New security apparatus!

The decision to revamp the Frontier Constabulary (FC) and convert it into a broad-based national law-enforcement agency has stirred a mixed response. This move has come at a time when political activism is gaining momentum, with the PTI gearing up for an anti-government protest. Thus many see it as a coercion tactic.

The initiative, nonetheless, was warranted as the country is infected with terrorism, and there was need for a defence-related arm to strengthen security through better coordination. But its timing has pitched the authorities in a puzzle, and it remains to be seen whether it is a pure security-calculus or a political vendetta-driven ingenuity.

The force established in 1913, with its new mandate under a presidential ordinance, will now be expanded to include all the four provinces as well as Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. While little is known about its new operational dictum, the spontaneous fear that this upgradation has invoked among the civil society circles cannot be brushed aside.

The country's chequered history testifies to the fact that such camouflaged drives were used for political repression. Thus, it is incumbent upon the Interior Ministry and the relevant law-enforcement authorities to come clear, and spell out a nomenclature under which this new force shall be used, along with an SOP for check and balance.

It could, however, be well-argued that the country's fragile security environment drastically demands a robust force that has zero-tolerance for terrorism, and that is capable of making strides against sleeper cells, abettors and non-state actors. Likewise, the fact that police is at times incapable of handling head-on situations, and the military and paramilitary are overdrawn, necessitates a national second-tier security apparatus.

If that is the sole intention, then this restructuring of FC is on the spot, and could come as an asset for other law-enforcement bodies. While eyebrows have been raised and human rights bodies have also expressed concerns, a befitting rejoinder could be a national resolve to keep security forces away from political handlings.