The tussle between the federal and Sindh governments ended this weekend when the latter conceded and agreed to extend the powers of the Rangers in Karachi. It was agreed to request the assistance of Rangers within Karachi under section 4 (2) of ATA 1997 for a period of 90 days starting from April 16, 2017. These powers will enable the paramilitary force to continue conducting raids against target killers, armed religious extremists and other criminals who have been plaguing Karachi since long. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was all praises about the performance of the paramilitary Rangers during a meeting of the provincial cabinet at the Chief Minister House. He commended the sacrifices of the Rangers in the line of duty to maintain peace in the city, and further applauded the successful operations carried by them to exterminate terrorism in Karachi. And rightly so, as the cosmopolitan coastal city was suffering from violence and constant terror at the hands of criminal gangs and target-killing mafia: both with powerful political affiliations. A report issued at the end of 2016 stated that the Rangers had captured nearly 2,847 suspected criminals in Karachi since September 2013, when the federal government had empowered the parliamentary force. It must be remembered, however, that when we laud the efforts of the Rangers in bringing much-needed peace to Karachi, we must not lose sight of the larger political and administrative problem. The deployment of paramilitary forces to support civilian authorities must not mean that efforts to improve civilian law-enforcement agencies be neglected. Paramilitary forces are, at the end of the day, a temporary solution to the larger political and administrative question: can Karachi be governed effectively by political representatives of the people, using the normal politico-legal instruments available to them? *