Sindh’s Autonomy under Rangers’ Shadow

If Pakistan is to function as a true federation, Sindh must be allowed to govern itself within the constitutional framework.

• The Rangers must return to their barracks, vacate occupied lands, disengage from civilian economic activities, and operate strictly within the limits defined by law

Dr. Mazhar Lakho |USA

Despite repeated demands by the Sindh government for the Rangers to return to their barracks, their continued and expanded presence across the province raises serious constitutional, economic, and moral questions. What was once justified as a temporary security arrangement has quietly transformed into a permanent parallel authority—one that neither answers to the provincial government nor respects its mandate.

The continued occupation of key buildings and vast tracts of valuable land by the Rangers symbolizes more than just a security footprint; it reflects the systematic weakening of civilian governance in Sindh. Administrative offices, residential areas, coastal properties, and strategic locations remain under Rangers’ control without transparent legal frameworks or time-bound agreements. This occupation undermines the spirit of federalism enshrined in the Constitution and reduces the elected provincial government to a ceremonial entity.

Even more alarming is the Rangers’ growing involvement in Sindh’s fisheries sector—one of the province’s most vital and traditional industries. Fisheries are not merely an economic activity; they are the lifeline of coastal communities, particularly in Thatta, Badin, Ibrahim Hyderi, and Keti Bandar. By assuming control over licensing, access, and enforcement—often through coercive means—the Rangers have displaced local stakeholders and fishermen who have depended on these waters for generations. This militarization of a civilian economic sector is unprecedented and indefensible.

The takeover of fisheries has led to harassment of fishermen, arbitrary detentions, confiscation of boats, and the emergence of an opaque system where power, not law, determines access to livelihood. Revenue that should flow into the provincial exchequer instead disappears into unaccountable channels. This is not law enforcement; it is economic capture under the guise of security.

The Sindh government’s demand for the Rangers’ withdrawal is neither anti-state nor anti-security—it is a constitutional assertion of provincial rights. Law and order is a provincial subject. Any deployment of federal forces must be limited, clearly defined, and subject to civilian oversight. The persistent refusal to honor Sindh’s demand exposes a deeper malaise: a center unwilling to trust democratic institutions and a security apparatus accustomed to operating without accountability.

History shows that prolonged military or paramilitary dominance over civilian spaces does not produce stability; it breeds resentment, alienation, and institutional decay. Sindh has already paid a heavy price—through weakened governance, economic marginalization, and the erosion of public trust. Continuing this trajectory will only deepen the sense of dispossession among its people.

If Pakistan is to function as a true federation, Sindh must be allowed to govern itself within the constitutional framework. The Rangers must return to their barracks, vacate occupied lands, disengage from civilian economic activities, and operate strictly within the limits defined by law. Anything less is not security—it is quiet colonization of a province by its own state.

The question is no longer about law and order. It is about whether elected authority still matters in Sindh—or whether power alone has become the ultimate law.

Read: Sindh under the Daku Raj!!!

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