Old Golimar library taken over by Rangers
From the Newspaper | Shazia Hasan | 6 hours ago
KARACHI, Dec 25: The Sindh Rangers have moved into the Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai Library in Old Golimar that was recently renovated by the Sindh government some six years after it was burned down during riots.
The library’s renovation some three months ago meant a lot for the students of Old Golimar. Not only did it serve the people of that area, it also catered to students coming from Pak Colony, Jahanabad, Garden East and Garden West.
First opened on Feb 14, 1977, by the then Sindh Chief Minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, the library housed around 4,500 books with several old manuscripts of the Holy Quran. In addition, it had a collection of toys for children which they called Khilona Library. Other than the library, this place housed the Site Town Nadra office, a bank branch and utility store.
But on Aug 26, 2006, this significant place of learning fell victim to loot and plunder in the form of anti-government protests following the murder of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti along with all the other places within a half kilometre of the Pak Colony police station. The protests continued for over two hours during which the library was set ablaze. Books not burnt to ashes were taken away.
Then on the insistence of the people of Site Town, Sindh Minister for Katchi Abadis Nadeem Ahmed Bhutto wrote to Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah for the restoration of the library with the Nadra office, bank and utility store on the premises.
Now after renovation work has been carried out on the building, there is a barrier restricting the public from entering the building as the premises has been taken over by the Sindh Rangers.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s ex-MPA Fareeda Baloch is one of the people affected by the unfortunate incident spelling disaster for the library in 2006 when hooligans pushed out her car from the library parking lot and torched it.
“What to say of my car,” she said speaking to Dawn on Tuesday. “I was just shocked at the stupidity of the people taking part in the vandalism. Many of them were residents of Old Golimar, joining in the rioting. In the process they only hurt themselves by losing such a good library,” she said.
“Yelling slogans of Jeay Baloch, they burned down everything they could lay their hands on — tables, chairs, children’s toys and the biggest treasure of all, the books,” she added.
“There is as it is a dearth of education here. In such circumstances the library was a very important fixture especially for those who wanted to study and make something of themselves here. By burning it down, they have only hurt their children’s future.
“Earlier, they said that the building was damaged beyond repair and it will have to be demolished but then it was renovated but what use is that as it has been taken over by the Rangers? It is a library. I ask what business do the Rangers have there?” she said.
“There are mighty influential people with links to the government living in the area even now, but no one seems to care or question what has become of the Bhitai library.”
Later, the Pakistan People’s Party PS-92 General Secretary Ghulam Rasool Raikani explained how the Rangers got possession of the library in the first place. “It was around when the renovation work was under way that they would park their vehicle right outside saying that it was a designated spot for ensuring security. As time passed, they started sitting inside as the gates would be ajar while the work was going on. Then one day their DSR held a meeting with us seeking the premises for their use. We explained to them that the place was reserved for a library,” he said.
“But around three months back, they just barged in and even broke all the padlocks inside to take over the rooms as well. They are men in uniform, what they say now is that their presence is needed in the area. But people are still getting killed here despite their being around,” Mr Raikani added.
When contacted, Sindh’s Minister for Katchi Abadis Nadeem Ahmed Bhutto told Dawn that under the prevalent law and order situation in Old Golimar, the Rangers could not be evicted from the place.
“It’s our bad luck that the library is not being used as such. But the presence of Rangers is also needed in this rather sensitive area as we can’t allow the gangs to freely roam about there,” he said.
“Therefore, I have approached the interior minister and the CM, reminding them that they had invested government money in the library, and to help us look for a long-term solution to this problem.”
Meanwhile, when Dawn called the Sindh Rangers to know who had endorsed their moving into the Bhitai Library and if they were there on a permanent or temporary basis, their spokesman said he was not sure what locality and which library we were talking about, but he would forward the questions to higher authorities.
