The Rangers are called

Punjab government has called for a Rangers operation against terrorist groups and banned organisations

For months, there have been calls from all sides for the deployment of the paramilitary Rangers in Punjab as they have in Sindh. Those calls have hitherto been stoutly resisted by the Punjab government with, it has to be said, the tacit support of the federal government. Punjab is the heartland of the ruling PML-N and the vault in which it stores its treasured vote bank, an unknown number of whom support overtly or covertly the very terrorist and banned groups that make up the toxic sludge in the south of the province. Now the Punjab government has acceded to the pressure and called for a Rangers operation against terrorist groups and banned organisations operating openly — but only in “specific areas”. The reason for this change of heart is said to be “terror alerts”.

This is a move that is long overdue and much to be welcomed, though it remains to be seen what the ‘specific areas’ might be and whether the protection offered to some outfits continues to be extended whilst others receive the attentions of the Rangers. If that proves to be the case then this latest move will be revealed as little more than cosmetic, cynical at best. The Rangers are to be deployed in support of the Counter-Terrorism Department, and the ‘specific areas’ are to be determined at a meeting of the Apex Committee, which it will be recalled was formed to implement the 20 points of the National Action Plan.

The intervention of the Rangers has led to a significant drop in crime and terrorist-related incidents in Sindh. There has been criticism of their methodology which is seen by some as heavy-handed — but you don’t fight what amounts to urban warfare with one hand tied behind your back as has been the case hitherto in Punjab. Pretty it may not be, but neither were the criminal cultures and terrorist networks the Rangers have taken down. The Rangers are to be given powers of arrest but it remains to be seen how closely or otherwise they will work with local police forces. Do your work, gentlemen.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2016.

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