Summary The COAS has made it a point to visit the Rangers headquarters every time he visits Karachi
Dunya News Report (Shahzad Badar)
Rangers operation in Karachi which has always been criticized by politicians, particularly PPP and MQM, member of national and provincial assembly as unfair and biased is bound to take a new turn which would decisively determine the shape of a new political landscape where the nexus between corruption, terrorism and politics would perhaps end for good depending on the will of the army and PML(N) government.
The Army Chief General Raheel Sharif has made it a point to visit the Rangers headquarters every time he visits Karachi. The general spent five hours discussing the law and order situation on 27th January and assured the Rangers that the army would ensure a logical end to the Karachi operation. The civilian government is vacillating and not keen to provide the judicial and political back up to complement the Rangers operation. 26 Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) have yet to be formed to investigate serious mega crimes in the province. The PPP is on the defensive and feels the Rangers scalpel is going to cut deep into its body and hence adopting the policy of go slow.
While the Rangers pursue their agenda of cleaning Karachi under the new National Action Plan (NAP) supported by the constitutional amendment, political parties too are busy preparing their offensive to counter the Rangers moves. The PPP Senators in the Senate have taken cues from the Sindh assembly MPAs and cooked up a bill curtailing the powers of the National Accountability Bureau where one of their party’s former petroleum minister Dr. Asim is in custody on charges of corruption and supporting terrorism.
Altaf Hussain in his speeches vehemently criticizes the Rangers actions accusing the Sindh government of being intoxicated and ineffective. The PPP legislated an anti-Ranger resolution in the Sindh assembly to curb the powers of the Rangers.
The Rangers hitherto were going soft on the PPP but reports indicate that they are gradually trying to rope in senior PPP leaders including Residents of Bilawal house. The Rangers claim to have clues linking Ozar Baloch and the Lyari gang to Mr. Zardari in Bilawal house. Corruption and crime syndicate money according to reports and Rangers press release alleges that Zardari was in nexus with the Baloch Liberation Army in providing them money to purchase arms for terrorism in Balochistan. For fear of being arrested MQM , PPP, and Sindh government officials have either left the country or gone underground.
To reduce pressure and free Dr. Asim from the clutches of the Rangers the PPP came up with the Sindh Assembly resolution to restrict the Rangers power but in vain as the army was hell bent in implementing the National Action Plan. Politics, corruption money and terrorism are intertwined in Karachi with many senior government officials and politicians linked to it.
Nisar Ali Khan rightly accused the Sindh government for jeopardizing the Karachi operation to save its skin when it let the Rangers powers issue lapse on December 6 without extending it. Maula Bux Chandio while rebuffing Nisar’s claims, played down the resolution of the Sindh Assembly. Chandio denied any conflict brewing between the PPP and the Rangers. The Rangers stay was later extended by the Sindh government under threat from the Federal government to go for article 234 and governor rule.
Article 234 of the Constitution reads: “If the President, on receipt of a report from the Governor of a province, is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the Government of the province cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, the President may, or if a resolution in this behalf is passed (by two houses of the parliament separately) shall, by proclamation (a) assume to himself, or direct the Governor of the province to assume on behalf of the President, all or any of the functions of the Government of the province, and all or any of the powers vested in, or exercisable by, anybody or authority in the province, other than the provincial assembly”.
The federal government has decided to protect the Rangers operations at all cost as the army was not willing to restrict its operational capacity of investigating corruption charges.
PPP launched a severe protest claiming that the Rangers were overstepping their mandate. “The Rangers’ mandate was to curb terrorism, targeted killings, kidnapping for ransom and extortion said Faratullah Babar. Rangers he said were over-stepping their mandate by investigating corruption cases.
While political crises started to brew between the Rangers and PPP government in Sindh, Zardari and his sister Faryal decided to leave the country. Dr. Asim in custody of the Rangers was reported to have spilled the beans implicating Zardari, PPP and MQM leaders in serious offenses.
The Rangers according to the Sindh Assembly resolution were authorized only to deal with cases related to target killing, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and sectarian killings. For corruption charges Rangers had to have permission from the chief minister Sindh.
Rangers were called in Sind Karachi in 1989 by the PPP government under Article 147 of the Constitution, and under Clause 1 of Sub-section 3 of Section 4 of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, which empowers them to prevent terrorist acts.
Rangers under the National Action Plan (NAP) in which corruption was one of the most important clauses have started investigations into corruption in the province and activated the NAB office. NAB has confirmed arrest of Secretary Sind Excise department, Badar Jameel Mendhro and Director Sind Anti-Corruption department Khadim Hussain Channa for their alleged involvement in corruption.
NAB investigations have also been initiated against former Chief Secretary Sind Ghulam Ali Shah Pasha, Chairman Chief Minister’s inspection team Subhan Memon, Qadir Bux, Gadda Hussain Abro, Imtiaz Solangi & Salih Nukrich for illegal allotment of land.
According to Rangers Karachi statement, different political and religious groups were making around 230 billion rupees annually through illegal activities in Karachi. Sind Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Chairman Mumtaz Shah has stated that 52 officers from different government departments are under arrest over charges of corruption, embezzlement and misappropriation of government funds. Seventy two first-information reports (FIRs) have been registered, while 209 inquiries were initiated against officials on corruption charges.
The new vigor with which Rangers are implementing the National Action Plan in the city, the crackdown on political personalities is bound to raise the political temperature in the city. The PPP is protesting and demanding a similar operation by Rangers in Punjab. The nexus between politics, crime, corruption and terrorism will end only when the Rangers are allowed to accomplish their clean up mission in a fair transparent manner. END
