HYDERABAD: Sindh Senior Minister for Information Nisar Ahmed Khuhro on Thursday insisted that the Rangers were invited by the chief minister to help restore peacein Sindh and,as such, the paramilitary troops were bound to apprise him of any action to be taken by them.

Speaking to journalists at the local press club, Mr Khuhro touched upon various issues beingfaced by the provincial government and the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party owing to Rangers` various actions which he believed were beyond their mandate. `It is not the paramilitary force which is supposed to take action to curb corruption,` he said.

Mr Khuhro argued that the chief minister was the captain of the ongoing operation against terrorists and criminals and all decisions in this regard were taken at the provincial apex committee, which comprised the governor, Karachi corps commander and Sindh Rangers chief besides other ofHcials but the captain`s directives were not complied with by the committee.

`In democracy, governments are answerable to the masses but in dic-tatorship, they are not,` he said, and added that an attack on democracy would not be tolerated. He also called for sovereign parliament, saying that it was linked with provincial autonomy.

`He said that a high-level meeting was held recently to find a solution to the issue of exorbitant fees charged by private schools and legal action was recommended against them.`The CM`s directive should be heeded when he demands that he must be informed of any action by security forces in advance,` the minister said, adding that even the apex committee at the Centre also favoured the CM`s view.

The federal interior minister, in a recent statement, also accepted that handling corruption cases did not fall under the purview of Rangers.

In reply to a question about fearof governor`s rule in Sindh, the minister said if that happened, it would be regarded failure of the federal government. `The [PML-N] government must have learnt a lesson from [such a mistake committed in] 1997,` he said.

Condemning that all coercive measures were being taken in Sindh alone, Mr Khuhro called for action against Punjab ministers whose video clips purportedly showing their corrupt practices were available with the media.

Mr Khuhro also regretted that some PPP activists were criticising each other at their press conferences. He asked such activists to take their issues to the right forum.

The minister noted that a ban imposed on recruitment by the provincial election commission of Pakistan had delayed appointment of 8,000 teachers to reopen 1,500 schools in Sindh.

`Such actions are also taken in Sindh alone as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has recently announced a package for farmers, he said.

He criticised the Centre for hindering coal power projects and unnecessarily delaying the National Finance Commission award and a meeting of the Council of Common Interests.