ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government has agreed to seek the help of the paramilitary force, the Rangers, in operations against terrorists, their facilitators, sponsors and protectors after emergence of certain convincing and undeniable realities.
The first and foremost among them is the exceptional same wavelength that the uppermost civ-mil leaderships share on taking head-on all key, burning national issues principally anti-terrorism war with complete coordination and harmony.
After the appointment of Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in November last, the Nawaz Sharif government became comfortable, with tensions on important matters having becoming history. It remained no more shaky and nervous.
It is because of this concrete reality that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has now given the Pakistan Army a free hand to take actions against terrorists anywhere in Pakistan without any discrimination. The military’s critical moves in this connection have not raised eyebrows in any circle as against the previous practice in the past two years.
Earlier, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and its Punjab government strongly resisted the involvement of the army and Rangers in the anti-terrorism campaign, asserting that the provincial administration possesses the necessary wherewithal to cope with the threat and there is no need of any assistance from other forces.
They had taken this stand for precise reasons as they firmly believed that efforts were being made to discredit them and undermine their performance in the areas mega development projects including the game-changer China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Punjab and at the federal level. While opposing calling in of Rangers, they always argued that the provincial Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has done an excellent job and continues to perform it forcefully apart from the achievements made by police by conducting operations every now and then.
Although the paramilitary force was previously at times associated with this drive and the army troops had also been taking actions in different areas, they were never given a blanket authority, which was now being accorded to the paramilitary force and the procedural details of the engagement, according to the decisions of the apex committee chaired by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, are being finalized.
To start with, the Punjab government is writing a letter to the federal authorities for deployment of the Rangers for ninety days under article 245 of the Constitution.
Amid severe resistance of the PML-N and the Punjab government to bring in the Rangers, their political detractors and the agenda-driven job-seeking elements always taunted them and tried to provoke certain powers to compel the ruling party to bow before their demand. They also kept alleging that the PML-N and the provincial administration were hand in glove with the terrorists and extremists and did not want any ‘independent’ force to come in to take on them. This campaign was obviously not without specific motives, the main being pouring cold water on the PML-N for its achievements.
Now when the overall relationship between the key stakeholders has exceedingly improved, the ruling party and the Punjab government have themselves sought the involvement of the Rangers in the operations against terrorists and before that the premier gave a go-ahead in this regard.
The PML-N’s political opponents may now have a moment to rejoice that their old demand has been accepted, but not for the reason they had been hammering. However, they are still not satisfied. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal has come out with a childish comment against Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan provoking the other side to pour scorn on him in the same vein.
A simple question arises as to where the failure of the interior minister figures resulting in the recent suicide bombings. It is certainly the responsibility of the provincial governments to guard the saints’ shrines, protest gatherings and other places. Chaudhry Nisar paid visits to Lahore and Sehwan Sharif accompanying the prime minister after these tragedies. If he will intervene in law and order matters in provinces, the provincial governments of his opponents will raise a lot of hue and cry over ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘illegal’ interference. They often say that after the approval of the 18th amendment, the federal administration can’t do anything such with regard to provincial affairs.
Every government rival had been basing his argument while calling for deployment of Rangers in Punjab on a frivolous logic: when the force can proceed against targeted killers, extortionists, terrorists and mafias in Karachi, why this job was not being given to it in Punjab. Equating the situations prevailing in Punjab and Karachi is fallacious, necessitated by politics.
The second hard reality that left no option for the Punjab government but to associate the Rangers is a spate of recent suicide bombing in all the four provinces including Lahore and the tribal areas which stunned every stakeholder and Pakistani and underscored the urgency and emergency to act decisively without loss of a moment. It has been concluded that a final round has to be fought to eliminate terrorists wherever they have taken refuge and wherever their sanctuaries are.