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Govt calls in Punjab Rangers to 'handle' Islamabad protesters
[DAWN] The federal government on Sunday evening called in Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard 2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers 3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Rangers to assist civilian law-enforcement agencies and tasked them with handling the agitated law and order situation in Islamabad and clearing the sit-ins held in Faizabad and adjoining areas, DawnNews reported. According to a notification issued by the interior ministry, a copy of which is available with DawnNews, Punjab Rangers DG Maj Gen Azhar Naveed will lead the whole operation. The notification mentions that the Rangers have been given a week's time to carry out the orders, since the special powers have been extended to them with effect from November 26 until December 3, 2017. Earlier in the day, Rangers were given charge of the Faizabad operation, in a bid to control the chaos in the capital. Around 1,000 Rangers personnel, who were deployed in Islamabad yesterday, have been repositioned to the frontlines of the security operation. Top civil and military officials had earlier decided against the use of force to disperse protesters in Islamabad, opting instead to engage in political negotiations with agitators in the capital, DawnNews reported. There had been no official confirmation of the development. Chief of Army Staff Qamar Jawed Bajwa, who flew in from the United Arab Emirates, attended the over two-hour-long meeting headed by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, along with Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Director-General (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence ...the Pak military intelligenceagency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir... Naveed Mukhtar. The officials decided to engage in protest leaders "with influence", DawnNews reported, adding that the use of force against protesters has been discouraged in favour of a political settlement. The meeting was held at Prime Minister House to discuss the unstable law and order situation in the capital in the aftermath of a botched operation to disperse protesters at the Faizabad Interchange on Saturday. Posted by: Fred 2017-11-27 |
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