Showing posts with label ISO; TNFJ; Pakistan Rangers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ISO; TNFJ; Pakistan Rangers. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Three officials killed in car bomb targeting Rangers HQ, 14 injured
A spokesperson for a prominent faction of the Pakistani Taliban, headed by insurgent Maulana Fazlullah, claimed responsibility. Sirajuddin Ahmad, speaking by telephone, said the attack was “revenge for the arrest, torture and killing of our people” by security forces in the region. Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan also confirmed that the attack was carried out by the TTP and said that such attacks will continue in the future because the Rangers “harass” their men in Karachi.IG Sindh Fayyaz Leghari confirmed that it was a suicide blast. He added that a mini truck had been used in the attack. According to Express News, initial investigations into the blast have emerged which suggest that Ataur Rehman’s (alias Naeem Bukhari) group of TTP is involved in the attack. Ataur Rehman, who lived in the Paposh area of Karachi, has carried out attacks on Rangers in the past as well. DIG West Javed Odho as saying that around 150kg of explosives were used in the blast. According to Express News correspondent Wasiq Muhammad, the powerful explosion destroyed the vehicle and severely damaged the building’s two storied structure, a section of which has collapsed. Parts of the building had caught fire, which the fire brigade put out. He added that the dead and injured were shifted to Abbasi Shaheed hospital. Of the injured, five were civilians and the rest were Rangers personnel. Muhammad added that most of those injured were in critical condition and are being given medical treatment. He added that doctors had removed ball bearings in addition to metal fragments from some of the injured. One of the injured Rangers’ personnel Mohammad Farooq narrated that the security personnel had just sat down after offering their morning prayers at around 6:30 am when the explosion took place. Another Rangers personnel Anwar while talking to Express News said that as he was getting ready for the duty, he saw that a mini truck came crashing inside the headquarters’ vicinity and rammed into a tree nearby and exploded. Emergency services have reached the spot and are conducting a rescue operation. The area has been cordoned off by security officials. A suspicious person was also reportedly arrested from the immediate vicinity of the Rangers headquarters soon after the blast. The blast was powerful enough to be heard for miles around and a big mushroom cloud rose high into the sky. ========== No Taliban present in Karachi, says Sherpao By Hassan Ali Published: November 8, 2012 Qaumi Watan Party chairman says political parties are using this false excuse to initiate military operations. PHOTO: PPI/FILE PESHAWAR: There are no Taliban present in Karachi and political parties, under the pretext of Taliban presence, want to achieve political advantage against their rivals, said Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Thursday. Addressing a press conference at the party’s central secretariat, Sherpao said that previously the Awami National Party (ANP) gave the impression that Taliban were present in the city and now the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is using the same narrative. He maintained that political parties are using this false excuse to initiate military operations aiming to get political benefits. Sherpao said if such operations are conducted, Pashtun population will be at the receiving end. MQM refutes Sherpao’s claim Senior members of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) Rabita Committee Mustafa Azizabadi, Muhammad Ashfaq and Qasim Ali Raza denounced Sherpao’s statement. In a joint statement, the members said that Sherpao was trying to mislead the people of Pakistan and that the world knew who is behind the attacks on defence installations, violence, bloodshed and kidnappings cases in Karachi. Referring to today’s suicide blast at the Rangers Headquarters in Karachi, they questioned who carried out the attack if Taliban were not involved in it. They further asked if it should be assumed that all the murderous attacks on Sherpao were self-arranged in order to get cheap publicity and deceive the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). ============== Suicide hit tears apart Rangers HQ in Karachi By: Mansoor Khan | November 09, 2012 KARACHI - A suicide bomber Thursday rammed an explosives-laden pickup truck into Rangers headquarters in a northern suburb of Karachi, causing a huge explosion that killed three people and wounded at least 23 others.The attack on the complex of paramilitary force, which is actively helping police to fight criminals and terrorists in this largest city of the country, came at around 7am in the morning when many residents were either asleep or just had got up, and offices were yet to open.The attacker collided the mini-truck against the main gate of Wing 72, Sachal Headquarters of Sindh Rangers, situated in Block-B of North Nazimabad. The flatbed pickup truck was loaded with up to 150 kilograms (330 pounds) of explosives, said Karachi District West DIG Javed Odho. Rangers spokesman Major Sibtain told the media three of their soldiers had been martyred and 18 others wounded. Senior police official Khurram Waris said that four civilians and a police officer were among the wounded.The loud blast was heard over miles, even in Golimar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Federal B Area, Liaquatabad and North Karachi. It badly damaged a portion of the headquarters’ building and shattered glasses in other parts of the building. Other buildings located nearby, including the offices of KESC, PTC and the Hanif Hospital, were also damaged. The