Rhetoric won’t work anymore
Grudgingly, Shahbaz Sharif has agreed to seek the Rangers’ help to combat terrorism. The insistence on self-reliance is commendable provided one can deliver. It turns into empty bravado if the government fails to deliver again and again. This is precisely what has happened in Punjab leading to unnecessary loss of life and property and causing a sense of insecurity in the province.
Instead of displaying a solid performance, Punjab government fed the public with statistics. Separate figures for search operations in general and of body search of individuals at police check posts, of arrests in general and arrests for misuse of loudspeakers and for hate speech, People targeted in separate categories were generally in thousands. It was never revealed however how many were successfully prosecuted. Then there were terrorists (or suspects?) killed by the trigger-happy Punjab police in encounters.
The government meanwhile denied that anyone in the ruling party had ever had contacts with the terrorists or provided assistance to them despite reports to the contrary.
What the public wanted was results. The government first appealed to the terrorists to spare Punjab without caring for the effects of the statement on other provinces. While the notorious LeJ leaders thrived in Punjab and travelled with escorts inside and outside the province, there was no end to the killing of members of the Shia community in Lahore and other places in the province. Some of most horrendous terrorist attacks took place in Punjab both before and after the adoption of the National Action Plan.
Much will depend now on the nature and extent of support to be provided by the Rangers which remains to be finalised. The Punjab Apex Committee has promised indiscriminate action against banned outfits. All linked to banned networks would be arrested, sources of financial assistance to banned organisations would be shut down, and the facilitators of the terrorists won’t be spared. Brave words. What is at stake now is not only the reputation of the Rangers but also of the Apex Committee. While the people wait for results we wish both Godspeed.