ISLAMABAD: The special policing powers of Rangers in Karachi have finally been given ‘legal’ cover, according to an official of the interior ministry.

He told Dawn that through a notification issued by the ministry on Friday, Sindh Rangers had been granted powers to operate in Karachi for two months under the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).

The issuance of the notification is likely to take the war of words between the centre and the Sindh government to a new high. The Sindh government has been accusing the federal government of “invading the province” since its summary to curtail powers of Rangers was rejected by Islamabad.

Rangers have been operating in Sindh without a legal cover since the expiry of their term in the first week of December. After delaying the matter for a few days, the Sindh government took the issue to the provincial assembly which adopted a resolution to provide for checks and conditions on Rangers’ special powers to raid and arrest suspects.

The resolution states that Rangers will have powers only with respect to targeted killing, extortion, kidnapping for ransom and sectarian killing.

“Any person, who is not directly involved in terrorism and is only suspected of aiding and abetting terrorists or by way of terror financing or facilitating terrorists, shall not be placed under preventive detention under any law without prior written approval of the government of Sindh i.e. chief minister,” the resolution says.

“In case a person is suspected of the above, cogent reasons with complete evidence justifying such

preventive detention shall be provided to government of Sindh, which will, based on the available evidence, approve or reject such proposal of preventive detention.”

“The Rangers shall not raid any office of government of Sindh or any other government authority without prior written approval of the provincial chief secretary.”

In what many believed was a hint at imposition of governor’s rule in the province, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had said that the federal government had some options to retain Rangers in Karachi. “It is a federal force operating in the province under the Anti-Terrorism Act which is a federal law.”

He alleged that the provincial government’s delaying tactics were aimed at saving just one man -- an implicit reference to Dr Asim Hussain, a close aide of PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari, who was arrested by Rangers on the charge of providing shelter/ treatment to terrorists at his Dr Ziauddin Hospital.

Chaudhry Nisar said that the attempts to make the Karachi operation and Rangers controversial were dangerous (moves) and that the delay in extending Rangers’ powers would embolden terrorists and extremists.

In case Sindh did not comply, he warned, the federal government had four to five options within “constitutional, legal and democratic framework”.

The deployment of Rangers in Karachi is requisitioned under Article 147 of the Constitution. And under Clause 1 of Sub-section 3 of Section 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, the paramilitary force is authorised to prevent the commission of terrorist acts or scheduled offences.

Assisting police in Karachi since 1989 when the PPP government in Islamabad had called in Rangers and the Frontier Constabulary to curb rising political violence in the metropolis, Rangers were granted policing powers a few years ago amid increasing incidents of killing on sectarian, political and ethnic grounds.

Rangers is currently spearheading an operation against criminal elements in Karachi, which was launched back in September 2013 after the federal cabinet empowered the force to lead a targeted advance with the support of police against criminals already identified by federal military and civilian agencies for their alleged involvement in targeted killings, kidnappings for ransom, extortion and terrorism.

When contacted, Senator Farhatullah Babar, spokesman for Asif Zardari, said that the PPP condemned the “brazen assault on Sindh”.

It (the notification) would put a huge question mark even on the good work done by Rangers and make the force controversial, he said and added: “There is a risk that consequently it will lead to casting shadows on Zarb-i-Azb (military operation against terrorists.”

“Those in Islamabad responsible for this must be held accountable; in the fullness of time they will be. There is no escaping from it,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2015