A close ‘encounter’ with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police

It is almost 10pm and the wireless set keeps buzzing with terror alerts as the officer, who has just come to a chowki in Peshawar’s suburbs after attending a meeting, has alerted the force. A militant commander has openly challenged police to foil a massive attack as people are out on the streets to celebrate independence of the country. The fact that such an attack can be made anywhere and hit anyone would now keep the police awake for the entire night. As the officer is busy issuing orders, an SHO enters with a young girl and hand-cuffed boy, who have some family dispute. While he is busy solving their issue, more bad news comes in. Another post on the suburbs of Peshawar is facing attack from heavily armed militants, who reportedly outnumber the law enforcers deployed at that post. The case of the family dispute is pushed automatically to one side when more serious terror threat comes in. Police obviously are over-burdened with policing as well as fighting militancy. The job pattern of police has been changed over a decade or so. Along with nabbing criminals, they are now fighting militancy but from their attitude to security checks every thing is still old fashioned. The fact that the police job is tougher than any other duty is evident from the fact that more than 1,000 policemen have been killed in the ongoing war against terrorism. Police are the first line of defence against terrorists in the settled areas. However, the new chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa spares no opportunity to scold police and one of his ministers also blatantly calls the force ‘coward’. While many policemen find these remarks demoralising, a recent media statement of Inspector General of Police Ihsan Ghani comparing the fight against militancy to that of a batsman (police) and a bowler (militants) also did nothing much to boost the morale of the force. In fact, the effect was quite the opposite.“Officers are laying down their lives and all that he (IGP) can think of is a cricket match,” says one critic. It is learnt that 106 attacks have been carried out against police since January to July this year. Moreover, out of these attacks 56 have taken place till May 31 and 32 attacks have targeted police since the formation of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led government in the province. “We have held so many funerals and lost so many officials that we need consolation and not reprimand,” says a policeman. Demoralising statements from the top and the targeted killing of police have affected the officers, who worry for their own safety as well as that of the people in the province. “In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the government is following a policy of appeasing Taliban. There has been no attack on anyone but only police except a few extortion-related blasts since it came to power,” says a critic, who compares the present situation in the province to the killing of those police officers, who took part in the Karachi operation, ordered by the then interior minister Naseerullah Babar. All those police officers, who took part in the operation, were killed after the PPP government was removed and only those, who fled the country, survived. The previous government, which often used to condemn attacks on police, was also targeted but the incumbent set-up till now is quite careful in condemning such attacks. Those, who are sitting in fortified buildings and issuing demoralising statements, should come out of the mental and physical siege to realise the situation faced by police. Interviews with policemen of different ranks reveal that a lot can be done to boost morale of the force. A policeman, deployed in the conflict-hit region, is unhappy as his salary is lesser as compared to that of Punjab Police. He says that his uniform and bullet-proof jacket are of inferior quality. Often without any proper safety-measures, the policeman risks his life during search for explosive-laden vehicles. A policeman having a gun with 30-rounds is often faced with a situation where he has to fight a herd of militants carrying rocket launchers and modern sophisticated guns. “Police are tired and hurt in this fight and need a pat on the back not taunts and poking,” says a police officer, who himself has narrowly escaped in many encounters with militants. “The fight against terrorism is an undeclared ‘Third World War’ and we are fighting it,” opines a police officer, who suggests that what police need is more special training, intelligence gathering and communication equipment to fight terrorism since the nature of police’s job has changed. Most of the policemen are not living a normal life. Now they have hardly any time for their families or rest. “My children hardly spend time with their father and I myself am scared all the time for his safety,” says wife of a young police officer. Some people, who may mistake police defensive strategy and lack of specific intelligence and modern weapons for their cowardice, forget that police are not meant for fighting terrorism. Like the previous government, which overcame the problem of police desertions in militancy-affected Swat by enhancing package for the killed officials and doubling their salaries, the least the present government can do is to back police in the fight against terrorism.