The Pakistan Rangers ( ur, ) are a
paramilitary federal
law enforcement organization in
Pakistan, operating under the authority of the
Interior Secretary of Pakistan
The Interior Secretary of Pakistan (Urdu: ) is the Federal Secretary for the Ministry of Interior. As in-charge of the country's law and order machinery, the Interior Secretary is one of the most coveted and sensitive positions in the Government o ...
. Their primary purpose is to secure and defend sites of significance in the country, although they are also usually involved in major internal and external security operations with the regular
Pakistani military and provide assistance to municipal and provincial police forces to maintain law and order against crime, terrorism and unrest.
"Rangers" is an
umbrella term for the ''
Pakistan Rangers − Punjab'' and ''
Pakistan Rangers − Sindh'' (colloquially referred to as the ''Punjab Rangers'' and ''Sindh Rangers'', respectively), with the former headquartered in
Lahore,
Punjab and the latter headquartered in
Karachi,
Sindh—the two
provinces of Pakistan in which each respective force has operational jurisdiction. As such, the Pakistan Rangers are responsible for guarding Pakistan's international border with neighbouring
India; the Punjab Rangers patrol of the border running along Pakistan's Punjab province, while the Sindh Rangers patrol around the remainder, some running along Pakistan's Sindh province. The two forces operate under their own separate chains of command and wear distinct uniforms.
Most famously each evening, the Punjab Rangers, together with their Indian counterparts in the
Border Security Force
The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 war on 1 December 1 ...
, participate in an elaborate
flag lowering ceremony at the
Wagah
Wagah ( ur, ) or Wagha (Shahmukhi pnb, ) is a village and union council (UC 181) located in the Wahga Zone near Lahore City District, Pakistan. The town is famous for the Wagah border ceremony and also serves as a goods transit terminal an ...
−
Attari
Attari, also spelled Atari, is a village of Amritsar district in the Punjab state of India, 3 km from the Indo-Pakistani border at Wagah. It is situated 25 km west of the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, and is the last Indian station on ...
border crossing near Lahore.
The mutually-recognized
India–Pakistan international border is different from the disputed and heavily militarized
Line of Control (LoC), where the Pakistani province of Punjab adjoins Jammu and Kashmir (a
conflict territory between India and Pakistan) and the undisputed international border effectively ends. Consequently, the LoC is not managed by the paramilitary Punjab Rangers, but by the regular
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...
.
Rangers are formally supervised by the
National Crises Management Cell, under the federal
Ministry of Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministr ...
of Pakistan. However, they can also be commanded by officers on secondment from the Pakistan Army. As of 2017, per the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England.
The 2017 Global Go To Think ...
, the Rangers had well over 150,000 active personnel. As part of the paramilitary
Civil Armed Forces
The Civil Armed Forces (CAF) are a group of nine paramilitary, uniformed organisations, separate and distinct from the regular "military" Pakistan Armed Forces. They are responsible for maintaining internal security, helping law enforcement ag ...
, the Rangers can fall under the full operational control of the
Pakistan Armed Forces
The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...
. This is not exclusively limited to a
wartime scenario, but whenever Article 245 of the
Constitution of Pakistan
The Constitution of Pakistan ( ur, ), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's opposition parties, it was approved by ...
is invoked to provide "military aid to civil power". An example of this occurring was in 2013, when Karachi, Pakistan's most populous city, had ranked as the sixth-most dangerous city worldwide due to intense violence by criminals,
corrupt political agents and
Islamist militants (whose presence came as a consequence of the
Soviet–Afghan War and
Pakistan's intake of millions of Afghan refugees in the 1980s). As the situation severely deteriorated and fell out of the control of local police, the Pakistan Rangers undertook a large-scale military operation and initiated an intense crackdown on criminals, the
MQM political party, as well as
Taliban-aligned militants. This operation took Karachi down from the world's sixth-most dangerous city to 93rd, and allowed the residents of Karachi to resume a normal lifestyle that had been disrupted due to the chaos.
History
The origins of the Pakistan Rangers go back to 1942, when the
British government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
established a special unit in
Sindh known as the Sindh Police Rifles (SPR) which was commanded by British Indian Army officers. The force was established to fight the rebellious groups in sindh as the
British government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
was engaged in
World War II. Headquarters of this force was established in Miani Lines Pacca Barrack,
Hyderabad Cantonment.
After the
independence of Pakistan in 1947, the name of the force was changed from "Sindh Police Rifles" to "Sindh Police Rangers" and the protection of eastern boundaries with India was allotted to various temporary forces, such as the Punjab Border Police Force, Bahawalpur State Police, Khairpur State Police and Sindh Police Rangers.
