Pakistan Rangers deployed in Karachi will remain at the disposal of Sindh provincial government as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government has no plan to revisit this decision taken 25 years ago, it is learnt. At present, the administrative control of Pakistan Rangers - an internal security force with the prime objective to maintain security in conflict areas - is with the Interior Ministry but those deployed in Karachi are at the disposal of Sindh provincial government.
The PPP lawmakers had urged the government to withdraw Rangers in June 2013 arguing that they had failed to bring peace to the city and the money spent on them would be better spent on strengthening the provincial police. However, sources within the PML-N said that the government has no plans to withdraw Rangers from the city in the current situation when law and order remains a major problem. They said that the priority of the government is to de-politicise the police, which is the root cause of all the ills in the city.
When contacted, Senator Syed Zafar Ali Shah of PML-N said that the focus of the government is to strengthen provincial law enforcement agencies to eliminate militancy and anti-social elements in the city. He said that Rangers will continue to perform this role as the Karachi police has no capacity to deal with gangsters, extortionists and other militant groups single handedly so unless the law and order in the city improves, there is no plan to recall the rangers.
Awami National Party (ANP) Sindh chapter president Senator Shahi Syed said that Rangers have failed to maintain law and order in Karachi despite passage of several years and they should be withdrawn from the city. "The Interior Ministry is solely in-change of Rangers and the federal government's claim that rangers are operating under the provincial government is not true as the paramilitary force does not follow the directives of the relevant chief minister which is why they have failed to deal with militant wings in the city," he added.
"All these crimes are taking place right under the nose of Rangers [and] they are busy establishing businesses...they're fully equipped but are not serious about establishing writ of the state. We better concentrate on strengthening the police", he maintained. Senator Saeed Ghani of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) said that though the Rangers are believed to be at the disposal of the province, yet they are doing what their big bosses sitting at the helm of affairs ask them to do.
He quoted Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah as saying that the Rangers are the masters of their own destiny as chief minister he can not take any action against them if they do not follow his directives. "If the Rangers listen to the chief minister, well and good and if not the CM has no power to take action against them," he quoted Qaim as telling a high level party meeting.
To a question about withdrawing Rangers from Karachi, Ghani said that about 18000 Rangers are currently deployed in Karachi, and they cannot be withdrawn immediately as the police are not equipped with modern day warfare equipment and therefore can not manage security alone. However, he said that there is a need to strengthen the police with state-of-the-art equipment and once they are trained and fully capable of looking after the security in the province, the Rangers should be sent back to the barracks.
Colonel Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi (Retd) of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said that rangers should be withdrawn and the money spent on them should be used to train the police to improve its performance. Rangers is a good force but their business ventures like running marriage halls and establishing other commercial organisations has badly affected their performance, he added. The Rangers should not be given the role of police on permanent basis, he said, adding they should be there in aid of civil authorities.
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