LAHORE: As many as 10 companies of Rangers have been posted in Punjab, five each for anti-terrorist operations and the PSL final to be held today (Sunday) and unlike in the past the provincial government is at ease because of an understanding that the paramilitary force will perform only the “assigned duties”.

“Rangers should have been here last year to help police eliminate terrorists and their networks in Punjab. But it could not happen because of various reasons, including the suspicion of the force acting beyond the limits that too could not be determined. Now, the lines have clearly been drawn with the provincial additional chief secretary home’s pivotal role in the (new) scheme of things,” a senior official told Dawn on Saturday.

Punjab government had been reluctant to call Rangers, as it apprehended a Karachi-like situation with the paramilitary force acting independent of provincial authorities.

According to him, five companies of Rangers were summoned after the Punjab Apex Committee decided to launch an anti-terrorist operation in the province with the help of the paramilitary force following the Charing Cross suicide bombing here.

And an equal number of Rangers were requested after the political and army leadership decided to hold the PSL final in Lahore to give a message to the terrorists that they could not intimidate the nation. The Rangers would maintain an inner cordon inside the Qadhafi Stadium, where the match would be played.

The official said that out of the five Rangers companies summoned for intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations, two were detailed in Dera Ghazi Khan and one in Attock. The remaining two had not been detailed but were on their toes to hunt down terrorists when and where required in the province, he added.

The official said the two districts were chosen for the deployment of Rangers because of their strategic location. He said as Attock bordered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there was a need to conduct combing operations, besides keeping an eye on the routes to Punjab. Similarly, DG Khan was situated on the Balochistan-Punjab-Sindh border. It has 180km-long rugged and porous terrain with a tribal area in Rajanpur, posing a threat of infiltration of terrorists into Punjab.

“The government is at ease because any further decision of posting Rangers in the province or an extension in their stay if required will be decided by the Apex Committee which meets under the chief minister. They have been given policing powers only to provide legal cover to their raids, arrests etc. They have not become police,” the official said.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2017