Chaired by Chief Minister (CM) Sindh Qaim Ali Shah, the Apex Committee was recently told by the DG Rangers Maj Gen Bilal Akbar, that out of the nearly Rs.230 billion collected illegally from hapless Karachi-ites annually on one pretext or other, a fair amount of it was being used to fund terrorism. This extraordinary generation of black money was due to outright extortion (Bhatta), from water supply, land-grabbing, smuggling of Iranian diesel, collection of hides and skins. Funds were extracted from illegal marriages halls, parking tax and drugs business, match-fixing, money-laundering, beggars’ mafia, with cyber-crime and foreign funding of seminars also playing a key role in crime funding and promotion of terrorism structure. Ghost employment has been in place in a systematic way generating millions on a permanent basis.
The DG Rangers said “china-cutting” (probably a new term for the English language) consists of construction on govt land, encroachment on govt land and on private property. Working under a coordinated system, the land-grabbing mafia include political parties, city district government, district administration, construction companies, estate agents and police officials, most of them patronised by known politicians. The amount extorted from small markets, roadside vendors, graveyards and schools runs into billions of rupees. The DG Rangers also noted that the amount collected illegally from the Fish Harbor is distributed among different groups fighting Lyari’s gang wars and some influential personalities of Sindh. An enormous amount of money is used to feed private armies of political groups and influentials of the Province.
Quite a charge sheet! But why has this become pubic almost a week after the Apex Committee meeting of June 4 which includes many of the influentials of Sindh so being indicted (at least by aspersion)? An extraordinary display of sheer hypocrisy that the Apex Committee should take a decision to set-up a “Committee” (another one!) to “resolve the issues for rooting out terror-funding network which is key to sustainable peace in Karachi”. Maj Gen Bilal Akbar well knew when making his statement before the Apex Committee that many of its members were beneficiaries from the “loot”. Not surprising that a week later nothing had happened, not surprising that having given up on nothing happening, Bilal Akbar went public. This could not have been possible without clearance from his own bosses.
The problem with Karachi is nothing new, over the years the intelligence agencies have been giving periodical reports but in the “interest of democracy” the rulers both military and civil, have refrained from doing anything about it. Musharraf and his successive Corps Commanders in Karachi well knew about the organized criminal activity, motivated by “political considerations” they became accessories to the fact by turning not only a blind eye but a benevolent one to this daylight robbery. Now that the Rangers, with increasing help-from the Sindh Police, have de-fanged the core militant elements of all three (on-off) political coalition partners in Sindh, the DG Rangers found it fit and high time to talk about it.
For the record, the present revelation is nothing new to Rangers. This was put on the record in quite some detail by Maj Gen (later Lt Gen) Ijaz Chaudhry when he was DG Rangers in 2011. He gave a comprehensive report to the Chief Justice (CJ) of the Supreme Court (SC) Iftikhar Chaudhry, on the directions of the SC and followed it up on a periodic basis. For some time the SC supported the Rangers move but then inexplicably backed off. Take your own guess why our activist (than) CJ SC suddenly lost interest in fixing Karachi? Maj Gen Rizwan Akhtar took over from Ijaz as DG Rangers when Ijaz took over Corps Commander in as Karachi. While Kayani restrained them from going after the political criminals so as not to destabilize the Federal Govt, the duo teamed up well together to restore a semblance of peace in the city and build up a substantial field intelligence collecting capacity. The credit for re-organising Rangers Sindh into an effective urban-policing counter-terrorism force must go to Ijaz and Rizwan. Unfortunately for this city (and the country) a Lt Gen who was to retire in less than a year, Sajjad Ghani, was sent in post-haste by Kayani to replace Ijaz only a few days before Kayani himself retired.
Because Sajjad Ghani had other priorities, mostly pertaining to making his future bright, Rizwan independently was able to maintain the momentum, but on a restricted basis. For the record Lt Gen Ijaz Chaudhry as Corps Commander flatly refused to confirm an amazing land deal AXACT earlier got for themselves from DHA Karachi. Taking over as Gen Raheel Sharif COAS was apprised of AXACT’s doubtful credentials by Ijaz, he gave strict instructions not to give security clearance to BOL TV.
With Rizwan promoted and becoming DG ISI, his replacement was thankfully another upright professional soldier, Maj Gen Bilal Akbar. The COAS Gen Raheel Sharif, recognised the need to restore the good name and credibility of the Army in Sindh and he sent in another outstanding professional soldier of excellent pedigree as Corp Commander to replace Sajjad Ghani. With the backing of a committed COAS and the Federal Govt’s reluctant acceptance that terrorism could only be fought on the Army’s terms, the new team of Naveed Mukhtar and Bilal Akbar has combined well to take the fight across the board to the terrorists instead of venting their frustrations grumbling behind closed doors.
A few weeks back Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar gave a presentation about the inefficiency and corruption of the Sindh Govt in front of the PM in a meeting consisting of all the high-ups of PPP, people held their breath expecting action. To their surprise a few days later the Corp Comd than made a well-publicised courtesy call on the Governor and the CM. What happened? It seemed that because the Federal Govt needed the goodwill of the PPP, Mian Nawaz Sharif was quite unhappy Naveed Mukhtar’s statement had upset Zardari. After Zulfikar Mirza’s revelations about extended crime on primetime TV and Zardari’s failure to legally sue him for libel, what is left to the imagination?
Fed up with the state of affairs, the Army’s High Command well realize that the operation to restore peace to Karachi will fail until the corruption and sustained maladministration in Karachi – and Sindh – is focussed upon directly without political restraints. The question is has the Army finally got its act together or will we have further vacillation when Nawaz Sharif feels threatened politically? Bilal failed to mention the enormous amounts generated by the sand-mafia, was it because a retired three star general (and aspirant for Governorship of Sindh) is (or was) involved in the lifting of sand from the Malir River? The present military hierarchy has to move on two fronts, target the corrupt whoever it may be to ensure terror funding is eliminated, at the same time take action to cleanse itself of the shenanigans of a few corrupt officers Kayani had deliberately handpicked to foster his own designs to become rich beyond imagination in the shortest possible time. As Zardari often stated in private to friends and foes alike, it took him two years into his Presidency to bring the one who mattered on line.
Clearly defining the means and methods of corruption, the DG Rangers clearly indicated that he well knew who the corrupt were. Talk is cheap, Bilal, and so is posturing. If you really are the soldier one takes you for, stop wasting your time talking to Apex Committee in which most of the corrupt sit. Do you really expect the crooks to blow a police whistle on themselves? And let us not confine ourselves to Sindh. And what about the Punjab? The same is true for Lt Gen Naveed Zaman in Lahore. Unless he moves against the militants in South Punjab currently being given protection by close associates of the rulers, nothing much will happen countering terrorism except more tea and more rhetoric at Apex Committee meetings.
For the sake of the country the charade of hypocrisy must stop and the corrupt must be targetted without further delay in the unique window of opportunity that we have. Taking action against the big fish is the only way to break the nexus between corruption, organized crime and terrorism!
