‘Jeopardising’ Karachi op: To save one man, Sindh govt going too far, says Nisar

Says federal govt has options to continue crackdown

ISLAMABAD:

The country’s security czar on Saturday accused the Sindh government of jeopardising the Karachi operation in an effort to ‘save one man’ by delaying the extension of the special powers of the paramilitary Rangers.

Since August 2013, the Rangers have been engaged in an operation in Karachi against criminals and terrorists. It is vested with special powers under which it can carry out investigations, conduct raids without a warrant and detain suspects for 90 days.

These powers were last extended on August 8 and expired on December 8. This time the Sindh government has referred the matter to the Sindh Assembly for ratification.

“I don’t know how deep your ties are with him. I’m shocked how far a party or a government can go for one person,” Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said, without naming the person.

The minister was alluding to Dr Asim Hussain, who is currently under National Accountability Bureau’s custody and is facing charges of corruption and terror financing.



Nisar warned the Sindh government that it could not send the paramilitary Rangers back to the barracks as the “process could not be reversed”.

“The federal government will not allow any attempts to undermine the ongoing operation in Karachi that was launched with consensus,” Nisar said, adding that denying extension in the Rangers’ powers was tantamount to encouraging terrorists and extremists.

“In case the mandate of the Rangers is not extended, I will put some alternate options before Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the purpose on his return from abroad next week,” he said.

He said that the government has four to five options to continue “with the journey for peace in Karachi while remaining within the constitutional, legal and democratic framework’. “We would not want Karachi to slip back …in the grip of fear,” he said.

The federal government, according to him, is a stakeholder in the port city’s law and order situation. Referring to the Supreme Court’s 2011 judgment, Nisar said the law and order situation in Karachi had a ripple effect on the entire country.

The minister reiterated his stance that if the PPP or the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had any reservations then he was ready to sit with them to address these issues.

“The operation was launched after consultation with political parties and the provincial authorities. And it was also decided that the Sindh chief minister would be the captain of the operation,” he said.

He said the federal government had been pursuing the provincial government for some two weeks to extend the Rangers’ powers but it was using delaying tactics.

“I personally talked to Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and asked him to convey my request to the PPP co-chairman for not taking up the matter at the Sindh Assembly as the issue has not been taken to the assembly in the past,” he said.

He said the PPP led provincial government was constantly making negative statements about the government, interior ministry and the Rangers. “The Rangers has rendered sacrifices for peace in Karachi and criticising it is unacceptable,” he said.

Nisar said the Rangers force not working for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) or any other political party. “It is a federal force operating in the metropolitan city under the federal anti-terrorism law,” he said.

He also said he would make public many things which are on record, including a video of Dr Asim Hussain and a report of joint investigation team (JIT) on the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2015.