Faizabad crackdown handed over to Rangers
The interior ministry assigned the task of dispersing the Faizabad protesters to the Punjab Rangers on Sunday.
The move came a day after police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) failed to remove the violent protesters of the religious group Tehreek-e-Labbaik from the Faizabad Interchange in Islamabad.
The paramilitary force will be deployed for a week effective from November 26 to December 3 in Islamabad. PHOTO: FILE
A notification issued by the ministry read that the paramilitary force had been handed over the crackdown for a week – from November 26 to December 3, Express News reported.
The Director General (DG) Punjab Rangers will head the operation.
Heavy contingents of police and FC will assist Rangers in clearing the venue of the protesters.
On Saturday, the authorities finally launched an operation to retrieve Faizabad intersection from Tehreek-e-Labbaik protesters after weeks of negotiations and nudging by the courts, but the police action only multiplied the government’s problems amid a worsening law and order situation in Islamabad and other cities.
It was decided that troops would be deployed in Islamabad as the federal government, exercising its authority under Article 245 of the Constitutions, had called them out in the federal capital to assist the civilian administration in restoring peace.
However, a high-level civil-military huddle on Sunday decided that the Pakistan Army would not participate in the crackdown on the Faizabad protesters but it would safeguard the government installations in the federal capital.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired the meeting, which was attended by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, DG Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Naveed Mukhtar, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal.
It was decided that troops would be deployed in Islamabad as the federal government, exercising its authority under Article 245 of the Constitutions, had called them out in the federal capital to assist the civilian administration in restoring peace.
However, the army will not participate in the operation against the Tehreek-e-Labbaik protesters. It was urged during the meeting that the police and civilian administration were responsible for dispersing the protesters and they should do so peacefully through talks.
The prime minister was briefed about the ongoing law and order situation across the country in the wake of the Faizabad crackdown launched on Saturday.
General Qamar told the premier that the state should not use force against its own people. “The masses of Pakistan love and trust the army. Their confidence can’t be dented for small benefits,” he added.
The COAS further said those responsible for the amendment to the Khatm-e-Nabuwat oath for election candidates should be identified and punished.
The army chief also asked the PM to order the immediate restoration of private TV channels’ transmission that had been blocked since yesterday.
Source:tribune.com.pk