Ominous
Banners Appear in the Heart of the Provincial Capital
The banner, courtesy of the Traders of Circular Road, Lahore,
is displayed at the Charing Cross, outside of the Provincial Assembly of the
Punjab building (seen in the background)
The banner, displayed in full
glare in front of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab at Mall Road, Lahore,
contained the following text:
“(30) baras pehlay
jin siyasatdanon kay gharon main choolha nahin chalta tha, jo chotay motay aik
karkhanay ya cinema kay malik thay, aaj woh kharbon-pati kaisay ban gayay? Dehshatgard
madrassay kee chat kay neechay ho ya siayasat kee chattri talay, mazhabi dehshat
gardion kay khilaaf kamyabiyon kay baad lutairon, qabza groupon, aur bhatta
khoron kay khilaaf Zarb-e-Azb jari rahay gi. Zardari Sahib, ab eent say eent
inhi ki bajay gi.
Kadam barhao Raheel Sharif
– qaum tumharay saath hai”
Translation
“How have the politicians, who were barely able to make ends meet thirty
years ago, become billionaires now? Whether the terrorist operates under the
Madrassa, or under the patronage of politics, after the success against religious
terrorism, Zarb-e-Azb will continue against plunderers, land mafia and extortionists.
Zardari Sahib, these are the people who will be destroyed completely.
Take a step forward, Raheel
Sharif. The nation stands with you.“
The text of the banner indicates
that it was probably motivated by the reaction to Mr. Zardari’s speech
of June 16, 2015 in which he had apparently criticised the Military. However,
it is extraordinary and a sign of times that the businessmen (the core constituency
of the PML-N) in a city that is the home town and power base of PML-N, Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif are pinning hopes of
combatting crime on the Army Chief and openly asking him to ‘take a step
forward’ and not the Provincial or Federal Governments and their leaders.
This is a part of the emerging trend in which the COAS is presented as the ‘saviour’
and the elected Governments, Prime Minister and the Chief Minister are almost
marginalised.
Mr.
Asif Ali Zardari’s Fiery Broadside
Mr. Asif Ali Zardari during his fiery speech made on
June 16, 2015 1
If one thing defined civil-military relations in Pakistan in
June 2015, it was perhaps the fiery speech made by the Co-Chairman of the PPP
and former President of Pakistan, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari on June 16, 2015. The
diatribe, which is almost unconventional for Mr. Zardari’s usually passive
demeanour, was openly critical of the Military, as he warned it against ‘stepping
out of its domain’.2
PILDAT believes that the renewed
vigour observed in the Karachi Operation during the past few months has created
several ruptures in the civil-military seams, especially in Sindh. At least
two political parties, the MQM and the PPP, appear to be facing the brunt of
the operation. It is perhaps for the very same reason that the two are reportedly
seeking a political alliance again, with Mr. Zardari also reaching out to other
political parties.
Relevantly, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
in speech on June 16, 2015 stated that:
“Hamari kardaar-kashi
karna chorr doh. Agar hum nay apki shuru ki, toh pata nahin Pakistan bannay
say aj tak kitnay jarnailon [Generals] ki shuru ho jayay gi. Main nahin
chahta kay institution hamaray kamzor hon. Iss liay kay hamain pata hai kay
kitnay courton main case chal rahay hain, aur kitnay chalnay walay hain jiss
main apkay paitee bhai, woh accused hain. Unki list lay kay jiss din hum nay
press conference ki, toh apki eent say eent baj jayay gi. Iss waqt poori dunya
main jab ap kamzor ho rahay ho, hum apkay shaana bashaana kharray rehna chahtay
hain … Yeh hamara institution hai. Ap nay sirf 3 saal rehna
hai. Uss kay baad apnay chalay jaana hai. Hamesha kay liay hum nay rehna hay.
Toh humain mutt tang karo. Agar humain tang karnay ki koshish kee toh hum apki
ki bhi eent say eent baja dain gay … Hum iss waqt, jab aik sarhad
peh apko Bharat nay lullkara hua hai, doosri sarhad pay apko kuch kaladam tanzeemon
nay lullkara hua hai, jin k peechay bhi RAW hai, Balochistan main apko RAW nay
lullkara hua hai aur saath main kuch baloch sardaron kay bachon ko rakha hua
hai. Toh hum apko kamzor nahin karna chahtay. Toh hoshyaar, hoshyaar, hoshyaar,
hoshyaar!”
Translation: ‘Stop
with our character assassination. If we start with yours, then no one knows
the number of Generals that may be implicated, since the formation of Pakistan.
I do not want to weaken our institutions because we know there are cases pending
in court, along with others that might be introduced in which your colleagues
are accused. The day we do a Press Conference on the basis of that list, you
will be destroyed. We want to stand besides you as you are being weakened…
This is our institution. You will stay for only three years, while we will be
here forever. Therefore, do not vex us. If you try doing that, then we will
destroy you… We do not want to weaken you at this time when on one frontier,
you are facing challenges by India, on the other by some proscribed organisations
supported by RAW [Research and Analysis Wing], along with the challenges it
has posed for you in Balochistan in collusion with the children of a few Baloch
sardars. Therefore, beware, beware, beware, and beware’ !
Yet again, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
in his evasive style did not directly refer to any person or institution in
the speech. However, with allusions to security challenges that the country
is facing, and the resultant ‘weakening’ of the institution, it
is clear that he is addressing the Military leadership.
