Injustice on the front: Khasadar personnel face disparity in compensation policy

Say families not given privileges at par to those of other security forces.

GHALLANI: The life of a khasadar soldier who dies fighting on the front is barely compensated for, especially if he was on duty as a substitute for another family member—a common and accepted practice.

Abandoned by authorities

Gul Ameen Khan Safi died in a bomb blast in Safi in 2011. Ameen’s son Malang Khan tells The Express Tribune his father joined the forces at a time when khasadar personnel were resigning in droves due to militancy in 2008. His father, he says, had no choice but to opt for the offer to earn a living for his family as there was no other job available in the agency.



However, one day while escorting a political administration official, Ameen’s vehicle hit an explosive placed on the road in Safi and died, says Malang.

“The government treated his death like he was just another man, and offered a one-time compensation of Rs300,000,” says Malang. This is what the government gives when one of the public dies in such an instance, he adds. “This is not the amount given to a government servant.”

Malang, who is now a khasadar officer, was present at a ceremony at the agency headquarters in Ghallani, organised by the political administration on Sunday. The ceremony was held to honour khasadar and levies soldiers who have been martyred during the seven years of militancy in Mohmand Agency.

Malang’s is not the only case where those alive feel the sacrifice of their loved ones went unappreciated. Another personnel, Usman Gul, is among those whose family has not yet been compensated after his father died during the war on terror.

Unjust policy

Jan Muhammad, a subedar major, of the Mohmand khasadar force, says most of 47 khasadar and 11 levies martyrs were those who were working in place of a relative or someone who died fighting terrorists in the agency. However, he says, as per the government’s policy these fighters are not treated as soldiers when it comes to compensating their families; only when it comes to fighting.

Jan adds no government compensation package reserved for government servants applies to these martyrs who perform in place of someone else.

In April 2013, he says, four of Mohmand khasadar soldiers died in a bomb blast in Pandyali. Among the deceased was Sultan who was on duty in place of his father Raza Ameen, whereas three others, Muhammad Shah, Samiullah and Jabbar Khan, were in place of their cousins. Their families were not provided with any compensation package and have now appealed for their due rights in court.

Although khasadar personnel fight alongside the army, Frontier Corps and other security forces, their families are not compensated as per the policy set for the rest, says Jan.

“Khasadar is a local security force in which employment is handed over from one family member to another, a system unlike any other regular job. He adds there is no pension, gratuity or even annual increment for personnel on duty. Even if they are performing their duties in someone else’s place, they are doing so in the usual way then why does the government deprives them of the sanctioned privileges.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2015.