Rangers should take on dacoits in Sindh: PM

KARACHI: The Prime Minister, Imran Khan, on Friday dissuaded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s MPA Firdous Shamim Naqvi from submitting his resignation to the Speaker and the party and decided to allow the Rangers to play role to take control of dacoits operating in the province with impunity due to the failure of the police.

PM Khan chaired a meeting at the Prime Minister's House to review the political situation in Sindh, particularly complaints related to issues of the Sindh Assembly and the law and order situation. The prime minister told the former leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly not to resign from the assembly seat. The meeting was also attended by Governor Sindh Imran Ismail, Federal Minister Ali Zaidi and Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shiekh, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, party’s chief organizer Senator Saifullah Niazi and secretary-general Amir Kayani. Naqvi had announced his resignation in protest when five PTI members were barred from attending the session. The PTI members expressed great concern over lack of governance, transparency and rampant corruption in Sindh as well as over its law and order situation where dacoits are operating with impunity. They agreed that the Sindh Police are not capable of handling the dacoits’ problem and stopping the tribal clashes and, therefore, it was imperative to allow Sindh Rangers to intervene to handle the situation.

The meeting also took stock of the undemocratic management of the Sindh Assembly and said that the opposition had been pushed against the wall. The prime minister decided to take quick action to redress the situation and found it unacceptable that the opposition members were not given any representation in the standing committees or to chair of the Public Accounts Committee in accordance with the democratic traditions. Imran in principle decided that if the PPP’s Sindh government prevents the opposition from playing its role in the Sindh Assembly, it would be reciprocated to them in the National Assembly, sources privy to the meeting told The News.