Karachi operation hamstrung

The government took its eye off the ball when it came to renewing the mandate for the Rangers to conduct what is universally referred to as the Karachi Operation. The Rangers had been bestowed with ‘special powers’, which rendered the regular police virtually supernumerary in large part because they were seen as much as part of the problem than part of the solution. Highly politicised and corrupt, the Karachi police were never going to be the best option when it came to a cleaning of the Augean stables.



The ‘special powers’ lapsed on December 6 and the matter was referred to the Sindh Assembly where it was slated for discussion on December 14. The PPP government of Sindh first stonewalled and then managed to pass on December 16 a bill that limited the operational scope of the Rangers and ruled out any attempt by them to act on cases of alleged corruption. At a stroke, the PPP manipulated protection for those that might have been vulnerable had the Rangers had their powers restored to the point at which they lapsed. In doing so, the provincial government has allowed institutionalised and endemic corruption — and not only at the political level but also the purely criminal — to not only flourish but do so with its blessing, at the same time as hamstringing the Rangers.

The Federal Investigation Agency and the National Accountability Bureau look set to lose the protection afforded by the Rangers, which can now only detain those found to be directly involved in terrorism and not those suspected of such, a significant curtailing of the paramilitary force’s powers. It remains to be seen whether the Rangers are going to find the new terms of engagement acceptable, or whether the federal government will let matters rest now that the Sindh legislature has spoken. It is far from satisfactory to have a paramilitary force conducting what in an ideal world would be a civilian operation. But this is not an ideal world, with the provincial government failing to do its job in this regard. Karachi is long overdue to get its face washed. We await developments with interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th,  2015.

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