Fighting militancy: FC commandant for more platoons

124 additional platoons requested in KP to combat crime and terrorism and move into secure and volatile areas.

ISLAMABAD:

Commandant Frontier Constabulary (FC) Akbar Khan Hoti has requested 124 additional platoons in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to combat crime and terrorism and move into secure volatile areas once the military pulls out.

“The FC cannot combat militancy with its present strength. After the army completes its withdrawal, more FC soldiers are required to take their place,” Hoti informed the National Assembly standing committee on interior on Tuesday. More than 6,400 FC soldiers will be recruited for these platoons. Premier Gilani had announced that 100 new FC platoons would be established within three years from 2009 to 2012 to meet the growing demand of security personnel in the province pursuant to the Prime Minister‘s package and the Malakand package. Of the 173 new platoons, 49 have already been raised.

“The border between settled and tribal areas is insecure due to non-deployment of FC personnel on sensitive points through which terrorists infiltrate Pakistan,” said the FC Commandant. To check ingress of militants along with tribal and settled border, it is need of the hour to reinforce the original role of FC as per FC Act 1915, he suggested. Over 234 FC personnel lost their lives and 254 sustained injuries in the past five years in the ongoing war on terror. According to documents presented before the committee, officials said there are 17 FC districts and 103 posts from Gilgit to Karachi.

There are 547 FC platoons stationed across the country. As many as 82 FC platoons are deputed with KP police, 95 are with the army, 43 with multinational companies, five are stationed at hydropower projects and 45 are deployed with Karachi police. Around 10 platoons have been deployed in Gilgit-Baltistan while 48 platoons are stationed in Islamabad. 13 with Motorised Infantry Platoon, eight with Motor Platoon, 25 platoons are under training at Shabqadar and six platoons are non-operational. Some 3,655 FC soldiers have been recruited in the last two years.

Akbar Hoti informed the committee that National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi had threatened him of dire consequences if he refused to recruit his voters. Kundi recommended 19 candidates all of whom failed the test, he said.  Committee Chairman Abdul Qadir Patel skipped Kundi’s name from the proceedings and asked that it not be mentioned in the minutes. These allegations against Kundi may be taken up in the NA Speaker’s Chamber, he observed.

The committee also referred the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2011 introduced by MNA Bushra Gohar and Islamabad Rent Restriction (Amendment) Bill 2011 to the Interior Ministry and Commissioner Islamabad to vet the proposed legislation and present their reports to the committee as soon as possible. MNA Sheikh Salahuddin had introduced a National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) (Amendment) Bill, 2011, for giving legal cover to photocopies of CNIC for everyday use which was referred to the authority.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority officials informed the committee that 11.7 million SIMs were blocked because they had not been registered. Patel directed the authority not to sell activated SIMs because it always leads to misuse.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2011.