Sindh Rangers Director General Maj Gen Muhammad Saeed on Monday clarified that the military establishment has not supported any particular political party in Karachi and that the armed forces had no part to play in the formation of alliance or the subsequent breakup between Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP).
Talking to Dunya TV, the DG Rangers said that the establishment had nothing to do with the merger of PSP and MQM, "we just don't want a clash between them".
The DG Rangers did agree that MQM and PSP leaders had multiple meetings with Rangers and law enforcement agencies, however, he negated the claim that the armed forces had brokered an alliance between the two.
"Since September 2013, we have had an intense interaction with all political parties that were allegedly involved in committing violence in Karachi. However, we have not dictated any organisational policy for the political landscape of the metropolis.”
Saeed went on to say that during the meeting [between MQM, PSP and LEAs] a military official might have shared an opinion that an alliance would be in the interest of the city, "but this is not our institutional policy."
"We don't want Karachi's law and order situation to deteriorate, as it was before 2014," Saeed maintained.
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He also rejected the notion that MQM Pakistan "came to life in former DG Rangers Bilal Akbar's office".
"If MQM was created by the armed forces, would we still be pursuing cases against them?" he questioned.
"The cases registered against MQM leaders Farooq Sattar, Amir Khan and others, following the events of August 22, 2016, were still ongoing and our lawyers still appear before the court to pursue these cases," the DG Rangers said.
When asked about PSP chief Mustafa Kamal's claim that 70 "missing persons" were released on his request, Saeed explained that normally multiple arrests are made at the start of any investigation. However, as the probe proceeds the suspects are cleared and released after a certificate is signed by their families or leaders of the political parties they belong to.
