ISLAMABAD: The situation in Sindh is fast getting back to square one as both the federal and provincial governments have forgotten what they had committed only a few months back, leaving the field open for the de facto rulers of the province and the vested interests surrounding them.
Karachi in particular is again at the receiving end with top positions of the civilian bureaucracy being offered to loyalists and blue-eyed boys whereas the present command of the police and Rangers is feeling extremely frustrated as their hard work and achievements of the past four months are being rapidly ruined.
Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, who has always been considered a dummy chief executive, has no say in even having his choice of principal secretary, chief secretary or inspector general of police.
During his past regime, it was generally said that Muzzaffar Tappi and Feryal Talpur were the de facto chief ministers of the province.
Sources said that there is now an addition of another name to this list of CMs; Shakaib Qureshi, who is a former SP of Clifton. He was one of the accused in the Mir Murtaza Bhutto murder case.
Shakaib Qureshi’s name today carries a lot of influence in the corridors of power and amongst members of the bureaucracy in Sindh.
According to one source, he is now more powerful than Tappi. It is said that it was Qureshi who got Sajid Saleem Hotiana, a compliant Punjabi DMG officer, appointed as CS Sindh.
Hotiana was surrendered by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for being “no good” for Punjab. It is said that the CS Sindh takes orders from Shakaib Qureshi and not from the CM Sindh.
Besides this, once the private secretary of the then Environment Minister Asif Ali Zadari during the second tenure of Benazir Bhutto, Rai Sikander has been posted as Principal Secretary to the CM Sindh.
Following the removal of Benazir Bhutto’s second government, Rai was accused of corruption and was even sent behind bars but ultimately he was acquitted and reinstated in government service.
To the frustration of the Rangers and police in Karachi, there is now an effort to get Fayyaz Leghari appointed as Sindh IG. A senior security official, occupying an important position in Karachi, warned that if the federal government re-appoints Fayyaz Leghari as Sindh IG it would mean an end to the ongoing targeted operation.
Interestingly, the federal government is equally responsible for the present situation as it is the centre’s authority to appoint the chief secretary and inspector general of police.
“It’s a million dollar question as to why the federal government so obliging, that it is allowing all controversial appointments in Sindh,” a source said, adding: “On the one hand the federal government is harping at an operation clean-up, and on the other it is allowing controversial officials to play games in Karachi by posting them in the province.”
Some key vested interest groups, including top businessmen are also alleged to be making hay while the sun shines in Karachi. A few are said to be patronising key appointments.
In regard to the law and order situation, the federal government claims that the two phases of the operation have been completed but both the police and Rangers sources insist that the operation was not conducted in the manner it was planned and approved by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif four months back.
Senior journalist Mazhar Abbas, in his recent article for this newspaper, very rightly pointed out the serious lapses of the Karachi operation, the political interference, its negative fall outs and the frustration of the law enforcers because of the non-implementation of what was agreed between the PM and the Sindh CM four months back.
Though the federal government is introducing stringent laws, the Rangers and police demand the execution of those terrorists, target killers, kidnappers and rapists whose death penalty has attained finality from all judicial forums, including the Supreme Court.
A senior Rangers official told The News here on Saturday that more than once the Rangers and police have told the federal government to start executing the convicted murderers, terrorists, target killers and others if the government really wants to bring down the crime rate. Otherwise, nothing can work, they fear.
It is interesting to note that the last Shahbaz Sharif-led PML-N government in Punjab was pressing the then PPP government in the centre to start executing the condemned criminals. However, after coming to power at the centre in June last year, the PML-N also took a U-turn and decided to continue with the five-year-old moratorium on the death penalty.
