GIVEN its vast reach, radio has often been the most practical means of connecting with the people. A certain mullah even became a cult personality in Swat some years ago on the strength of his radio broadcasts.

Also read: Radio show Rangers Hour begins today

But while religious figures frequently use the airwaves to increase the size of their flock, it is not often that one hears of a paramilitary force taking to that medium to communicate with citizens. But then, nothing is beyond the energetic custodians of the law in Karachi, the Pakistan Rangers Sindh.

Senior officials of the force are set to be on air twice a day, five days a week on an FM radio show called Rangers’ Hour to engage with residents of the city who can call in with suggestions or to lodge complaints.

Four years ago, the Rangers had set up a helpline for citizens but this is the first time they are venturing into such a mode of interaction.

Governance, like nature, abhors a vacuum. And it is in a vacuum of governance that the Rangers have expanded their footprint. When the Karachi operation began in September 2013, the federal paramilitary force had a clear-cut mandate — to purge the metropolis of terrorists holding its citizenry hostage.

Over time, however, the force broadened its ambit — with the overt support of the military — to tackle militant wings of political parties as well as white-collar crime, thereby stepping on some very sensitive toes in the provincial government and the opposition.

Fierce allegations ensued from the affected quarters that the Rangers were exceeding their authority and “violating provincial autonomy”.

Sadly, the sound and fury was largely about self-preservation, and many citizens of Pakistan’s largest city — witness to the brazen loot and plunder of its resources by those who should have been its custodians — are likely to resoundingly welcome the paramilitary’s foray into ‘solving’ their problems, with nary a thought for the decay of civil institutions that lies therein. It seems as if every day is Rangers’ day in Karachi.

Published in Dawn October 3rd, 2015

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