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:

1. What are the powers available to Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) in the law enforcement dynamics of the province?

2. 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