Needless uncertainty
It has been clear for a while now that the presence, and special powers, of Rangers is essential for the Karachi Operation to be a success. It has also been pretty obvious that all sorts of crime – from kidnapping for ransom to street robberies, etc – witnessed a downtrend the moment Karachi police handed over the city’s security to the Rangers. Therefore, it ought to be in the interest of Karachi, or at least those who run the city, for the paramilitary force to cleanse the city as soon as possible.
Yet the Operation has lasted a while, and the PPP government, once again, is unhappy enough with it to put a spanner in the works, once again, now that the special powers have expired. Similar delaying tactics were employed last time. And yet again the CM and provincial interior minister will fly to Dubai for instructions regarding the way forward. Clearly PPP will resist expanding the Operation deeper into Sindh. It did not like the way it mutated from a purely security operation to take on an unexpected political outlook with Dr Asim’s arrest – and all that continues to flow from it.
But it’s not as if the police force has in any way been upgraded or improved to make a difference in interior Sindh all the while the Rangers have kept Karachi busy. Sadly, police suffers from a poor reputation across the country; and with good reason. A good measure of their incompetence was presented in Punjab in April, when they attempted to dislodge the notorious chotu gang. That the force was subsequently humiliated and the military had to be called in is, of course, old news by now. But it gives a good example of the ineffectiveness of the police. And Rangers, effective as it is, should restrict its role to security and stay out of the political realm. Not only will indulging in politics slow down the Operation, but also play into the hands of the elements it is meant to apprehend or eliminate.