nearby schools announced closures because panic gripped the citizens, especially the residents of North Nazimabad area. Fire also erupted in the building following the blast which was extinguished by at least three fire tenders. KESC administration immediately suspended the electricity supply to avoid any further damage in some accident.The entire locality was cordoned off soon after the blast and the media personnel and the citizens were barred from entering the blast site. Rescuers from different welfare associations reached the site and shifted the victims to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), where doctors pronounced two Rangers personnel dead. They were Lance Naik Khalid Mehmood, who belonged to Toba Tek Singh, Punjab and sepoy Abdul Razzak, who was from Umarkot, Sindh.Later, another Ranger, sepoy Imran Wali, who belonged to Ghizer area of Gilgit Baltistan, succumbed to his injuries during treatment. The deceased personnel were on the guard duty at the headquarters’ gate. The injured Rangers included Farooq, Anwar, Ghulam Mustafa, Nadir Khan, Wali Khan, Nasir Ali and Abid Hayat who were later moved to PNS Shifa Hospital.A police inspector, Wajid Ali, who lives in the same area and was passing from there at the time of the blast, and three citizens namely Faisal, Nazeer and Tariq were still admitted at the ASH. Doctor Saleem Siddique, Medico Legal Officer at ASH, said that the injured sustained explosive and burn injuries as pellets had not hit any of them. Bomb disposal squad officials said that TNT could have been used in the explosive material which caused fire after the explosion. DIG Javed Odho said that it was a suicide attack and only the tight security measures in force at the base had prevented major loss of life. “It seems it was a suicide attack. The vehicle exploded before the gate of Rangers’ complex because it could not enter inside due to high security,” Fayyaz Lagahari said. Odho said that the chassis and registration numbers of the vehicle used in the attack were fake. Two suspects were also taken into custody from the hospital and the blast site who were reportedly filming the injured Rangers personnel but the officials concerned neither confirmed their detention nor denied it. When contacted, FIA Special Services Group (SIG) Deputy Director Abdul Shakoor Memon said that the samples of bomber’s body and the explosive material had been sent to laboratory for examination. He said that detailed reports about the stuff would help ascertain the identity of the group behind the attack.Karachi is in the grip of a long-running wave of sectarian, ethnic and political violence and Thursday’s attack comes as the Supreme Court, which is hearing a case on Karachi violence, has repeatedly urged the police and other security agencies to take effective action against the criminals and terrorists in the city. Declaring their present efforts highly insufficient, the apex court has recently asked the authorities to cleanse the city of the Taliban and illegal foreigners.A major political force in the city, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is also urging the government to tackle the area’s Taliban elements. MQM has called an unofficial national “referendum” next week to ask voters whether they want Pakistan to follow the ideology of the Taliban or the vision for the country imagined by its founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah. =========== This news was published in print paper. Access complete paper of this day. =================
Monday, September 20, 2010
Rizvia Society Burial Ground for Pak Rangers: Punjabi Rangers=Punjabi Talibans
We will bury alive Pak Rangers having faith of Wahabi Fitnah Bin La-Deeni Taghoot.
We should not allow this Taliban inspired Rangers Militants to shot @ Shias while they were busy taking funeral procession. I hope they should be punished the worst way.
They knew its not their city, not people of their Wahabi Fitnah, so they openly shot dead 4 shia mourners.
We will hang them alive on electric poles and stone them to last breathing to teach a lesson to Terror Talibanic Coward Armed Forces of Broken and Shattered Pakistan.
Unarmed youth shot dead by Rangers at point blank
Published: June 9, 2011
Rangers personnel shot dead an unarmed youth in Clifton.
KARACHI: An unarmed youth was shot dead by Rangers personnel in Karachi on Wednesday evening.
According to latest reports, the youth was apprehended by Rangers personnel near the Benazir Park opposite Boat Basin area in Clifton.
As the youth pleaded to be released, one of the Rangers personnel took his rifle and shot him, twice, at point blank range. Rangers maintain that the youth was involved in snatching mobile phones.
The Sindh Chief Minister has taken note of the incident and the officers, who were caught on camera shooting the young man, have been arrested.
==
Unarmed youth shot dead by Rangers at point blank
By Faraz Khan
Published: June 9, 2011
Rangers personnel shot dead an unarmed youth in Clifton.
KARACHI: A youth was killed when Rangers shot him in a busy area of Karachi, Boat Basin, television channels reported late on Wednesday.
Five men from the Ghazi wing of the Rangers are said to be involved in the incident, of whom two have been arrested.
Video footage of the incident showed the Rangers killing the man, Sarfaraz Shah, who had a pistol in his hand, after beating him up.
Before being shot, Shah had tried to grab the security forces’ weapons.
Initially, the police and Rangers had claimed that they were informed that a dacoit had held a family hostage in Benazir Bhutto Park. The security personnel claimed that they went inside the park and asked the man to surrender. When he refused to do so, the Rangers shot at him in retaliation. Shah was injured and died after reaching Jinnah Hospital, security personnel said.
