Pakistan

Levies force restored in Balochistan

April 06, 2010

QUETTA: The Levies Force, a tribal police force, stands restored in Balochistan as the provincial assembly unanimously approved the Balochistan Levies Force Bill 2010 in its concluding session.

Adviser to the Chief Minister Dr Fauzia Nazir Marri tabled the bill on behalf of provincial Home Minister Mir Zafrullah Khan Zehri. The bill focuses on reconstructing and regulating the Balochistan Levies Force for maintenance of public order “according to the law and aspirations of the people”.

This move comes after the provincial cabinet decided to restore the Levies in March last year. After this decision the provincial Levies were on the ground in six districts, while federal Levies were functional in 16 districts of the province. Monday’s move in the assembly has turned this decision into legislation.

In a policy statement on Sunday, the chief minister had said that during his maiden speech after assuming office he had promised that efforts would be made to revive the Levies force to maintain public order in the province. He had added the previous government had unilaterally dissolved the Levies force, turning ‘B-areas’ into ‘A-areas’ with the notion that the law and order would be brought under control.

“Time has proved that such unpopular decisions always fizzle out,” he had said. Facilities for senior citizens Dr Fauzia Marri with Uzma Pir Alizai and PPP MPA Samina Raziq tabled a resolution for enacting a law for the welfare of senior citizens. The resolution read that senior citizens are assets of Pakistan and they have the right to special facilities.

The MPAs maintained that whenever the federal government was going to enact a law for the welfare of senior citizens, the Balochistan Assembly via this resolution recommends the provincial government to ensure implementation of laws for the welfare of senior citizens.

Higher education for Balochistan The other two resolutions moved Monday were on improvement of agriculture and livestock sectors in Balochsitan and another one which asked the provincial government to approach the federal government to ensure admission of Balochsitan officials for PhDs abroad.

The resolution was moved by Jamiat-Ulema Islam (JUI) MPAs Maulvi Abdus Samad Akhunzada and Maulvi Muhammad Sarwar Musakhail who said the ministry of education launched a program in collaboration with the World Bank and Department for International Development in 2003 under which an official from Balochistan was meant to be selected on open merit to study in Australia.

The resolution said the World Bank had paid educational expenditures of an official from Balochistan but the ministry of education cancelled his admission to the Australian University on the last minute. The resolution demanded that no hindrances should be put in granting admission of Balochistan’s officials to foreign educational institutions. The house unanimously adopted all three resolutions.

Deputy Speaker Matiullah Aagha told the house that on April 6 the second parliamentary year of the Balochistan Assembly would be completed.

COMMENTS (1)

zubair Ahmed | 14 years ago | Reply the restoration of levies force bill 2010 passed by the Balochistan Assembly and has been turned into an Act by the governor is a pathetic decision of the house of 62 in which 61 are ministers and all are tribal nawabs and sardars.the history of levies force shows that the real levies personnel remained poored and subservient and the real beneficiaries were these so-called legislators and the DMG bereaucracy.DMG officials as bereaucrats in civil secretariat,for their own vested interests,convinced these sardars and nawabs and mullahs to restore levies without taking into account the wishes and aspirations of the levies personnel who have been working in police happily.the tribal sardars used levies as their personal force and this force,under these elders remained engaged in criminal activities at the behest of criminal sardar.there are so many precedents which can be quoted to substantiate this claim.furthermore,half of the pay of levies jawan used to go directly into the pocket of these sardars.the vehicles alloted to the levies were used by those who had nothing to do woth levies. as far bereaucracy(both DMG & BCS officers)were not appointed as levies officers as happen in police like PSP officers and ASI etc.these used to remain at the disposal of S&GAD and skiming the cream of levies.those people were appointed as commanders of levies force like Assisant commisioners and deputy commisioners and even tehsildars(tehsildar,though an employee of revenue departmentused to act as the SHO of levies)who had not fired a single shot by themselves and were unaware of the rules and regulations as to how to run the force.they embezzled funds allocated to levies,misused its personnels,misused its vehicles and did much more in connivance with the local sardar. the claim that law and order situation has deterirated ever since the merging of levies into police is falacious,misleading.the truth is that the same crime ratio maintained during the pre merger era of levies,the difference is police started registering crimes in B-area whereas levies force left the crimes unregistered. i would like to ask the question that what will become of those police officers who have been promoted to the higher ranks due to the widening of their area of jurisdiction? what will become of those levies officers who have seen the ugly face of levies at the hands of bereaucracy and sardars and now happily serving in police at respectable positions? what will become of those monetary benefits that the levies personnel are drawing in police,the benefits they were deprived of in levies? the malacious wishes of sardars and the crooked policies of bereaucracy can,t deprive the people of their contitutional right to progress,prosper and right to choice. lastly,i would like to appeal to the honourable chief justice of the supreme court to take notice of this injustice and according to the law maintain the same position while taking into consideartion of the constitutional rights of both the levies and police officers and jawans who are also the citizen of pakistan.

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