And it continues: ACS letter shows no end for police, bureaucracy struggle

Insiders question conspicuous absence of chief minister in battle for power

PESHAWAR:

The tug of war between Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s top bureaucracy and the police has left many asking: Where is the executive head of the province—Chief Minister Pervez Khattak—in this theatre of politics?

A letter criticising the K-P police for not performing their assigned role to ensure security from Planning and Development Department Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Muhammad Azam Khan to the chief secretary on February 16 stunned some senior officials in the bureaucracy. It was seen as adding fuel to fire.

Azam Khan is being quietly criticised in the bureaucratic circles for writing the letter in which he slammed the police for not doing its job and for calling the K-P Sensitive and Vulnerable Establishment and Places (Security) Act, 2015 a “bad law”.

The letter surfaced in the print media earlier this week, sparking a fresh debate in the now very public tussle between senior police officials and top bureaucrats.

“[The top bureaucracy] criticised the IGP’s skipping proper channels and directly corresponding with Bani Gala,” said an insider. “Now, the ACS has done the same by writing this letter,” added the source who was of the opinion that the P&D’s job was to focus on development rather than reminding the chief secretary of policy failures.

The tussle is over the division of power in the draft of the police act. While the civil servants want their say in police affairs, IGP Nasir Durrani and his peers are not so willing to accept bureaucratic interference.

Insiders say the IGP, the former home secretary Arbab Arif and chief secretary have exchanged harsh words in a few meetings. Senior policemen are also unhappy with Azam’s recent interference and criticism of the police. “God has given Azam Khan a chance to prove his capabilities, to accelerate development projects; he should do his job instead of focusing on the police,” commented a senior police official.

A three-headed hydra

The letter has been sent in reference to a note by the Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) department secretary to the ACS; copies of both communiqués are available with The Express Tribune. The note to the ACS comes in the wake of militants attacks on Army Public School and Bacha Khan University, Charsadda. It called the 27,000 schools under the department soft targets that are prone to more such attacks.

The note suggests community-based disaster management to secure schools as police lack resources to guard all public sector institutions.

It asks P&D to take the lead in developing the strategy. It calls for community mobilization and engaging local government representatives, including district nazims and village council chairpersons assisted by the district administration, education department and the police to establish a nexus. It calls for discussions on school safety at the community level, led by the police, district and education department.

Under the note, the P&D has to develop a strategy for this set-up and the home department has to instruct deputy commissioners for take the lead.

The local government department is to mobilse the district nazims and the village council chairpersons for the system, while E&SE department is to order DEOs to approach the DCs to achieve desired objectives.

Reports issued to the provincial government by division commissioners show that out of 8,257 educational institutions inspected in Malakand, 5,232 have unsatisfactory security arrangements. By the same token, of 607 schools inspected in Bannu, security arrangements for 145 were unsatisfactory.

Azam’s letter vs a note

In Azam’s letter, the police was flayed for registering cases against school principals under the K-P Sensitive and Vulnerable Establishment and Places (Security) Act, 2015. It quotes the Police Order 2012 which states the force is responsible for protecting the life, property and liberty of citizens. It says it is not the job of the education department to provide protection.

The ACS is now being criticised for using the term “bad law” as insiders say a government official cannot say this after the fact. “The law was passed by the K-P Assembly; when it was being channelled through the Cabinet to the assembly, why were there no objections to the draft then?” questioned the insider.

Another insider pointed out the ongoing tussle between the IGP and CS will leave scars for years as, “bad blood between the PAS and PSP can hold for decades”. The question circulating the halls of governance was the status of the chief minister in the matter.

Hit back

On Thursday, the IGP, while addressing elite commandos, said, “The police is fighting a war on two fronts. While it is engaged in a war against militants, thwarting their sinister designs and dismantle their safe bastions,” he said, “It is also facing a hypocritical enemy in the garb of a friend,” who is instilling fear of terrorism while creating confusion about the capacity of those fighting the war on terror. Durrani said, “The K-P police is willing to face bullets, but will not tolerate insults and abuse.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2016.