The statement by presidential advisor Farhatullah Babar has finally clarified the confusion about the authorship of the Rangers ongoing operation in Karachi. Briefing the media about the decisions taken at a meeting of the PPPs core committee, Babar said that the senior leadership of the PPP had decided to deal with the Karachi unrest with an iron hand. The meeting, he said, had appreciated the measures taken by the interior ministry in this regard. A mystery was created when Sindh home minister told the media and the provincial assembly that he hadnt ordered the operation. The plot thickened when a similar stand was taken by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah. Subsequently the statement given by Interior Minister Rehman Malik in Karachi also added to the confusion.
That both the president and prime minister have owned the operation and expressed determination to put an end to target killings is bound to be widely appreciated. Lawlessness had in fact been allowed to prevail in the industrial hub of the country for too long. While target killers shot dead a number of social workers, doctors and individuals belonging to rival sects, the largest number of their victims comprised of political activists. Besides causing widespread concern, the killing spree also had a highly negative impact on national economy. A number of those involved in target killings have already been arrested and interrogated by top intelligence agencies, national as well as provincial. Their findings about the political affiliations of those arrested reveal that popular perceptions about the possible background of the target killers were not altogether wrong. There is a need to grill those arrested in order to reach their handlers so that those actually involved in the heinous acts as well as those ordering the killings can be brought to justice. There must be no compromise or attempts to hush up the issue. Political exigencies must not be allowed to interfere with the case.
That said, there is also a need for better coordination between the centre and the provinces. After the 19th amendment, it is all the more necessary to take the provincial administration into confidence prior to any action in a province by a federal agency. Keeping the provincial administration ignorant does not bode well for provincial autonomy.
