Pressing the issues: Imran seeks return of FC force to K-P

Urges govt to repatriate illegal Afghans, equip K-P police

PESHAWAR:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday asked the federal government to take measures on a war footing to ensure return of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) back to Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (K-P), insisting the force was raised to guard the province but was deployed in other parts of the country instead.

He made the demand at a press conference at the Chief Minister’s House following a high-level meeting to discuss the province’s law and order situation.

“FC’s job is to guard the border between Fata and the province but this force is spread out across the country,“ Imran pointed out, adding that police could not patrol this area.

He asked the centre to return the FC to the province, so that it could perform the duty for which it was raised by the British.

The PTI chief at this occasion made a litany of demands from the centre including repatriation of Afghans living in the province illegally, enhancing of police’s intelligence gathering capability and integration of Fata into the country’s mainstream.

He said that about 500 visas were being issued at Torkham on a daily basis, while the number of Afghan visitors stood at 15,000 to 20,000 each day.

He said that as other access points across the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) were closed due to military operations, it was necessary to regulate the border movement.

Imran also called for regulation of illegal mobile phone SIMs and demanded that it be made an offence to use SIMs issued on someone else’s name. He pointed out that terrorists were using similarly issued SIMs.

The PTI chief also urged the federal government to repatriate about 500,000 Afghans who were illegally living in the province, while planning should be done for those living in K-P legally.

He asked the federal government to equip K-P police with intelligence gathering equipment, adding that counterterrorism operations heavily depended on accurate intelligence.

“K-P police needs technology to intercept phone calls and locate the callers and has yet to get approval for this despite repeated requests,” he said.

The PTI chief said there was no specific intelligence about impending assault on Army Public School in Peshawar. Rather, the intelligence report had mentioned general threat to army schools across the country.

Calling for the federal government to help in coping with internally displaced persons (IDPs) problem, he said the province could not help two million on its own.

Helping the IDPs was imperative so that discontented tribal youth may not join militancy, he added. He also suggested the tribal youth’s employment in police.

The PTI chief said that in the long term it was imperative to integrate Fata in the country, adding that it was a must to attract the tribal youth to win this war. However, consultation with tribesmen was a must for any decision related to the region’s future.

Imran affirmed that this was a difficult war but not impossible to win. It is not army, K-P or federal govt’s war rather all have to fight it as a united entity, he emphasised.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2014.