The provincial-federal tussle over Rangers powers has caused uncertainty regarding National Action Plan implementation
LARKANA: After the APS attack in Peshawar in December 2014, it was decided with consensus to develop and follow the National Action Plan (NAP) to weed out terrorism from the country. According to the NAP, it was to be ensured that the operation against terrorists in Karachi will be taken to its logical conclusion. Thus, the Apex Committee chaired by the chief minister of Sindh gave the mandate to the Rangers to accelerate their operation against the perpetrators and abettors of terrorism. The law and order situation in Karachi improved greatly, with incidents of targeted killings, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and sectarian killing all going down, which is doubtlessly a distinctive achievement of the paramilitary force in the province. Moreover, the people of Sindh, especially merchants, traders and businessmen, got a glimmer of hope for the restoration of peace in the province.
The tussle that is going on of late between the provincial and federal governments over determining the powers of the Rangers has created an atmosphere of uncertainty in the country regarding the implementation of the NAP. The Sindh government has proposed to curtail the powers of the Rangers, passing a resolution in the provincial assembly that aimed to limit their ability to move against corruption, which, it is assumed, is facilitating militant activities. The interior ministry, denouncing the summary of the province, has allowed the paramilitary force to operate with full powers under section four of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The centre claims that it is tackling the issue according to constitutional provisions to ensure the country’s integrity.
Pakistan has been experiencing a very deplorable situation for the past decade and a half. It has sacrificed enough. Continued confrontation between the centre and the province will leave repercussions for the whole country’s political spectrum. The decision by the government of conferring powers to the Rangers on the basis of the Anti-Terrorism Act is a positive move. Politicians should avoid politicising the Karachi operation. Contradiction in the stances of the various state and provincial authorities will render performances of the other ineffective. The Rangers’ kinetic operations need to be supplemented by the support of the provincial government. Moreover, the Rangers operation should be widened across Sindh and corrupt politicians and bureaucrats involved in the patronage of militancy in the country must be put behind bars.
Abid Hussain Khokhar
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2016.
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