Karachi: Civil and military authorities on Friday held a brainstorming session to discuss the crucial extension of the Paramilitary Rangers’ powers in Karachi as well as the rest of Sindh the province, after the force’s mandate expired on July 20.
Corps commander Karachi, Lieutenant-General Naveed Mukhtar, called on chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah for over an hour and a half at the chief ministerial residence to discuss the issue of extending the paramilitary force’s powers in the province, besides other security issues.
In an official statement issued by the chief minister’s office, the government said several issues such as the targeted operation in Karachi, law and order situation and the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) were discussed during the meeting.
“The chief minister assured the corps commander that he was in consultation with his party leadership and the matter would be resolved shortly,” the official statement said.
The provincial Sindh government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was at loggerheads with the federal government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over the issue of the Rangers powers’ as the local authority believed the powers might be used for arm twisting of PPP leaders and ministers, who were accused of corruption and other charges.
The PPP government is willing to extend the Rangers’ mandate in Karachi, the largest Pakistani city, which is not its electoral constituency.
But it had serious reservations over the federal government’s ambitions to expand the Rangers ambit into the interior of Sindh so that the actions could be taken against the corrupts and outlaws in the rest of the province.
The situation had turned grim a few days ago when the Rangers allegedly arrested one Asad Kharal from Hyderabad city, in the corruption cases in the government contracts. Kharal is said to be the close aide to provincial home minister Soahil Anwar Siyal of the PPP.
The official statement further said that the chief minister conveyed to the corp commander that his government was committed to eradicate terrorism related activities in the province including targetd killings, extortion and kidnapping for ransom.
After one-on-one-meeting for one and half an hour, provincial fiance minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Siyal and Murtaza Wahab, who is the chief minster advisor on the legal affairs joined in.
