Rangers’ stay in Sindh extended for a year

Karachi
The Sindh chief minister extended on Friday Rangers’ stay in the province for a year so that they could assist the civil administration and police in combating crime and controlling the law and order situation.
The chief minister’s spokesperson said the paramilitary force’s period of stay in the province was coming to an end on July 19 and that was why the provincial government, like it had done on previous occasions, had again extended it.
On July 9, the chief minister had extended Rangers’ anti-terror and anti-crime policing powers by a month in Karachi division only.
The delay in issuance of notification for the extension had created a friction between the civil and military relations in the province.
Both the anti-terror powers of Rangers and the extension of stay are subject to assent and endorsement by the provincial assembly.
This assent by provincial assembly has become mandatory under Article-147 of the Constitution after the passage of 18th amendment.
The chief minister’s decision to extend the Rangers’ stay came a day after Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari directed the provincial government to immediately convene a session of the provincial assembly for the lawmakers’ endorsement of the paramilitary force’s stay in the province in accordance with Article-147 of the Constitution.
Zardari gave these directives while speaking at an iftar-dinner reception he had hosted in Dubai for PPP leaders in the UAE, parliamentarians and Sindh ministers. TV news channels reported that the Sindh chief minister too had to attend the reception in Dubai but could not do because of a delay in acquiring a visa.
Zardri said at the reception that the role of the armed forces in the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb against terrorists was highly praiseworthy.
He said both the civil and military administrations should support each other to effectively tackle and fend off internal and external challenges to the country.
He also condemned unprovoked firing by Indian forces on the line of control on Pakistani civilians. The former president expressed his resolve to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country.
In this connection, home secretary Mukhtiar Ahmed Soomro, through the chief secretary, moved a summary to the chief minister stating that the stay requisition of Rangers would expire on July 19.
The home department recommended that the Rangers were assisting police and the civil administration, and that was why their requisition in the province should be extended for a year.
The chief minister, keeping in view the requirement, extended their requisition for a year with effect from July 20. This requisition for another year will be tabled in the provincial assembly for ratification.