued calls for its deployment by various political parties amid worsening law and order situation.

Truck loads of soldiers left Malir Cantonment and took positions in various neighbourhoods, hoping to deter those trying to disrupt the upcoming general elections on May 11. The armed forces have been called upon to help the civilian power, under Article-245 of the Constitution.

Friday was another violent day for the city as it lost one of its National Assembly candidates for Korangi - Awami National Party’s NA-254 candidate Sadiq Zaman Khattak - in a target killing in Bilal Colony. Khattak was among the 26 people who have so far been killed and hundreds more wounded in attacks on political party offices and meetings since April 23.



According to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) director-general Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, nearly 70,000 troops will be deployed for election-related duties in Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. The armed forces will join the police and the paramilitary forces to guard polling stations while the Quick Response Force of the Pakistan Army will remain on standby for assistance.

“As per the directives of the Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, the deployment of army troops in Karachi has started and it is still in process,” an ISPR Karachi spokesperson told The Express Tribune. “It will be completed by tonight [Friday].”

Another ISPR official said that these troops will be deployed as part of the Quick Response Force in the proximity of sensitive polling stations. “The deployment depends on what kind of area there is,” he said. “The highly sensitive areas will have more men as compared to relatively peaceful ones, but the army will be present across the city so that the terrorists are unable to move around.”

A senior police officer told The Express Tribune that nearly half of the 4,000 polling stations have already been declared sensitive. All of district West, including Manghopir, Sultanabad, Pakhtunabad, Kunwari Colony, Mianwali Colony, Awan Colony, Rasheedabad, Ittehad Town, Orangi Town, Frontier Colony, MPR Colony and Qasba Colony, is highly sensitive, followed closely by district East.

The army men will not, however, be present inside polling stations, but they will be present nearby to respond quickly in case of an emergency. “The troops will continue to flag march and will patrol polling stations and government buildings, such as schools and colleges,” said an ISPR official. “The army will arrive within three to four minutes.”

A coordination cell is also being setup at the Corps Headquarters in order to keep in touch with the election commission and to monitor the situation. “The polling stations will have the contact numbers of the coordination cell so that the presiding officer can quickly call the army in case something happens.”

Earlier, the director-general of Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, Major General Rizwan Akhtar opposed the demands for army deployment by political parties. He said the military will also conduct operations the same way as the Rangers are doing now. “The army deployment has finally started,” a Rangers official said. “Now we have to see how much impact it will have on the law and order situation.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2013.