Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has termed the extension of Rangers’ special powers by the federal government as ‘unconstitutional invasion of Sindh’.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar had on Tuesday unconditionally extended Rangers powers for two more months, setting aside a summary of the Sindh government sent to the Interior Ministry after a resolution was passed by the provincial assembly to limit the paramilitary force’s policing powers.

“The central government trampled the principle of constitutionalism by invading the province of Sindh, [which is] against the spirit of the constitution,” the former president said in his statement on the 139th birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam.

The nation will slip into a quagmire of instability and uncertainty if the constitution was trampled in this manner, the former president warned.

Zardari asked people to adhere to the principles of Quaid – democracy, constitutionalism and rule of law – and banish the militant and extremist mindset.

He also paid homage to the personnel of the armed forces who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that there were some legal and constitutional misunderstandings between Sindh and federal government over the powers of Rangers and the same would be resolved amicably.

Addressing delegations of Sindh High Court Bar, Karachi Bar and Malir Bar Association at the CM House on Thursday, Qaim said the government was committed to implement National Action Plan worked out with the collective wisdom of political and military leadership.

While, the Sindh Cabinet has written a letter to the federal government regarding the unconditional restoration of Pakistan Rangers’ exclusive powers in Karachi, the provincial government has termed the act an ‘attack’ on Sindh’s sovereignty. The government has criticised federation’s move to restore Rangers policing powers one-sidedly.

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

Sources told that several key decisions were taken in the meeting including writing another letter to the Prime Minister Sharif and the Interior Ministry regarding the powers of Rangers in Sindh.