State of security in a security state
The incident raises several questions regarding the whole event and the security afforded by the state to its citizens
The country’s robust and efficient security apparatus — well-suited to dealing with both internal and external threats — was found to be lacking in alertness this time. PHOTO: FILE
The recent abduction and subsequent murder of Superintendent of Police (SP) Tahir Khan Dawar has once again highlighted the lack of security in parts of the country deemed to be ‘safe.’ Dawar’s tortured body was recovered from Afghanistan’s lawless Nangarhar province, a part of the war-torn country said to be under the control of the militant Islamic State’s (IS) Khorasan branch.
The incident raises several questions regarding the whole event and the security afforded by the state to its citizens and security officials. SP Dawar, who was chief of the Peshawar police’s rural circle, was said to be at the frontlines of the war on terror.
It is an embarrassment, to say the least, for the government if a senior police officer can be kidnapped, taken to Punjab, where he was kept for a couple of days, then be held in Mianwali for three to four days and then be shifted to Bannu before eventually crossing the heavily-patrolled border with Afghanistan.
Although the border still lacks security fencing at some places, there are numerous checkpoints that one would need to pass through to reach the border, not to mention pickets when exiting the federal capital.
If the security failure itself was not alarming, the attempt by Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi to partly shift the blame on the previous government was in bad taste. The minister during a Senate session claimed that 600 of the 1,800 security cameras installed in Islamabad as part of the Safe City project were not functional. Does it not make it a bigger failure of the incumbent government then if after almost three months in power, the cameras were not fixed? And if the fact emerged during the investigation of SP Dawar’s abduction, what was the Ministry of Interior doing during these past few months.
The outlawed and on-the-run Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) denied responsibility for the abduction and murder of Dawar, while other reports suggested that another terrorist organisation, which has gained a foothold in Afghanistan — at least 40 per cent of which is now outside of government control — was responsible for the act. Does this then mean that terrorists managed to infiltrate deep into Pakistan to kidnap a senior police official? Or worse still, a terrorist sleeper cell and facilitators were involved.
ISPR hints at broader involvement in SP Dawar's brutal murder
Major General Asif Ghafoor, the military spokesman, took to social media and hinted at the possibility of involvement of elements other than a terrorist group. The only reasonable deduction which can be made from the DG ISPR’s tweet is the possibility of foreign intelligence services being involved. The behaviour of Afghan authorities is also questionable, an example of which is the initial reaction of the Afghan envoy to Pakistan. The military spokesman was right when he said that Dawar’s murder in Afghanistan raises many questions. Pakistan is justified in demanding effective and sufficient patrolling of the Pak-Afghan border by Afghan forces on their side, a demand which has repeatedly fallen on deaf ears. The Afghans should realise that Pakistan’s demand is in the interest of both states, as cross-border terrorism is a double-edged sword.
The country’s robust and efficient security apparatus — well-suited to dealing with both internal and external threats — was caught looking the other way this time. In the murky world of security and intelligence, slip-ups do happen but often at a great cost. Though the country has lost a brave son of the soil, loopholes can be plugged and a better watch kept. The authorities now need to ensure that those behind the grisly murder of SP Dawar are punished and the federal government and the provincial government of K-P publicly share information regarding the circumstances surrounding Dawar’s abduction and murder.
In the end, the question remains, what is the state of security in the security state of Pakistan?
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2018.
The incident raises several questions regarding the whole event and the security afforded by the state to its citizens and security officials. SP Dawar, who was chief of the Peshawar police’s rural circle, was said to be at the frontlines of the war on terror.
It is an embarrassment, to say the least, for the government if a senior police officer can be kidnapped, taken to Punjab, where he was kept for a couple of days, then be held in Mianwali for three to four days and then be shifted to Bannu before eventually crossing the heavily-patrolled border with Afghanistan.
Although the border still lacks security fencing at some places, there are numerous checkpoints that one would need to pass through to reach the border, not to mention pickets when exiting the federal capital.
If the security failure itself was not alarming, the attempt by Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi to partly shift the blame on the previous government was in bad taste. The minister during a Senate session claimed that 600 of the 1,800 security cameras installed in Islamabad as part of the Safe City project were not functional. Does it not make it a bigger failure of the incumbent government then if after almost three months in power, the cameras were not fixed? And if the fact emerged during the investigation of SP Dawar’s abduction, what was the Ministry of Interior doing during these past few months.
The outlawed and on-the-run Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) denied responsibility for the abduction and murder of Dawar, while other reports suggested that another terrorist organisation, which has gained a foothold in Afghanistan — at least 40 per cent of which is now outside of government control — was responsible for the act. Does this then mean that terrorists managed to infiltrate deep into Pakistan to kidnap a senior police official? Or worse still, a terrorist sleeper cell and facilitators were involved.
ISPR hints at broader involvement in SP Dawar's brutal murder
Major General Asif Ghafoor, the military spokesman, took to social media and hinted at the possibility of involvement of elements other than a terrorist group. The only reasonable deduction which can be made from the DG ISPR’s tweet is the possibility of foreign intelligence services being involved. The behaviour of Afghan authorities is also questionable, an example of which is the initial reaction of the Afghan envoy to Pakistan. The military spokesman was right when he said that Dawar’s murder in Afghanistan raises many questions. Pakistan is justified in demanding effective and sufficient patrolling of the Pak-Afghan border by Afghan forces on their side, a demand which has repeatedly fallen on deaf ears. The Afghans should realise that Pakistan’s demand is in the interest of both states, as cross-border terrorism is a double-edged sword.
The country’s robust and efficient security apparatus — well-suited to dealing with both internal and external threats — was caught looking the other way this time. In the murky world of security and intelligence, slip-ups do happen but often at a great cost. Though the country has lost a brave son of the soil, loopholes can be plugged and a better watch kept. The authorities now need to ensure that those behind the grisly murder of SP Dawar are punished and the federal government and the provincial government of K-P publicly share information regarding the circumstances surrounding Dawar’s abduction and murder.
In the end, the question remains, what is the state of security in the security state of Pakistan?
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2018.