Daily Times

According to a recent press briefing by the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), 1,100 terrorists have so far been killed in the Zarb-e Azb operation. These figures surely provide some relief to the terrorism-affected population of Pakistan. However, a lot needs to be done to rehabilitate the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan. Wars, as we all know, are not without extraordinary expenditures. Pakistan has so far suffered a loss of $ 100 billion in the war on terror. However, this loss is nothing when compared to the more than 60,000 lives that have been lost due to terrorism.

Just a few days back, Federal Minister of Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan informed the National Assembly about the amount of money spent on civilian law enforcement agencies under the head of the war on terror during the last five years. According to the information, a total of Rs 48.138 billion has been spent so far. The most interesting part of this information was that a major chunk of this amount has been spent on the Islamabad capital territory, amounting to Rs 23.83 billion while on the other hand, only Rs 3.45 billion has been spent on the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) and Rs 1.955 billion on the Frontier Corps (FC) deployed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Similarly, an amount of Rs 504 million has been spent on the FC in Balochistan and Rs 1.66 billion on the Balochistan police.

This breakdown of the amount of money allocated to the civilian law enforcement agencies presents a very interesting situation. It is a known fact that the ongoing military operations, Zarb-e Azb and Khyber-I, are concentrated in FATA. Similarly, the security forces in Balochistan are also in a state of conflict. The number of civilians, security forces and terrorists killed so far during 2014 in Balochistan (553), FATA (1,948) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (416) is higher than the rest of the country. However, the amount spent on civilian law enforcement agencies in Islamabad is the highest in comparison to these regions.

It is a sad fact that almost a million people from North Waziristan have left the comfort of their homes just to provide comfort to the rest of the country. Similarly, the civilian and military forces engaged in war with militants in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are rendering innumerable sacrifices just to keep the terrorists at bay from the rest of the country yet the amount spent on civilian law enforcement agencies in Islamabad is the highest. We all know where this entire amount is going: to provide security to the VIPs. Heavily protected motorcades of VIPs are a common sight in Islamabad. All the ministries, their offices and even the residences of the VIPs are given 24/7 security by the very same civilian law enforcement agencies. Now the most interesting fact is the head under which this amount has been or is being spent, i.e. the war on terror. Other allocations and expenditures on civilian law enforcement agencies are not included in this amount.

The 60,000 lives that have been lost to terrorism were not all VIPs; they were civilians walking in the streets, praying in the mosques or shopping in the markets or in their homes when they were attacked and killed by ruthless terrorists. The war on terror was initiated to end terrorism in the country and, as the terrorists were concentrated in North Waziristan, that is why Operation Zarb-e Azb was initiated there. However, the spending on law enforcement agencies in Islamabad is many times more than the spending on these same agencies in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or even Balochistan. Those one million IDPs living in relief camps are not in Islamabad. They are living under stress in IDP camps, where even the basic facilities provided to them are not enough to cater to their needs, let alone the amount spent on their security.

It is a sad fact that our policy makers still have not prioritised the security of those who have suffered most at the hands of terrorists. Are the children living in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa not like the children living in Islamabad? Is their security not as important as the security of our children? This unfair attitude is not understandable and is also dangerous at the same time. We need to prioritise the needs of those who have suffered most from the menace of terrorism, yet are still sacrificing their comfort for our comfort.

The writer is a development consultant. She tweets at @GulminaBilal and can be reached at coordinator@individualland.com