GIVEN the menu of items discussed at the last apex committee meeting in Karachi, it would appear that the Rangers’ operation in the city is approaching an important turning point. They appear to be moving beyond simply apprehending violent elements, to actively draining the swamp that breeds them, — with a particular focus on the sources of funding which come from “extortion, illegal hydrants, kidnapping for ransom” and other such activity.

Additionally, a computerised record of all seminaries in the province will need to be compiled with details on size as well as sources of funding. Other measures include the creation of a land record to identify land grabbing. Many of the rackets that are identified in this list find patronage from powerful groups, including political parties. Yet only these parties can execute the actions, while remaining committed to bringing in a more just and formally bounded system of local government that would carry on the exercise in the future.

And therein lies the problem. The operation is now at a very sensitive point, where the will of the political parties must be harnessed to reform the tools and system of governance in a way that chokes off the spaces where rackets have developed. But if the list of rackets to be shut down does not expand to include the foreign sources of funding that lie behind the banned militant outfits that also operate in the city, many of the actions outlined at the apex committee could come to be seen as a political move.

They would be viewed as an attempt to choke important resource lifelines of the parties while leaving those of militant organisations largely untouched. The operation has been carried out with some skill thus far, but it is important that it is not perceived as one against the rackets of political parties alone. Banned militant groups that operate in the city don’t have access to many of the rackets outlined, such as illegal water hydrants, but they are able to operate quite freely out of this city nonetheless. Some groups that are either banned or on a ‘watch list’ have been able to hold rallies in the city while the operation has been under way. Such disparities in the treatment of different groups runs the risk of giving the operation a political colour, which must be avoided since, at the end of the day, the operation’s success depends crucially on the cooperation of the political parties.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2015

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