Rangers should be given powers for entire Sindh, demands MQM-P

Opposition party submits resolution calling for PPP govt to order
operation across the province to root out terrorists and their facilitators

In the wake of the Sehwan Sharif bomb blast, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan (MQM-P) has called for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government to extend the special policing powers of the Sindh Rangers throughout the province. 

The demand from the Opposition party came in the form of a resolution submitted by its lawmakers to the Sindh Assembly secretariat on Monday.

Signed by lawmakers Rana Ansar, Moin Aamir Pirzada, Sumeta Afzal and other Opposition MPAs, the resolution demands the paramilitary force be authorised to exercise throughout Sindh the powers it currently enjoys in Karachi.  It also calls for orders to the Sindh Rangers to launch an operation across the province to root out terrorists and their facilitators.

The draft of the resolution reads, “This house condemns in strong words the suicide bomb blast in Sehwan Sharif. It also pays homage to Pakistanis who were martyred in the gruesome and cowardly act of terrorism and also condoles with heirs of those killed and injured in the incident. 

“It demands that the government should inform this august house the necessary actions taken by it in last two years in accordance with the National Action Plan. The house also demands that Rangers should be given special powers in all of Sindh while the paramilitary force should also be ordered to launch an operation for eliminating terrorists and their facilitators in the entire province.”  

A similar resolution condemning the terrorist attack in Sehwan and expressing condolences with the victims and their heirs was also submitted by the Opposition party Pakistan Muslim League – Functional (PML-F) through its parliamentary leader in the Sindh PA, Nand Kumar. 

The terms for the Rangers’ special policing powers in Karachi under the Anti-Terrorism Act had ended in May 2016 while the duration of the paramilitary force’s stay in the province to help the civil administration and police finished in July 2015.

The period for the Rangers’ stay in the province was extended for a year till July 2016, as were their special policing powers through a 77-day extension approved in May 2016. 

In August 2016, following a month of heightening tensions after both terms had expired, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had signed summaries extending the Rangers’ stay in the province by a further one year (till August 2017) and their special policing powers in Karachi for 90 days.

As at the time, there have been persistent demands since 2014 to extend the Rangers-led security operation throughout Sindh, but the provincial government has time and again managed to stave off the pressure.

The special policing powers have since then been regularly revised but only for Karachi, with the latest extension coming in January 2017 when Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar, on the request of the Sindh government, approved an extension in the powers of Rangers in Karachi Division for another 90 days.