Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed Chaudhry Nisar to finalise proposals for Wednesday’s federal cabinet meeting to be held in Karachi so that a comprehensive strategy could be worked out for the city. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
While violence continues unabated in the commercial hub of the country, a high-level security huddle on Monday weighed the options available to the government to restore order in the troubled megacity of Karachi.
The meeting concurred that a broad-based consensus has to be evolved among the stakeholders in Karachi before launching any ‘surgical operation’ against target-killers, extortionists and criminals in the city.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said last week that the government has already sketched the blueprint of a ‘targeted operation’. A meeting of the federal cabinet, which has been rescheduled for Wednesday, is expected to give the green light for the operation.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif presided over Monday’s meeting where attendees included army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ISI chief Lt Gen Muhammad Zaheerul Islam, Interior Minister Nisar and Special Assistant to the prime minister on foreign affairs Tariq Fatemi.
According to sources, Gen Kayani assured the premier that if requested, the army was ready to assist the civil administration in restoring peace in Karachi. He added that if the army was requisitioned, it would make sure that an operation was conducted without any political consideration, sources told The Express Tribune.
However, Gen Kayani, according to sources, said that the government should evolve a consensus first before launching an operation.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the main opposition party in Sindh, has called for handing over Karachi to army – a demand not acceptable to other political groups, including the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party in the province.
The prime minister told the meeting participants that the federal government would extend every possible help to the Sindh administration to restore order in the violence-wrecked metropolis.
“The prime minister will take the political parties into confidence over the Karachi situation and seek their support at Wednesday’s meeting of the federal cabinet,” an official privy to the meeting told The Express Tribune. “Whatever decision we take would be in the best national interest, and every institution would be expected to render its role,” the official quoted Nawaz as telling the huddle.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, the meeting discussed issues pertaining to national security, including the internal and external threats faced by the country. The premier reaffirmed his commitment to utilise all resources to ensure national security, terming it a topmost priority of his administration.
Hours before the meeting, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar briefed the prime minister on the overall law and order situation in the country and presented a report on the security situation in Karachi. According to sources, the report blames the intelligence failure for the woeful situation in Karachi.
Nawaz directed him to finalise proposals for Wednesday’s federal cabinet meeting to be held in Karachi so that a comprehensive strategy could be worked out for the city. He also asked heads of the intelligence agencies to come up with detailed reports on the situation.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2013.
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PML-N government has assured masses of bringing down food inflation. The new government has disappointed and its promises are now proving sheer humiliation to its voters and supporters in the business community. Today Hassan Nisar openly said they are killing people through price hike. PPP committed mistakes but for the public they were much more better than Mian brothers. They have decided to push people against walls.