Shah was the brother of Salik Shah, a reporter of Samaa TV. The family of the deceased along with journalists held a protest at the chief minister’s house in Karachi. The chief minister has taken notice of the incident.
The Sindh information minister, Sharjeel Memon has said that no leniency will be shown to the culprits.
Political parties, including the ANP and the MQM, have condemned the incident.
===
Pakistan army ‘expels’ 90 US military trainers
* Senior military official says two-thirds of an estimated 135 US officials training FC have left country
* Says other Americans have also been ordered to leave
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army has sent home two-thirds of the US military personnel who were training its forces in counterinsurgency skills along the porous border with Afghanistan.
A senior military official said late Tuesday that 90 of an estimated 135 US trainers have left the country, the latest setback in the deeply troubled relationship between the United States and Pakistan’s military following the May 2 US raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin laden.
The 90 Americans had been training the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force made up mostly of tribesmen from the frontier areas, according to the military official, who asked not to be named in accordance with military practice.
The Frontier Corps is Pakistan’s front line force against terrorists in the tribal regions. The US military personnel were teaching members of the force to become trainers.
The US has confirmed it is reducing the number of its military personnel in Pakistan but has not given an exact figure.
“We have reassessed our requirements and sent 90 people home,” said the official. Other Americans have also been ordered to leave Pakistan, but the official would not elaborate or provide details.
“Where essential elements are required we are keeping them. In very critical areas of maintenance and technical capability, where we do not have the qualified people then we are keeping them,” he said. “But otherwise they are being asked to leave.”
Washington’s relationship with Pakistan has been shaky for months. Pakistan first requested a withdrawal of US forces after the arrest and detention in January of CIA security contractor Raymond Davis, the official and Western diplomats have said. Davis was arrested for the shooting deaths of two Pakistani men, who he said were trying to rob him. He was eventually released in March.
The bin Laden raid worsened relations and escalated the drawdown of US personnel in Pakistan. ap
===
Rangers killing: Youth laid to rest, condemnations pour in
By AFP / Express
Published: June 9, 2011
Scores of people attend funeral prayers of 19-year-old matric student who was shot dead by Rangers in Karachi.
KARACHI: Funeral prayers of the youth shot dead in a public park by Rangers were held in Karachi on Thursday.
Scores of people attended the funeral prayers of 19-year-old student Sarfaraz Shah, who was shot at point blank range in a public park in an incident filmed live and broadcast on television on Wednesday. Shah’s body has been taken by relatives for burial.
Earlier, Shah’s relatives took his body and protested outside the house of the Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah demanding that the soldiers be arrested. The CM ordered an inquiry and suspended a senior police official for charging the youth with robbery after his death. Police subsequently arrested the five Rangers involved in the incident, and a case has been registered against Afzal and Shahid Zafar.
The Rangers claim that Shah had tried to rob a policeman’s family. A police official later told AFP on condition of anonymity that only a toy gun had been recovered.
Town Police Officer (TPO) Tarik Dharajo said that five Rangers personnel had been arrested following this incident. He added, however, that legal action cannot be initiate against them till they are court-martialled, as they are paramilitary security officials.
Dharejo said that they will be charged under the Pakistan Penal Code.
Condemnations aplenty
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani took notice of the killing on Thursday, and ordered an inquiry into the matter. The prime minister promised to personally handle the incident.
Senator Raza Rabbani compared the extra-judicial killing to the Kharotabad killing in which five foreigners were shot dead by security officials.
President of the Supreme Court Bar Association and prominent human rights activist, Asma Jahangir also condemned the killing.
“Seeing this, anyone can guess how brutalised our society has become,” Jahangir told AFP.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik ordered the arrest of the soldiers involved and a departmental inquiry.
“This act is extremely unlawful, even if the youth was a robber it did not merit to kill him like this,” Malik told TV channels.
“The suspects in the incident have been arrested. I have ordered for a thorough inquiry.”
Footage of the incident, filmed by an unidentified cameraman, was broadcast repeatedly on local television stations.
In it, a soldier can be seen dragging the man, then throwing him towards half a dozen armed comrades, one of whom then shot the 19-year-old twice at point-blank range as he begged for his life.
The park where the incident took place is named after assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, whose family home is in Clifton.
Correction: June 9, 2011
Initial reports claimed that Sarfaraz Shah was 25 years old. Latest reports say that he was 19 years old.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
