For nearly four decades, the floodplain of the Indus River between this district and its neighbour, Rahim Yar Khan, operated under a different constitutional reality. The state’s laws effectively stopped at the earthen embankments. Inside the tamarisk forests and shifting sandbanks of the Katcha belt, armed groups collected ransom, settled disputes, and issued protection arrangements. The economy of the region was not recorded in official ledgers. It was measured instead in sacks of grain, livestock, and cash payments delivered through informal channels. This was not simple lawlessness. It was a parallel system, highly organised, self-sustaining, and for a long time outside the reach of formal state institutions.

What has changed is not the physical geography. The Indus still divides and reforms itself into multiple channels across a 300-kilometre stretch from southern Punjab into northern Sindh. The riverine corridor, covering about 1.1 million acres or roughly 4,500 square kilometres of difficult terrain, remains extremely challenging to police. The real change is political and institutional. The government has moved away from its earlier approach of informal accommodation and has instead committed to maintaining a permanent presence in the area. The key question is whether this commitment can survive seasonal flooding cycles and shifting ground realities.

In 2025, a coordinated law enforcement campaign in the Katcha regions of Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan led to an outcome not seen in decades. More than 500 armed individuals surrendered their weapons through a structured process supervised by the state. Data from the Punjab Home Department shows 342 from Rajanpur and 200 from Rahim Yar Khan. Among them were 34 individuals carrying collective bounties exceeding Rs60 million. This was not a battlefield defeat. It was a negotiated legal process framed by state policy. Authorities allowed voluntary surrender with assurances of court processing and protection from extrajudicial harm. In parallel, those who resisted faced intensified operations involving armoured vehicles, drones, night-vision surveillance, and lethal force if required. The government also offered financial compensation for surrendered weapons, recognising the economic incentives that sustained armed groups.

These operations were not........

© The Friday Times