Because the Rangers were neither correctly structured nor outfitted for a specific duty, on 7 October 1958 they were restructured and renamed to the
West Pakistan
West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...
Rangers.
In 1972, following the
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the st ...
of
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
and Legal Framework Order No. 1970 by the
Government of Pakistan, the force was officially renamed from the West Pakistan Rangers to the Pakistan Rangers and put under control of the
Ministry of Defence with its headquarters at
Lahore.
In 1974, the organization became part of the
Civil Armed Forces
The Civil Armed Forces (CAF) are a group of nine paramilitary, uniformed organisations, separate and distinct from the regular "military" Pakistan Armed Forces. They are responsible for maintaining internal security, helping law enforcement ag ...
under the
Pakistani Ministry of Interior, where it has remained since.
In late 1989, due to growing riots and the worsening situation of law and order in the province of Sindh, a new force was raised for a strategic
anti-dacoit operation. The
paramilitary force operated under the name of the
Mehran Force and consisted of the then-existing Sindh Rangers, three battalions of the
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...
(including the
Northern Scouts). The Mehran Force was under the direct command of the
Director-General (DG) of the Pakistan Rangers with its nucleus headquarters in
Karachi.
Following these series of events, the federal government decided to substantially increase the strength of the Pakistan Rangers and raise a separate, dedicated headquarters for them in the province of Sindh. On 1 July 1995 the Pakistan Rangers were bifurcated into two distinct forces, the Pakistan Rangers – Punjab (Punjab Rangers) and Pakistan Rangers – Sindh (Sindh Rangers). Consequently, the Mehran Force and other Pakistani paramilitary units operating in the province of Sindh were merged with and began to operate under the Sindh Rangers.
Wartime responsibilities
The
West Pakistan
West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...
Rangers fought alongside the
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...
in several conflicts, namely the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the
Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decemb ...
.
After the war in 1971 and
subsequent independence of
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, the force was federalized under the
Ministry of Defence as the Pakistan Rangers and shortly afterwards in 1974, it was made a component of the
Civil Armed Forces
The Civil Armed Forces (CAF) are a group of nine paramilitary, uniformed organisations, separate and distinct from the regular "military" Pakistan Armed Forces. They are responsible for maintaining internal security, helping law enforcement ag ...
(CAF) under the
Ministry of Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministr ...
. Since then, the Pakistan Rangers are primarily responsible for guarding the border with neighbouring
India during times of peace and war. The Pakistan Rangers are credited for providing the
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...
with additional troops for Special Police Units (SPUs) for
various peacekeeping missions during the
Yugoslav Wars (
United Nations Protection Force - Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina) and in
Haiti (
United Nations Stabilization Mission - Haiti).
UN peacekeeping
Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished ...
troops from SPUs are entrusted with the task to provide protection and security to UN officials, provide operational and backup support, respond to threats to public order, and assist various humanitarian agencies. The Pakistan Rangers have participated in military exercises with the
Pakistan Army's Special Service Group (SSG) and also assisted with military operations in the past since their revitalization and rebuilding after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The first such participation was in 1973, when they operated under the command of the SSG to
raid the Iraqi embassy in Islamabad alongside
local police
Municipal police, city police, or local police are law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the municipal government, where it is the smallest administrative subdivision. They receive funding ...
. In 1992, the Sindh Rangers saw an extensive deployment throughout
Karachi to keep peace in the city in support of the
Government of Sindh. The
Sindh Provincial Police and Pakistan Rangers were involved in
Operation Blue Fox
Operation Clean-up, also known as Operation Blue Fox, was an armed military intelligence program led by the Sindh Police and Pakistan Rangers, with an additional assistance from the Pakistan Army and its related intelligence agencies. Planned ...
against the
MQM MQM may refer to:
* Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London (MQM)
* Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan) ( ur, MQM-P) is a Social liberal Muhajir nationalist Secular political party. The leader of the part ...
with direction from the Pakistan Army. Due to their close association with the military, the Rangers also saw combat against
regular Indian troops during the
Kargil War of 1999 in
Kashmir. In 2007, the Pakistan Rangers alongside regular Pakistani soldiers and SSG commandos participated in
Operation Silence against
Taliban forces in
Islamabad. The conflict started when, after 18 months of tensions between government authorities and Islamist militants, Taliban terrorists attacked the Punjab Rangers guarding the nearby
Ministry of Environment building and
set it ablaze. Immediately following this event, they proceeded to attack a nearby Pakistani healthcare centre, kidnapping an abundance of
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...
nurses, and subsequently locked themselves inside the
Red Mosque with hostages. Two years later, in 2009, the Rangers once again participated in a special military operation in Lahore alongside the SSG, when twelve terrorists operating for the Taliban attacked the
Manawan Police Academy in
Lahore. The operation ended with eight militants killed and four captured. Later that year, the
Government of Pakistan deployed the Punjab Rangers to secure the outskirts of
Islamabad when the Taliban had taken over the
Buner
Buner District ( ps, بونیر ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Before becoming a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District.
