Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision to make Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) a model province amid pledges of an imminent massive development in the newly-merged tribal areas is facing daunting challenges because of a recalcitrant bureaucracy. Some elements in connivance of prime minister’s close aides have joined hands to erode PM’s vision for a developed tribal region-a volatile belt where challenges multiplied in the backdrop of its merger with the KP.

Regrettably, hopes are fading that the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) will get security or be brought into the mainstream anytime soon because of vested interests of certain institutions, individuals and mafias.Unprecedented sacrifices have been rendered by the security forces and civilians to restore peace in tribal areas, a region on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border that has witnessed havoc for over a decade because of years of militancy followed by military operations to eliminate militants.

In May 2018, the then President Mamnoon Hussain signed the 25th Constitutional Amendment Bill into law, merging former FATA with the KP. Felicitating tribal people, the president said, “Now they [tribal people] also enjoy the same rights available to other citizens of the country.”

Since 1947, authorities had to run affairs of the tribal region through the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), a controversial set of laws introduced by the British under which an entire tribe had to be incarcerated for the crime committed by an individual.

The tribal region comprises of seven agencies or districts including South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Mohmand, Bajaur, Khyber, Kurram and Orakzai, and five frontier regions-Peshawar, FR Kohat, FR Bannu, FR Lakki, FR Tank and FR Dera Ismail Khan. According to the 2017 Census, the population of FATA stands at five million.

It is on the record that the KP police had a reputation of a professional force during the term of the then Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, former Inspector General (IG) Police Nasir Khan Durrani and former IG Salahuddin Khan. The new IG KP Dr Naeem Khanseems to have done no homework to absorb the 28,000 plus Khasadar and Levy (an ill-trained security force) into the KP police or has no experience to deal with the tribal area issues like his predecessor, former IG Salahuddin Khan, who has now been posted as the IG police of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Unlike his predecessor, the incumbent IG police is busy doing cosmetic work without any focus on stabilising security of the tribal region, which directly affects the overall situation of the province.

Political interference through bureaucracy tends to negatively impact police morale at a time when police should share security responsibilities in the tribal areas after the military purged most of the parts of militants.

Following the appointment of Dr Naeem Khan as IG, reportedly the Prime Minister Office has expressed serious reservations over the change of two senior most officers including former Chief Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch and IG Salahuddin Khan of KP in a knee-jerk fashion overnight in a bid that deputy commissioners in the erstwhile FATA continue their authority on Khasadar and Levy force.

This state of affairs led to growing insecurity in parts of southern KP districts such as Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and the adjacent tribal areas, leaving a far-reaching negative impact on police performance, a force that in the recent past was regarded as neutral and free of political interference.

According to the Pakistan 2018 Crime & Safety Report, Pakistan’s 2017 Annual Security Report appears to demonstrate a significant reduction in violence in the KP region.

The number of terrorist incidents in the KP reached a ten-year low because of effective operations by the Pakistan army, police and other security agencies.

The recent transfers and postings within the police department in the KP has led to a spike in violence in the southern districts of the province and tribal areas, which contributed to increase in security-related incidents in the province and the newly-merged areas. For instance, a police officer Muhammad Hussain has been posted as the DPO Khyber, the main town on the Pak-Afghan route known for smuggling. Additionally, Hussain has been given the charge of the elite force at the police headquarters, which is a post for a 20-grade and above officer. A seasoned police officer DIG Dar Ali Khattak and his DPO have been posted out from Dera Ismail Khan, a sensitive district on different angles, where they restored excellent law and order.

However, Dera Ismail Khan is in grip of target killings almost every second day.

For the sake of countless tribal families who suffered death, destruction and displacement, the prime minister should himself take urgent notice of the deteriorating state of affairs

Last week, unidentified gunmen kidnapped Riaz Miani, Additional Commissioner Federal Board of Revenue along with three of his relatives from Tank, the first district to South Waziristan. Miani was in his hometown to attend the funeral prayers of his mother. In two separate brazen attacks, gunmen shot dead police Sub-Inspector Imran and Constable Zafar in Bannuand Buner districts respectively. Both the policemen were performing security duty with polio vaccination teams. This week, three Levies personnel were killed while another suffered grievous injuries in a blast at a check post in the North Waziristan tribal district. The attack on the check post came a day after one security official died and three others wounded in a planted bomb in the same district. Last month, four policemen were killed and a station house officer was wounded in an ambush in Maharah, a locality close to Parowa police station, on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan.

These are some examples of growing insecurity, plaguing the region specifically the tribal districts. The KP police chief should swing into action to properly absorb thousands of Khasadar and Levy force into police by creating posts in the police department. After years of operations, security forces have brought considerable stability to the tribal areas, creating a good environment for police to take over security responsibilities.

Power struggle and wrangling saw former IG Salahuddin Khan and Chief Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch transferred prematurely; they were of the opinion that Khasadar and Levy force be absorbed into the KP police with all powers resting with the top police chief. Captain (Retd) Feroz Shah has been transferred from the Elite Force, and now Deputy Commandant Muhammad Hussain, DPO of Khyber district, has additional charge.

For the sake of countless tribal families who suffered death, destruction and displacement, the prime minister should himself take urgent notice of the deteriorating state of affairs haunting the tribal areas where peace cost lives of thousands of security forces and civilians lives. Bureaucracy and the departments concerned should not play with fire by overstepping their authority to play a 19th century game with FATA because stability of the tribal areas is a matter of national security. The former FATA can again plunge into mayhem if the wave of spiralling violence is not reversed. Khasadar and Levy force must be merged into the KP police without further delay because the local force would yield tangible results to maintain a state of peace.