Punjab Rangers called in to maintain law and order situation

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Sunday evening called in Punjab Rangers to the aid of civilian law-enforcement agencies.

Sources told this scribe that the security arrangements for the operation have now been handed over to the Rangers to keep the law and order situation in the federal capital under control.

According to a notification issued by the interior ministry, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, Punjab Rangers DG Maj Gen Azhar Naveed has been appointed the in charge of the whole operation.

The notification also mentions that the Rangers have been given a week to carry out the orders.

In a bid to control the chaos in the capital, Rangers were given charge of the Faizabad operation. As many as 1,000 Rangers personnel have been repositioned to the frontlines of the security operation.

Top military and civil officials had earlier decided against the use of force to disperse protesters in the capital, opting instead to engage in political negotiations with agitators in the capital.

FC personnel and Islamabad police, who were yesterday on the frontlines, have been relegated to back positions, as decided in a meeting of police, capital administration and Rangers officials on Saturday night.

Around 8,000 security officials were part of the operation, including 3,000 FC personnel.

It is necessary to mention here that five protestors died and more than 250 people, including 90 policemen and FC personnel, were injured in the operation. They were admitted to different hospitals in the twin cities.

The operation was suspended around 3pm, when it was reported that few protestors have died.

Saturday’s operation culminated with the interior ministry sending out a formal requisition for the deployment of military troops in the twin cities.

The Army on Sunday morning said that it is “fully ready” to assist the federal government in an operation against protesters who remain camped out at the Faizabad Interchange even after the operation.

The Army—in an official letter to the interior ministry—said that it was prepared to cooperate with security personnel in keeping with Article 245 of the constitution.

However, the letter states that before troops are deployed, there are a “few aspects meriting deliberation”, such as how the “police have not been utilised to its full capacity” in dealing with the religious protesters.

It points out that “the Pakistan Rangers have not been given written instructions.”

On Friday, the IHC, displeased with government inaction against the Faizabad protesters, had pointed out that the participants of the sit-in could be dispersed using options other than bullets.

Similarly, the SC on Thursday had said that the efforts of the government to avoid loss of life by refraining from launching its operation against protesters were commendable. However, the apex court had added that “it does not follow that protesters can only be removed by firing upon them.”

On Sunday, the situation remained tense in the capital as demonstrations continued at Faizabad interchange, I-8 Markaz and other areas. Express Highway, IJP Road, and the Motorway leading to Lahore remain closed for traffic.

On the other hand, the activists of TLYR offered the funeral of one of their colleagues, who died in Central Hospital on Sunday. The activists of TLYR sent the coffin of five deceased to their native areas.

TLYR information secretary Peer Zubair Ahmad Qasoori, talking to Pakistan Today, said, “We have sent the coffin of five of our activists to their native villages—three of them belong to Rawalpindi, one is from Mandi Bahauddin and one other is from Pindigheb.”

He added that one dead body was still placed at Faizabad because “[the body] is beyond recognition”.

Meanwhile, TLYR chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi, while addressing his followers, rejected the claim of Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal that protesting party ‘contacted India’. “This is a baseless allegation that we ‘contacted India’. We are sitting here for a noble cause, and we will not retreat until the government accepted our demands,” he said.

PROTESTS IN OTHER CITIES:

Protests in different cities of the country continued on Sunday.

In Karachi, Shahrah-i-Pakistan remained blocked with oil tankers lined up along the highway since 2am.

A large number of protesters gathered at Karachi’s Numaish Chowrangi told a private news channel that they would continue their demonstrations until either their leaders in Faizabad told them to stop or their demands for Law Minister Zahid Hamid’s resignation were fulfilled.

The protesters continued to chant anti-government slogans.

In provincial capital Lahore, enraged protesters set fire to a police checkpoint at Expressway near Rawat. The Grand-Trunk Road and Motorway, connecting Islamabad to Lahore, was closed.

In Peshawar, protesters gathered at Ring Road where traffic was blocked.

Metro bus services in Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi remained suspended.