‘The govt, not the ISI, deployed the Rangers in Karachi’
Manzoor Wasan meets Pir Pagara.
KARACHI:
Home Minister Manzoor Wasan said that the ISI chief did not deploy the Rangers in sensitive areas of Karachi, but the federal government did.
Speaking to the media after his meeting with Pakistan Muslim League (F) leader Pir Pagara, he said that the decision regarding the deployment of the Rangers was made with mutual consultation with the interior ministry after the recent spate of violence in the city.
The home minister said that the government has started positioning the police and Frontier Constabulary personnel in vulnerable areas to prevent violence from breaking out. However, he added that the government has not yet decided whether it will be deploy the Rangers permanently.
In response to a question, the minister admitted that he had once again dreamt that Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan returned to Pakistan and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had rejoined the government. “People of my constituency know that my dreams always come true,” he said.
Wasan, who has given a one-month deadline to bring peace to Karachi, has started meeting leaders of different political parties and other stakeholders. Talking to the media after meeting Pir Pagara at his Kingri House residence, he said, “Pir Saheb has assured his full support and prayed for peace in the city.” He asserted that only political parties can mitigate the volatile situation in Karachi.
When journalists asked him to comment on one of Pagara’s previous statement — that the government will not be complete its tenure — he said that Pagara has assured him that the democratic government faces no danger of falling apart.
The minister said that after assuming his duties, he first went to Katti Pahari and other volatile places which had literally become battlefields. The situation of Karachi was different than that in the rest of the country’s because peace cannot be restored here through the use of force. “We have to adopt a different strategy in order to restore the peace by taking all major stakeholders of the city into confidence,” he explained.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2011.
Home Minister Manzoor Wasan said that the ISI chief did not deploy the Rangers in sensitive areas of Karachi, but the federal government did.
Speaking to the media after his meeting with Pakistan Muslim League (F) leader Pir Pagara, he said that the decision regarding the deployment of the Rangers was made with mutual consultation with the interior ministry after the recent spate of violence in the city.
The home minister said that the government has started positioning the police and Frontier Constabulary personnel in vulnerable areas to prevent violence from breaking out. However, he added that the government has not yet decided whether it will be deploy the Rangers permanently.
In response to a question, the minister admitted that he had once again dreamt that Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan returned to Pakistan and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had rejoined the government. “People of my constituency know that my dreams always come true,” he said.
Wasan, who has given a one-month deadline to bring peace to Karachi, has started meeting leaders of different political parties and other stakeholders. Talking to the media after meeting Pir Pagara at his Kingri House residence, he said, “Pir Saheb has assured his full support and prayed for peace in the city.” He asserted that only political parties can mitigate the volatile situation in Karachi.
When journalists asked him to comment on one of Pagara’s previous statement — that the government will not be complete its tenure — he said that Pagara has assured him that the democratic government faces no danger of falling apart.
The minister said that after assuming his duties, he first went to Katti Pahari and other volatile places which had literally become battlefields. The situation of Karachi was different than that in the rest of the country’s because peace cannot be restored here through the use of force. “We have to adopt a different strategy in order to restore the peace by taking all major stakeholders of the city into confidence,” he explained.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2011.