After two weeks: Sindh extends Rangers powers with a caveat

Force won’t be able to detain anyone not directly involved in terrorism without CM’s permission

KARACHI:

After two weeks of debate, the Sindh Assembly finally ratified the deployment of Rangers in the province on Wednesday, giving the paramilitary force ‘conditional’ special powers.

But what the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which rules Sindh, called an action “taken in the letter and spirit of law and the National Action Plan (NAP),” the opposition termed an exercise to ‘curtail’ the Rangers powers in the province.

According to the resolution moved by Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Sial, the Rangers will only take action in cases of targeted killing, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and sectarian killing. The paramilitary force cannot place in preventive custody any person not directly involved in terrorism and only suspected to have aided, abetted, financed or facilitated terrorists. In order to do so, the Rangers and any other law enforcement agency will have to obtain the prior written approval of the chief minister, who can choose to turn down any such request.

The resolution – adopted with a majority vote in a rowdy assembly session marked by howls of opposition protest – also stops Rangers from raiding any office of the Sindh government or any other provincial authority without the written approval of the province’s chief secretary.



“Pakistan Rangers shall [also] not assist any other institution/organisation apart from Sindh police in carrying out its action,” the third paragraph of the resolution stated, apparently referring to the security cover the paramilitary force provided to the Federal Investigation Agency and the National Accountability Bureau while making arrests in Sindh.

The home minister read out the text of the resolution.

“The proviso of article 147 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic Pakistan makes it mandatory for all such decisions of the government to be ratified by the provincial assembly within 60 days… And whereas the law and order situation in general has improved due to the joint efforts of Sindh police and Pakistan Rangers who have rendered the sacrifices of their lives,” Sial read out from the document.

“Now, therefore, the decision of Sindh government made on July 16, 2015 regarding deployment of Pakistan Rangers for a period of 12 months in aid of police and civil administration for maintenance of law and order is ratified.”

Within three minutes, the resolution was ratified after calls of ‘ayes’ in favour and ‘noes’ against it.

Members of the opposition, who had been pressing the government to extend the Rangers powers, gathered in front of the speaker’s podium, tearing their copies of the agenda and chanting slogans against corruption.

Even MQM, which had voiced its reservations against the Rangers extraordinary powers, protested against the resolution.

The opposition then staged a token walkout but returned to the house a few minutes later, still shouting slogans against the PPP government in Sindh. Their protests compelled the speaker to adjourn the assembly session till Friday.

“They want to protect their people who are involved in massive corruption and terrorist activities,” Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and former Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim told newsmen outside the assembly.

“We will not let PPP run the next session and will continue to protest inside and outside the assembly,” said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Khurram Sher Zaman. “They [PPP] have made Rangers toothless by curtaining their powers. They want to impose their hegemony in Sindh.”

Sheharyar Mahar of Pakistan Muslim League-Functional said the resolution was totally against the spirit of NAP which called for action against terrorists along with their financiers and facilitators.

Responding to criticism, Sindh Chief Minister’s Adviser on Information Moula Bux Chandio said “We have not curtailed the Rangers powers and have adopted the resolution in the spirit of NAP.”

“The ratification was about the deployment of Rangers, not the special powers given to them under the Anti-Terrorism Act. These powers to detain any person for 90 days without warrant will be given to Rangers soon through government notification, but they will only act against target killing, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and sectarian killing,” he said.

Pointing out that the Rangers did not enjoy such powers in other provinces, he questioned why the PPP and Sindh government were being singled out.

He asserted that the Rangers will have to act in accordance with the instructions of the Sindh government.


Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2015.