Pakistan Rangers

 The Pakistan Rangers (Urdu: پاکستان رینجرز‎) are a paramilitary federal law enforcement organization in Pakistan operating under the authority of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan. Their primary purpose is to secure and defend important sites such as the country's border with India, although they are also usually involved in many internal 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 being headquartered in Lahore and responsible for guarding the Pakistani province of Punjab's 1,300 kilometre-long International Border (IB), and the latter being headquartered in Karachi and responsible for guarding the Pakistani province of Sindh's ~912 kilometre-long IB—all with neighbouring India. 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, participate in an elaborate flag lowering ceremony at the Wagah-Attari border crossing near Lahore.

The mutually-recognized IB is different from the disputed and heavily militarized Line of Control (LoC), where the Pakistani province of Punjab adjoins Kashmir (a conflict territory between India, Pakistan and China) and the IB ends. Consequently, the LoC is not managed by the paramilitary Punjab Rangers, but by the regular Pakistan Army.

Rangers are formally supervised by the Special Security Unit in the National Crises Management Cell, under the federal Ministry of Interior of Pakistan. However, they can also be commanded by officers on secondment from the Pakistan Army. As of 2017, per the British International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Rangers had well over 25,000+ active personnel.^[1] As a part of the Civil Armed Forces, the Rangers can fall under the full operational control of the Pakistan Armed Forces. This is not exclusively limited to a wartime scenario, but whenever Article 245 of the Constitution of Pakistan is invoked to provide "military aid to civil power". An example of this happening was in 2013, when Karachi (the most populous city in Pakistan) had ranked as the 6th 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 6th most dangerous city to 93rd place and allowed the residents of Karachi to resume a normal lifestyle that had been disrupted due to the chaos.^[2][3]

Although the Pakistan Rangers are under the administration of the Interior Ministry of Pakistan, key positions in the force, including Director-General (DG) of the Rangers, are headed by the members of the Pakistan Army. The DG of the Pakistan Rangers is appointed by the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters (GHQ). Qualifiers for the position of DG are officers with a two-star rank of Major-General. The majority of the leading officers in the Rangers come from the Pakistan Army, however many departmental officers in the Rangers can be inducted as direct-entry sub-inspectors. These officers can reach a maximum rank of SSR (Senior Superintendent of the Rangers) - roughly equivalent to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Pakistan Army.

OR, NCO, JCO ranks:

• OR Ranks:
  • Sepoy
  • Lance Naik
• NCO Ranks:
  • Naik
  • Havaldar
• JCO Ranks:
  • Sub-Inspector (equal to Naib Subedar)
  • Inspector (equal to Subedar)
  • Senior Inspector (equal to Subedar Major)

Officer Ranks:

• Direct-Entry Sub-Inspector (with the responsibilities of a 2nd Lieutenant)
• Inspector (with the responsibilities of a Lieutenant)
• DSR (Deputy Superintendent of the Rangers) - equivalent to Captain
• SR (Superintendent of the Rangers) - equivalent to Major
• SSR (Senior Superintendent of the Rangers) - equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel

Personnel joining as sepoys can reach a maximum rank of DSR (Deputy Superintendent of the Rangers), which would be equivalent to Captain in the Pakistan Army.

The rank insignia are the same as those used by the Pakistan Army, except for Inspector ranks which use the standard police rank insignia.