Call to arms

Tuesday, February 24, 2009
(THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL)
The chief minister of the Frontier province has given orders to distribute 30,000 assault rifles among villagers across the province. The initiative is intended to allow people to defend their villages against criminal gangs – and others who threaten law and order. It can be assumed militants count among these. US experts credit militias based along similar lines with helping reduce violence in Iraq. A similar experiment is underway in Afghanistan and the orders in NWFP seem to follow the same basic line of thinking.The idea of yet more arms being introduced into a society where there are already far too many weapons in circulation is somewhat alarming, to say the least. The NWFP government has said police officers in specific areas will help identify 'good' people. But given the rather unsavoury reputation of the police itself and the possibility that influence, nepotism and bribery could play a part in any decision that is made, this hardly seems to be a reliable basis on which to dole out large numbers of arms. It is also unclear how effective the plan to raise an elite police force of some 2,500 will be. The military, which says it has not been informed of the plan, has meanwhile said it will keep troops deployed in Swat and that another operation cannot be ruled out.It is not clear how this fits in with the overall strategy for peace. In Swat, while the militants of Maulana Fazlullah have been rewarded for their rule of blood and gore through a peace deal, the detailed provisions of this are not known. The rumours that a general amnesty may be granted to those behind bars is obviously disturbing given that these persons include murderers, rapists and others guilty of all kinds of crimes. Some signs of the way things work in Swat are even more worrying. The kidnapping of the new DCO to the area by militants who say they wished to discuss 'important matters' with him makes it quite clear these men are not willing to relinquish their hold on power or to respect the rule of law. The claim by militants that the official was released in exchange for two of their detained comrades only adds to the absurdity of the whole matter. Authorities need to wake up to a simple fact: there is no easy way out of the mess we have got ourselves into. The militants must be defeated. They must be tried and made subject to justice. Otherwise, any kind of peace will not hold for long.