Motto of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) ‘Respect All’… that’s not what the camera captured

There is a page on the Pakistan Army’s official website www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk containing general information about the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh).

It mostly highlights the ‘glorious achievements’ of the paramilitary force including remaining “continuously involved in combating terrorism and ensuring law and order by providing intimate support to Sindh police in Karachi and interior Sindh”; “by the grace of God Almighty and dedication of all ranks, winning the confidence and appreciation of the citizens” and, nevertheless, being “now regarded as a premier law enforcement agency, with high credibility and trust”.

There is also a subtitle on the page “Code of Conduct” under which it is written, “Troops of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh), being intimately involved in multifaceted border and internal security duties, have a lot of responsibility and moral obligation to ensure that their performance remains above board and well within the jurisdiction of the law. To make them better understand their role, a Code of Conduct has been clearly defined which reads, Crackdown for Criminals and Terrorists, Patronage and Protection for the Peace Loving Citizens with an Absolutely Impartial Approach Along With Courteous and Polite Attitude Combined with the Motto, Respect All.”

Apparently, the Rangers personnel, who gunned down an unarmed teenager at a park in the Boat Basin area, never read this Code of Conduct or perhaps didn’t quite understand what it means.

It was yet another incident in which “the Custodians of the Mehran Valley”, tasked with assisting the police restore law and order in Karachi and also given more powers under the Anti-Terrorism Act for this purpose, have crossed the line. They have been found involved in at least four other extrajudicial murders in recent times.

The difference this time around was the footage being flashed repeatedly on all local TV channels showing the daring “jawans” of the Pakistan Rangers firing at a youth begging for his life.

If it weren’t for this footage, there would have been no other evidence to contradict the Pakistan Rangers’ version that the 19-year-old was a bandit gunned down in an encounter.

The SHO of the Boat Basin police station was unwilling to file an FIR against the accused Rangers personnel and the state-run hospital handed over the body of the teenager to his heirs without conducting a postmortem, which would have revealed that the young man was shot from a point-blank range.

Perhaps in a rush of adrenaline, the Rangers personnel paid no attention to the cameraman capturing the entire event or were simply too arrogant to care; a mistake they later would have regretted as it helped bring the truth into the open.

Otherwise, this case would have ended up like the closed file of a protester, who was allegedly shot dead by paramilitary force in the Chakra Goth area of the city last month while he was participating in a demonstration against power load shedding and water hydrants.

The SHO of the area had given a clean chit to the Pakistan Rangers claiming that the protester had not died of a bullet shot by the law enforcement agencies. The other participants of the demonstration, most of them women, say that they were brutally roughed up by the Rangers personnel.

Even if it is assumed that the youth murdered at the Boat Basin park was actually mugging people along with his aides, as claimed by the Pakistan Rangers as well as Interior Minister Rehman Malik, the members of the paramilitary force had no right to kill an unarmed person. The special powers granted to the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) allow them to arrest people involved in violent activities and keep them in custody for 90 days. This chilling display of callousness is certainly not among those special powers.

So the big question that arises is: Why are the members of this law enforcement agency, which is supposed to protect the citizens of Karachi, resorting to such actions. In the grisly footage of the cold-blooded murder at the park, one can notice the Rangers personnel’s abhorrence for the unfortunate soul crying for mercy in front of them and the remorselessness with which one of them shot him and the others watched him bleed to death. He was a stranger to them and even if he was caught involved in any wrongdoing, he could have been nothing more than a deviant youth.

Were those men venting their frustration on the kid? The Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) are constantly forced to succumb to political pressure when they act against criminals in Karachi and that’s why their current campaign in the city has been a failure, denting their morale.

On numerous occasions, they have to set free criminals they arrest following phone calls from people to whom they cannot say no. Probably this is driving them to their wits’ end and as a result, we see these frustrated law enforcers in a trigger-happy mode, devoid of compassion and eager to eliminate criminals – big or small - in fake encounters   believing that if they arrest them, they are likely to get off the hook afterwards.

The other reason for the violent behaviour of the Rangers personnel could be that a force primarily trained for border patrol might be incapable of handling the challenges of an urban environment for a long period.

In the past, the Pakistan Rangers have been used in limited numbers and in short spells to deal with the violent convulsions in Karachi. It could be that the presence of too many personnel this time has complicated the situation and their current stay has extended more than it should be.

Pakistan’s best funnyman, the interior minister, has announced yet another committee to probe the Boat Basin incident. He has formed so many of such futile committees, it might be some kind of a record and he could be in contention for a spot in the Guinness Book of Records.

It seems as if the man keeps these committees in his pockets and sells them for a living. If only they could produce any worthwhile results. The one for the youth’s murder is unlikely to be any different.

The electronic media deserves credit for bringing into the public and higher authorities’ knowledge what actually occurred at the Boat Basin park. However, the reporters of the TV channels went a step too far by proclaiming that the youth was absolutely innocent. Yes, his murder was a great injustice, but whether he was involved in any criminal activity or not, that’s for the courts to decide on the basis of evidence, not the media.