History
The Buner Valley lies bet ...
,
Lower Dir
Lower Dir District ( ps, لر / کوز دير ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Timergara city is the district headquarter and largest city. The district was formed in 1996, when Dir District was di ...
,
Swat
In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...
and
Shangla
Shangla District ( ps, شانګله ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The district's headquarter is located at Alpuri, while the largest city and commercial center is Besham. The district w ...
districts. Following these incidents, the Rangers participated in the Pakistan Army's
Operation Black Thunderstorm.
Role
Aside from the primary objective of guarding the border with
India, the Rangers are also responsible for maintaining internal security in
Pakistan and serve as a major
law enforcement organization in the country. Despite this, they do not possess the power to make arrests like the regular police with the exception of when the state temporarily sanctions them with such an authority in times of extreme crisis. Their primary objective as an internal security force is to prevent and suppress crime by taking preventive security measures, cracking down on criminals and thwarting
organized crime with the use of major force. All suspects apprehended by the Rangers during a crackdown are later handed over to police for further investigation and possible prosecution when the chaos is brought under control. The same privileges are also temporarily granted by the
government to other security organizations such as the
Frontier Corps for the same reasons.
The Rangers are also tasked with securing important monuments and guarding national assets in all major cities, including
Islamabad.
In the past, they have also served as prison guards for high-profile terrorists until they were withdrawn from such duties.
The Rangers have notably contributed towards maintaining law and order in
Islamabad,
Karachi and
Lahore in major crises. Due to the
developing internal instability in Pakistan, the Rangers have become an extremely necessary force to maintain order throughout the provinces of
Sindh and
Punjab.
Foreign peacekeeping missions for the United Nations
The Pakistan Rangers have also been involved in
international peacekeeping operations for the
United Nations (UN) in a number of countries such as the
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Kosovo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
,
Haiti and others.
Gallery
File:Allama Iqbals Tomb East wall close-up July 1 2005.jpg, Pakistani Rangers guarding the Tomb of Muhammad Iqbal
The Tomb of Allama Iqbal, or Mazaar-e-Iqbal ( ur, ) is a mausoleum located within the Hazuri Bagh, in the Pakistani city of Lahore, capital of Punjab province.
Background
Iqbal was one of the major inspirations behind the Pakistan Movement, ...
in Iqbal Park, Lahore
File:Baba Chamliyal Mela at Indo-Pak international Border, near Jammu.jpg, Baba Chamliyal Mela at the Indo-Pakistani International Border, near Jammu
Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...
.
File:Wagah Border Crossing Guards.JPG, Indian BSF personnel and Pakistani Rangers during the Wagah-Attari border ceremony.
File:Pakistani Ranger.jpg, A Pakistani Ranger in ceremonial dress.
File:Pakistani soldier.jpg, A Pakistani Ranger standing by in ceremonial dress.
File:Wagah border ceremony4.jpg, A Pakistani Ranger during the Wagah-Attari border ceremony.
File:Pakistani border rangers at Wagah border near Lahore 5.jpg, Pakistani Rangers at the Wagah-Attari border crossing.
File:Soldiers at Wagah border.jpg, Punjab Rangers near the Indo-Pakistani border with G3 assault rifles.
See also
*
Punjab Rangers
The Punjab Rangers (formally Pakistan Rangers Punjab) ( ur, ) is a paramilitary federal law enforcement corps in Pakistan. It is one of nine Civil Armed Forces and is one of two Ranger corps' with the other one being the Sindh Rangers, which ...
*
Sindh Rangers
*
Civil Armed Forces
The Civil Armed Forces (CAF) are a group of nine paramilitary, uniformed organisations, separate and distinct from the regular "military" Pakistan Armed Forces. They are responsible for maintaining internal security, helping law enforcement ag ...
*
National Guard of Pakistan
*
Pakistan Levies
The Pakistan Levies (Urdu: ), or Federal Levies, are provincial paramilitary forces (gendarmeries) in Pakistan, whose primary missions are law enforcement, assisting the civilian police (where co-located) in maintaining law and order, and condu ...
References
External links
Official Web Portal of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh)Pakistan Rangers (Punjab)"Under Construction"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakistan Rangers
*
Civil Armed Forces
Federal law enforcement agencies of Pakistan
Military in Sindh
Military in Punjab, Pakistan
1947 establishments in Pakistan
Government agencies established in 1947
Non-military counterterrorist organizations
Ministry of Interior (Pakistan)