JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: The federal government has ordered the Intelligence Bureau to check the profiles of the police and paramilitary forces (Rangers, Frontier Constabulary) to see if their personnel have any inclination towards banned sectarian and militant organisations.
The first phase of this activity will cover the security staff deputed at the President House, the Prime Minister House, parliament, parliamentary lodges, ministers’ colony and the residences of the provincial chief ministers and governors.
In the second phase, security staff assigned for the protection of embassies, consulates and other important personalities will come on the radar screen.
I fail to understand how in a country that has been facing terrorism for the last 25 years, these checks are not yet a prerequisite for security-related jobs.
This is despite the fact that security personnel have been found aiding or even executing terrorist activities in highly sensitive locations.
Attacks on the Kamra base, the Mehran naval base, the assassination of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, attacks on former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf while he was in office, the escape of Usman Kurd from a high-security military jail in Quetta and the escape of Rashid Rauf from the Rawalpindi police’s custody are only a few of the high-profile incidents where insiders have been involved in criminal activities.
While there may now be checks on the background of security personnel deputed on VIP duties, what about those charged with protecting the general public? Firstly, are there any security personnel for the protection of the general public, and if so, has someone ever bothered to check their religious and sectarian affiliations? Perhaps, the people of Pakistan don’t matter much for the elite club ruling this country for the last 65 years.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2013.
