In the meeting with Nisar on Friday, the prime minister reiterated his government’s resolve to take resolute measures for the restoration of peace in the megacity. PHOTO: PID
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had a follow-up discussion with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the fluid security situation in Karachi where the paramilitary Rangers is poised to launch a surgical operation against extortionists, target-killers and other criminals.
The launch of the operation was announced by the interior minister following a special meeting of the federal cabinet in Karachi on Wednesday.
In the meeting with Nisar on Friday, the prime minister reiterated his government’s resolve to take resolute measures for the restoration of peace in the megacity. He emphasised the need for enhancing coordination among law-enforcement agencies through intelligence sharing and joint actions for effectively checking crime in the city. The police and political parties have frequently complained that enough intelligence was not shared with them to curb the escalating violence.
Separately, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also telephoned the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) chief Pir Pagara on Friday to invite him to the oath-taking ceremony of the newly-elected president, Mamnoon Hussain, on September 9.
During the telephonic conversation, the prime minister also discussed the current political situation, especially the law and order situation of Karachi. “We are very impressed by the federal government’s decision to conduct a targeted operation in Karachi,” PML-F lawmaker Imtiaz Shaikh told a news conference in Karachi where another legislator from his party, Nusrat Seher Abbasi, was also present.
Shaikh also criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial government and the chief minister, saying that they had failed to deal with the crisis. “We hope that violence in Karachi will be curbed with the help of the government’s initiative to start the targeted operation led by Rangers and intelligence agencies,” Sheikh said.
He also called for local people to be inducted into the Anti-Terrorism Force envisioned by the government to counter terrorist activities in Sindh.
“People holding the domicile of Sindh whether they are retired army personnel or unemployed youth, should be given the opportunity to be a part of the force,” he added. “We have seen in the past that outsiders are not aware of the local area’s dynamics, its people or geography. Therefore, it is required that people of the Sindh province should be part of this force as they can perform better than others.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2013.
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Does "Province of Sindh" also include Karachi?
Sure they do just like they were determined to bring international companies in Pakistan look what happened 5 companies left Pakistan in 3 months.