Sindh govt urges Centre to withdraw Rangers’ powers

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Thursday wrote a letter to the federal government and objected to the extension in special policing powers given to Rangers paramilitary force in the province.

In the letter dispatched to federal interior ministry today, the provincial government demanded withdrawal pf powers of the Sindh Rangers.

It is authority of the provincial government to use the powers under Article 147 according to its own choice, said the letter, adding that the Sindh government had given conditional powers to Rangers in accordance to the Constitution.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led Sindh government stated in the letter that since powers in this regard were granted to provinces under Article 147 after 18th Constitutional Amendment, therefore granting powers to Rangers by federal government was an intervention in the provincial autonomy.

The provincial government has termed the act an attack on Sindh’s sovereignty.

“Sindh government is also fully committed to root out terrorism like federal government,” said the letter urging the federal government to respect the Constitutional rights of the provincial government.

The decision to write the letter was taken in a high-level meeting of the provincial cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah yesterday.

On Tuesday, the federal interior ministry had rejected Sindh’s proposal in the matter after which the chief minister called an emergency meeting on Wednesday.