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Thursday March 28, 2024

Line of fire

By our correspondents
July 28, 2016

The issue of the extension of the Rangers stay in power in Karachi and the rest of Sindh has already been under the spotlight for days. It has become even more glaring following the audacious killing of two military personnel in the busy Saddar area of Karachi. They were shot dead by obviously professional gunmen who pumped bullets into their bodies with deadly accuracy. The attack resembled previous such attacks on and killings of law-enforcement and security personnel. The matter then is clear. Groups who see the military and its uniform, possibly because it symbolises the state, as a target continue to operate in Karachi. Precisely what these groups are, which one is behind the latest killing, what forces or motives may be at work we can only guess. There are too many ingredients in Karachi’s boiling cauldron of trouble to identify what makes up the broth. As anguish is expressed across the country, it seems apparent the Rangers will intensify their demand for a broader writ in the city. Legal cover no longer exists for their deployment and activities – a matter which for now adds to the complications. It will become the primary duty of the new chief minister of Sindh, Murad Ali Shah, to deal with the issue, negotiate a path forward, look into the Rangers’ request for powers beyond Karachi and examine the related problems. We do not envy the position he is in and the burdens he will shoulder immediately as he moves in to the top executive office in the Sindh government.

The violence in the city continues to spark up from time to time. It has increased notably over the past month. The assertions made a few months ago that actions by the paramilitary force had brought peace to Karachi are proving somewhat premature. The problem of course is that much of this violence is linked in to politics. The political parties then need to be involved in finding a solution. The question is of working out a deal which can offer the people of Karachi something resembling security of life and the capacity to continue with life that has remained interrupted for years. Steering through the mess is no simple matter. The precise role of the Rangers needs to be defined. But at the same time, it is also important to reach towards the many strands of violence which run through Karachi and find a means to cut them off at the root before further lives are lost and families destroyed.