Crime control strategy: No leniency for criminals linked to political outfits

Pervaiz Rashid says state supporting the Rangers operation in Karachi

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister Pervaiz Rashid has said criminals associated with any group would not enjoy any relaxation on political basis.

"Nobody will be allowed to indulge in crime on the pretext of religion and politics," he warned while talking to reporters after taking oath as a federal minister at the President House on Sunday.

The senator said the law enforcement agencies, including Rangers, had no role in politics and they were taking actions according to the unanimous decisions of the democratically-elected government.

If anybody had complaint regarding the operation in Karachi, he could approach the independent judiciary, the minister said, adding, "We do politics of reconciliation and not that of expediency."

If any criminal used the flag and office of any political party, then it was obligation of that political party to surrender the person to the law, Pervaiz Rashid said.

He said the state was fully supporting the Rangers operation in Karachi and nobody would be allowed to go against the law and undermine its supremacy. "I believe that all the political parties in parliament will back the law enforcement agencies and cooperate with state institutions to ensure supremacy of law,” he stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2015.