Manghopir search operation: Blindfolded men sent to undisclosed location

Sources claim 50 men were taken away, Rangers say they arrested only four.

KARACHI:

Around 3:30 am on Saturday morning, over 150 Rangers personnel reached Manghopir and by 11 am, they had managed to round up over 50 men.

Witnesses saw a large group of blindfolded men, with their hands tied at their backs, get into the dozens of vans parked nearby. The Rangers took them to an undisclosed location. The Sindh Rangers spokesperson confirmed the arrest of only four people along with weapons. He said that the rest of the people were released shortly after their detention.

The Rangers were accompanied by female law enforcers, commandos and the police. Initially, they cordoned off the neighbourhood’s Sector I to Sector V and then started the door-to-door search from 5:30 am.

Two brothers, Khan Islam and Bahadur, were also injured during this operation. When the Rangers personnel jumped into their house, the two men thought that some robbers had broken in. They fired into the air to scare them away but the Rangers retaliated and they were injured, said their relative Kareem. The brothers were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

For his part, the spokesperson said that the brothers were injured in the crossfire between the Rangers and some criminals. The law enforcers have no intentions of hurting anyone and that is why female personnel are helping them to carry out the operation. The Rangers received information from intelligence agencies about the presence of criminals in the area, he said.

Residents’ reactions

The residents of Manghopir were confined inside their homes following the unexpected overnight search operation by the Rangers. Most of them felt that the authorities are only targeting Pakhtun-dominated areas and they will retaliate if such injustice continued.

Abdul Rehman, a resident of Sultanabad, was on his way  home from work when the operation started. “Enough is enough. Every time, they [Rangers] come here and start barging into our houses.”

He felt that the operation is only “staged” for the authorities and the media, but it leaves a very negative impact upon the residents. “It is hard to forget men in uniforms jumping into your house and waking you up,” he said. “I am traumatised. My family is traumatised and everyone else is traumatised. We just pray to Allah during the operation to keep us safe.” Bahadur Khan was also very angry the Rangers picked his neighbourhood. “Why do they come here each time? Why are Manghopir or Sultanabad being viewed as havens for terrorists? There are lots of areas in the city,” he said. Khan believed the law enforcers bother them only because they find it easier to raid Pakhtun-dominated areas.

“There is a perception that the Pakhtuns are part of the Taliban or are terrorists. I accept that some Pakhtuns are terrorists but not all.”

Khan became emotional when he pointed out that, “we gave our blood to this land and we want the authorities to stop targeting the Pakhtuns. We are not terrorists but we would be if this behaviour continues.” As the operation continued well after office hours, most of the residents were forced to stay home. “Nobody cares about the losses of those people who work on daily wages,” said Jalal Khan. He chose to stay indoors because he felt that, “it is much better to remain inside the house during the operation because if we go outside, we can easily become a prey for the law enforcers”.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1^st, 2011.