Such criticism of the Armed Forces
by a person who had been President / Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
and whose party rules a Province at a time when we are in a state of war is
irresponsible, to say the least. Mr. Zardari or the representatives of the Sindh
Government should have raised it at appropriate forum such as the apex committee.
Additionally, Mr. Zardari should be giving out facts and constitutional references
if he chooses to go public on an issue as serious as this rather than going
for an emotionally charged tirade. Mr. Zardari’s party, instead of endorsing
his tirade, should have held him accountable for irresponsible utterances. 3
Perhaps displaying the ‘twice
shy’ syndrome in the aftermath of
its posture following the assassination attempt on Mr. Hamid Mir, the Federal
Government’s quick criticism of Mr. Zardari’s speech provides yet
another window into the complex nature of our present-day equation of civil-military
relations. That the Prime Minister cancelled his pre-scheduled meeting with
Mr. Zardari after the latter’s outburst could have been enough of a signal
of him distancing himself from Mr. Zardari’s views. However, in a very
curious fashion, Mr. Sharif, the elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, especially
called the Chief of Army Staff, who was on a visit to Russia at the time, 4
to reportedly convey personally to the Army Chief his distancing from Mr. Zardari’s
“criticism of the armed forces.”
The statement issued from the
PM House, quoting Mr. Sharif, went on to even credit the “coordination
between the civilian and military leadership” to have “strengthened
democracy” in Pakistan:
“Coordination between
the civilian and military leadership has strengthened democracy. This harmony
is evident in the decisions taken by the All Parties Conferences (APC) during
which the civilian and military leadership set joint national targets.5”
Raid
on the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) Office: Are the Pakistan Rangers
(Sindh) ‘Acting Beyond their Authorities’?
Office of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) was
raided by the Pakistan Rangers Sindh on June 15, 20156
Saying that the Pakistan Rangers’ ‘raid’ on
the office of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and Lines Area Development
Project (LADP) on June 15, 2015 ruffled a few feathers within the Sindh Government
will be an understatement.7
Director General of Pakistan
Rangers (Sindh) based in Karachi, Maj. Gen. Bilal Akbar’s presentation
to the Apex Committee Meeting on June 04, 2015 had already delineated land grabbing
and ‘China-cutting’ as two sources for funding of the terror-nexus
prevalent in Karachi. With the dubious flight from the country of the SCBA’s
previous Director General, Mr. Manzur Qadir, the SBCA and LADP appear to be
in the front and centre of the alleged land grabbing in Karachi.
However, the letter written by
the Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, MPA, to the Director General
of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh), Maj. Gen. Bilal Akbar, on June 17, 2015 showed
that the Sindh Government had decided to take exception to the raids conducted
by the Rangers. It stated, “It has been reported that the offices
of SBCA and LARP were raided on June 15 and the officers were harassed, waylaid
and also mishandled. This reflects that the Rangers are acting beyond their
authorities and mandate. It is therefore advised to restrict your movement as
per the authority given to you”.8
The development raises two questions
of relevance, especially with regards to the role that Pakistan Rangers (Sindh)
have acquired in law enforcement in Sindh:
-
What are the powers available
to Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) in the law enforcement dynamics of the province?
-
Where exactly did the Pakistan
Rangers (Sindh) break the protocol, prompting the Chief Minister to write
the letter?
Although the answer to the first
is not patently clear, it is obvious that the raid on the Sindh Building Control
Authority (SBCA) was the catalyst for the letter. As for the powers available,
the letter makes a specific reference to ‘clause 1 of subsection 3,
of section 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997’9 to highlight
the powers given to Pakistan Rangers (Sindh),10 although prima
facie, the said provision defies the position of the Sindh Government.
The response given by Maj. Gen.
Bilal Akbar to the letter is also worthy of consideration. During a media talk,
he stated that the raid had been based ‘on intelligence that a suspect
named Yasir is running a network of terrorism in there [the SBCA Office]’.
During the same interview, he stated that the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) were
authorized to undertake targeted operations like Sindh Building Control Authority
(SBCA) under powers vested by the Apex Committee, headed by the Chief Minister
of Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, MPA, who issued the letter in the first place.11
However, as PILDAT has already
noted in its Monitor on Civil-Military Relations in Pakistan for January 2015,
the legal standing of the Apex Committees, specifically as a decision-making
forums, remains in question. No official notification was circulated by either
the Federal or the Provincial Governments regarding their formation and the
citizens remain in the dark about their terms of reference, composition, etc.12
The Civil Armed Forces, including
the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) have been assigned the role of policing and prosecution
of ‘enemy aliens’ and ‘combatant enemies’,
which ostensibly the suspect named Yasir at the SBCA may qualify as, under the
Protection of Pakistan Act, 2014.13 It has also been seen in the
past that the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) have been given policing powers on multiple
occasions by the Provincial Government, rather than affecting any systematic
reform in the Police Service of Sindh. The Civil Armed Forces have, therefore,
become a crucial part of the law enforcement landscape in Sindh, considering
their presence in the role for the past 20 years.
Holistically, the result of these
apparently contradictory statements will be a compromise on the effectiveness
of the Karachi Operation, which saw a renewed vigour in June 2015. It contributes
not only to the civil-military f