PHOTO: AFP
And in an animated press conference in Hyderabad, Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister Moula Bux Chandio said the Larkana incident cannot be used as a pretext to elicit the official approval.
After the expiry of the policing powers, the paramilitary force suspended snap-checking at exit and entry points of the city, and its personnel have been directed to ‘stay in camps’ rather than operating in field till further orders.
A tussle between the Pakistan Rangers and the PPP-led Sindh government escalated after the former conducted a raid at Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Sial’s home in Larkana a few days ago and with Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah announcing that the extension of powers would now be linked to the ‘consent’ of the PPP leadership.
Rangers to have special powers in Karachi only, says CM
Though the Sindh home department has prepared two summaries for one-year deployment of the paramilitary force under Article 147 and policing powers to be conferred under the Anti-Terrorism Act, the chief minister has been waiting to first get the consent of PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in this regard.
There were reports that Rangers personnel have also been withdrawn from the CM House and other VIP duties; however, no official confirmation was issued to the media.
“Not only policing powers, but deployment of the force that continues since the 1990s has also expired, so our personnel cannot assist police and continue operation till further orders,” sources in the paramilitary force said.
Sources said Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah is scheduled to visit Dubai on July 22 to meet PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari where this issue is expected to be resolved. “Rangers want to start a targeted operation in other districts of Sindh and the PPP government is opposing it and wanted the force to confine its operation to Karachi only,” sources said.
“The same situation happened last year when the Rangers raided the Sindh Building Control Authority and other provincial government offices and the chief minister and his cabinet members had called the raids ‘an attack on Sindh government’.
“After that the PPP refused to give the force special powers. It only reluctantly agreed to it later after getting the assurance from the paramilitary force that it would not take any action in rural Sindh.
“However, this deal never materialised as Rangers personnel raided Larkana to arrest a close aide of the Sindh home minister and also cordoned off his hometown for a few days,” sources said.
Meanwhile, Moula Bux Chandio, while talking to the media in Hyderabad, said: “The Rangers can’t make the Larkana incident a reason for [the security] operation in Sindh.”
“Soon the facts of the incident will be brought to light,” he added.
Rangers’ summary: ‘Approval from the top awaited’
Chandio said Director-General Maj-Gen Bilal Akbar wants to expand the scope of the operation to the whole province. But, the adviser argued, the law and order situation in the rest of Sindh can be handled by police.
“So, on what basis the Rangers want to launch the operation?” he questioned.
He said the on-going action by the Rangers in Karachi will not stop. “If the Rangers take any action [after the end of their powers on July 19], it will not be unconstitutional,” he said, alluding the extension will be renewed from the date on which it ended.
The adviser criticised Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar for his criticism of the Sindh government over the issue.
“He (the minister) is in a habit of making the issue controversial. He is doing politics on the Rangers issue and he has tried to sensationalise the matter.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2016.
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