A high-profile kidnapping of a police chief in Pakistan—allegedly by official paramilitary troops—has pushed the two-year-old Imran Khan government to its worst political crisis as Sindh Police has openly risen in defiance against Pakistan Army. Police officers in Karachi have threatened to go on mass leave after the Sindh Police chief was allegedly kidnapped and coerced to act against PML(N) vice president Safdar Awan, the husband of Maryam Nawaz Sharif and the son-in-law of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The paramilitary troops, known as the rangers, are accused of raiding the house of Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) in southern Sindh province. They kidnapped him and forced him to sign an order to arrest Opposition leader Safdar Awan, a spokesman for Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party—which rules the state of Sindh—said on a TV channel on Tuesday.
Sources in Islamabad said that Pakistan is rapidly slipping into a civil war-like situation with the ongoing tussle between the Opposition parties and the Army, with the Imran Khan government acting like a puppet of the generals. The unprecedented Karachi incident, where almost all top ranking police officers of the province sought leave for being “ridiculed”, exposes the turmoil in Pakistan which is the worst since PM Imran Khan came into power about two years ago.
Sources said that Sindh IGP Mushtaq Mahar and at least two additional inspector generals, seven deputy inspector generals and six senior superintendents of Sindh Police on Tuesday applied for leave in order to “come out of the shock” caused by the “episode of registration of FIR against Capt (R) Safdar”.
The leave applications submitted by Sindh Police officers to IGP Mahar said that it had become hard for them to “discharge duties in a professional manner” due to the stress caused by Safdar’s arrest. “The recent episode of registration of FIR against Capt (R) Safdar in which the police high command has not only been ridiculed and mishandled, but all ranks of Sindh Police have been demoralised and shocked. In such stressful situation, it is quite difficult for me to discharge my duty in a professional manner,” the letters read.
Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has ordered an inquiry into Safdar Awan’s arrest after Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari questioned the Army and the ISI about the incident in a tweet.
Pakistani media quoted Bilawal alleging that the Sindh Police chief was abducted by Pakistan Army and its intelligence wing for a few hours before Safdar Awan was arrested. Bilawal insinuated that Pakistan military had
pressurised the Sindh Police to act against Safdar Awan.
However, the tense situation in the province forced IGP Mahar to defer his own leave as he ordered his officers to set aside their leave applications for 10 days. In a tweet, Sindh Police said the decision was taken “in the larger national interest” and pending the conclusion of the inquiry into how the arrest of PML(N) leader Safdar unfolded.
Sindh Police on Monday had arrested Safdar Awan from a hotel in Karachi. The arrest came just hours after the PML(N) vice president criticised PM Imran Khan’s government at a massive rally of People’s Democratic Movement (PDM)—an alliance of opposition parties which have joined hands to challenge the Imran government backed by the Pakistan Army. He was later released on bail. An alliance of 11 major Opposition parties is already holding a series of nationwide rallies seeking Imran Khan’s ouster over food shortages and inflation as well as demanding that the military stop meddling in politics.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS