KARACHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived in Karachi on Tuesday (today), a day before he is scheduled to preside over a federal cabinet meeting on the city’s deteriorating law and order situation.
The prime minister is likely to attend a Pakistan Navy function before a few meetings with some political leaders and senior officials in the evening. The federal cabinet is scheduled to meet on Wednesday.
Sources at the Prime MInister's secratariat had said that Sharif would give approval of a joint grand targeted operation during the meeting of the federal cabinet to finally decide regarding steps for peace in the port city. The joint operation would include personnel of Rangers, FC and Sindh Police, the sources added.
Sharif held a meeting with the national security principals to consult over the “overall security situation of the country” ahead of a special meeting of the federal cabinet in Karachi on Wednesday to finalise plans for a crackdown on criminal elements, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office.
However, multiple sources said much of the focus of the meeting, attended by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ISI director general Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam and the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Tariq Fatemi, was on the situation in Karachi and the intended crackdown.
Prime Minister Sharif is said to have stressed, during his meeting with security advisers, on ‘national consensus’ for dealing with challenges.“
All political forces must rise to the occasion so that national consensus is evolved to address the problems faced by the country,” he was quoted as having said.
The government has convened the special meeting of the cabinet for discussing law and order situation in Karachi and “forging a consensus” on the impending action.
Governor Ishratul Ibad, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and MQM Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly Farooq Sattar have been invited to the meeting, which would also be attended by heads of security agencies, including the director general of Rangers and the inspector general of Sindh police.
According to sources, it was decided that the responsibility of a targeted operation against miscreants would be handed over to the Sindh government.
Prime Minister Sharif said that the federal government would provide all necessary support to the provincial government of Sindh in order to effectively combat the violence in Karachi.
After the visit, the chiefs of political parties, who have representation in Parliament, would be taken into confidence on the strategy to establish peace.