Arbitration matters: Police to play down peace militia role in K-P

SSP says police are now capable of fighting militancy.

PESHAWAR: Police are planning to introduce arbitration committees in Peshawar district and decrease the role of armed peace militias in negotiations.

The role of the new committees will be to resolve minor disputes filed at police stations and courts. The committees and elders will provide the people an opportunity to sort their problems in a local jirga.

Police have maintained that peace militias were created in the district at a time when resources were limited and underequipped and no other alternative was available.

However, in the past few years the number of police personnel has doubled. They have also been provided with new fire-arms and vehicles, among other resources.

Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Tahir Ayub said that police were now capable of fighting militancy and that the active role of peace militia in combat situations needed to be changed.

“Some peace militia members have taken questionable actions. It is crucial that their role in the area needs to be revised in light of new police developments,” he said.

He further said that police are equipped to fight this war. “What we want from the militias is for them to gather information and share it with us – nothing else,” he said.

SSP Ayub also said that the new committees would be formed at union council or village levels.

CCPO Imtiaz Altaf has finalised the plan to introduce the committees that already exist in Nowshera, Mardan and Swabi to Peshawar.