ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Monday claimed that the federal government is spending about Rs9 billion annually on Rangers in Sindh.

In an apparent reply to his critics, Nisar said that some forces in the Sindh government are trying to give impression that the federal government is not spending a single penny on Karachi operation.

"I must clarify that aside from spending a huge amount on intelligence agencies in the province, the federal government is spending about Rs9 billion annually on Rangers in Sindh," said Nisar in a statement issued on Monday.

The interior minister was of the view that some people are using the name of Sindh province to hide their own shortcomings and when an institution tries to hold them accountable, "they term it an attack on Sindh".

"The actual enemies of Sindh are those who have occupied lands and resources of the province for years," asserted Nisar.

Related: Sindh govt endangering Karachi operation to save ‘just one man’: Nisar

Nisar said his press conference had become due as the provincial government was delaying the matter of extension of special powers granted to Rangers in Sindh despite a week of meetings and discussions in this regard.

The interior minister said that he was astonished to hear that the matter is 'entirely provincial' as in fact, the Karachi operation was started on the behest of federal government and the operation is monitored by intelligence agencies, which are directly under control of federal government.

He added that "Supreme Court of Pakistan's clear directives are present in this regard".

Talking bout the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) activities in Sindh, he said NAB is an independent body and cannot take any action on federal government's orders, adding that the head of the anti-graft watchdog was selected after consultations with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Nisar maintained that MQM, ANP and Sunni Tehreek (ST) had also expressed reservations about Rangers activities in Karachi but none went as far as the PPP government did, "thus hurting the momentum of the operation".

In the end, the interior minister repeated that Karachi operation should continue for the greater good of the province and city but if someone attacks him personally, in order to divert attention from the matter, he has all the right in the world to respond.

Related: Sindh govt not a hurdle in Rangers’ powers extension: Moula Bux

Centre, Sindh in war of words over Rangers

In a presser on Saturday, Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali went so far as to hint at the possibility of imposing Governor’s Rule in Sindh to continue the Karachi operation.

Nisar alleged the provincial government's tactics were aimed to save just one man – an implicit reference to Dr Asim Hussain – and were endangering the Karachi operation.

He said that the delay in extending Rangers' powers was a message to embolden terrorists and extremists, adding that in case Sindh did not comply, the government had four to five different options within the “constitutional, legal and democratic framework”.

In the same breath, however, the minister hoped that sanity would prevail. “If the MQM and PPP have some reservations, we are ready to sit with them to address those issues with maturity and seriousness,” he remarked.

Maula Bux Chandio soon responded on behalf of the Sindh government in equally confrontational terms, but dispelled a potential standoff when he declared that the government would move a resolution in the Sindh Assembly on Monday to ensure that Rangers were given special policing powers.

The question of extending Rangers’ stay in Karachi became controversial when the Sindh government failed to renew it before the expiry of the previous order on Dec 6.

Also Read: Ruckus in Sindh Assembly over Rangers’ powers extension