- Cabinet constitutes four committees to restore peace in the country’s bleeding financial hub
- Nisar says ‘brick-by-brick’ approach to be followed for restoring peace
- Law enforcers serving interests of terrorists, criminals to be made example
An empowered Pakistan Rangers has been given the lead role as the federal cabinet constituted at least four separate committees to restore peace in the country’s bleeding financial hub through a “brick-by-brick” approach.
In what Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan said would be a “unique” move, the PML-N federal and PPP-dominated provincial governments agreed to take ‘targeted action’ against extortionists, target killers, kidnappers for ransom and terrorists that the interior minister said were identified by spy agencies in hundreds.
“We all are united on a targeted action against criminals identified in hundreds in the intelligence reports,” said Nisar while briefing the media at Governor’s House on the decisions took by the federal cabinet.
He was flanked by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, CM Qaim Ali Shah, Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid and others.
A clampdown is expected on at least four million unregistered SIMs, which Nisar said were issued indiscriminately by the telecom firms since 2008 and had now become a major source of crime for anti-state elements.
The telecommunication service providers would be compelled to streamline their SIM issuing procedures, the interior minister said.
Having decided to take, as Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah put it, result-oriented and apolitical measures, the federal cabinet declared the Rangers as the lead agency in the crackdown against “destroyers of peace”.
The Rangers would have increased powers to deal with matters related to interrogation and prosecution.
According to the interior minister, a committee headed by former Law Minister Zahid Hamid would be reviewing weaknesses in prosecution and the law of evidence that could lead to putting the Rangers in the lead role. “This would be an ongoing process,” Nisar said. Sindh Prosecutor General Shahdat Awan and Senator Barrister Farogh Naseem would be members of the body.
“All the deficiencies and concerns of Rangers pertaining to prosecution and operation would be addressed as per the policy guidelines approved by the cabinet,” the minister said.
Assisted by the police, the Rangers would be acting on the basis of intelligence reports provided to them by the civil and military spy agencies.
On the district level, a police station would be identified as a focal point for the Rangers and other law enforcement agencies to investigate and plan their operations against heinous crimes. “The Rangers and police would decide on this in a meeting due tonight,” he said.
The cabinet, Nisar said, also took some “sensitive” decision that would be silently executed by the rangers instead of being made public. “This could alert those concerned,” he said.
Also, the cabinet meeting decided that the police would undergo a complete overhauling. Sindh Inspector General Shahid Nadeem Baloch, who Nisar said was never replaced with IG Motorways Zulfiqar Cheema, had been authorised to “immediately” revamp the police department in “a set timeframe” to identify and arrest those law enforcers who were serving the interest of terrorists and criminals in uniform.
“Arrest them. We would be sending a positive message only when the police are taken action against,” the interior minister said.
The interior minister said an operational committee, comprising the Rangers director general, IG police and representatives of intelligence agencies, would be taking care of the targeted action in the city.
The interior minister said a third committee would manage, administer and control the law enforcement agencies’ routine operations under the chairmanship of Sindh chief minister. Therein would be officials from the Interior Ministry, Rangers, intelligence agencies, NADRA and the provincial government. “The provincial government members will be nominated by the chief minister,” he added.
“The committee, as far as possible, would meet once in a week.”
Also, there would be a monitoring committee of civil society representatives like senior citizens and journalists responsible for monitoring the overall security operations.
“Having no political affiliation, the members of this committee would give their impartial input to security agencies, the media, federal and provincial governments,” he said.
The committee would also be well placed to establish the status of arrested suspects as, Nisar said, his government did not want to bother innocent people.
“We are having a unique experience here by getting united despite having different political affiliations. We are proceeding with the commonality of interest,” the interior minister said while referring to the consensus developed by all stakeholders.
He emphasised that the prime minister reiterated yesterday that they were here only to find a way out for Karachi violence.
“The prime minister has made it clear that politicising the Karachi issue is a sin to him,” he repeated.
Responding to detractors, the interior minister clarified that his side was putting the provincial government in the driving seat for improving the law and order because it had the mandate of the people. “We respect the mandate of the PPP, MQM and all other parties represented here,” he maintained.
He said if any of the stakeholders in Sindh was sidelined, there would be mutual political infighting that would ultimately distract the government from its path.
Sindh CM Qaim Ali Shah added that all parties that met the PM during his two-day stay in the city agreed that there was no need for army’s deployment to restore peace in the city. “All of us agreed that let the Rangers and police work effectively and deliver,” he said.
Maintaining that the intervention of federal government had not hurt the provincial autonomy, the chief minister said all measures decided in the federal cabinet were “result-oriented” and apolitical in nature. “All political parties, as well as the prime minister, have the one-point agenda on the issue of law and order,” Shah said.
Earlier, Governor Ishratul Ebad thanked the prime minister and his cabinet for taking notice of the Karachi situation and meeting all stakeholders to make the government’s action more inclusive.
To a query, the interior minister said the government wanted to evolve a system brick-by-brick instead of taking cosmetic short-term measures to eyewash the masses.
He told a reporter that the government was moving with the law and order in accordance with the Supreme Court’s verdicts. “We also have decided to move against the alleged militant wings within political parties,” Khan said.
CM Shah was quick to deny outright that there were any political wings in his ranks.