Making a tough statement, Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) Friday ruled out Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) strike-call by issuing a warning against ‘forced shutdown’ of businesses, schools, and transport in Sindh in general and Karachi in particular, Samaa reported.“We cannot allow anyone to bring the life in the metropolis to a paralyzing halt,” Rangers said in the statement issued here.This statement comes minutes after the MQM announced it would observe a countrywide mourning and a provincewide shutterdown strike on Saturday over party workers alleged extrajudicial killing at the hands of Rangers personnel.“”We appeal to the trade, transporter, and schools associations to answers the MQM’s call affirmatively,” the MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar told media in an emergent press conference at party headquarters ‘Nine Zero.’ A spokesman for the paramilitary force, led by Director General Rangers (Sindh) Maj Gen Bilal Akbar, said that there would be no strike on Saturday.In a similar statement a couple of months back, the DG Rangers made no bones when he said that clamping a shutterdown/wheeljam strike on the citizens was tantamount to trying to manipulate the day-to-day routine of Pakistan’s commercial center.“You are requested to take Saturday as any other working day. Do not be afraid to continue with your business or other activities. Call 1101 (Rangers Helpline) if anyone tries to force you to close your shop/office down for the day against your will,” Rangers said giving an emboldening message to the people at large.Earlier, talking to journalists, Sattar claimed that four workers were killed in the last 24 hours or so. Three political activists from the MQM, who were in the custody of Rangers, were murdered without meeting any requirement of the law of the land, he said claiming a fourth MQM was killed by “Haqiqi terrorists.” The party plans to hold a rally tomorrow, where it will try again to show that it can cause problems to the government if the government continues with its crackdown. Considering that the rally will consist of MQM workers rather than the common people of Karachi, it is slated to be a stronger show. Regardless, the party must realise that while it can inconvenience the government it lacks the strength to force its demands. Only a political compromise can solve MQMs woes at the moment; its tried and tested methods do not carry any weight, the more it tries to force them, the easier it will be for the authorities to justify their action. Before this call, MQM’s strikes were a formidable bargaining chip – now their true potential has been seen.Regardless of the criticism on MQM the Rangers are not blameless either. The 4 workers that were killed may have been hardened criminals – terrorists even under some definitions – yet that does not mean that the extra judicial killings can be justified. Unless the Rangers rein themselves in, the conflict with MQM will only escalate, making a political compromise that much harder to achieve. It is a time for political pragmatism as much as it is a time for hard policing.
pk.shafaqna.com
