The Khasadar forces of Mohmand tribal district held a Jirga with the local administration and made it clear that they were against deployment of police in their areas.
We will not relinquish charge of the local security and prison to KP police, they Khasadar members told the district administration.
Khasadar personnel had chased off two KP prison police officials who had come to take charge following provincial government orders to extend police to tribal areas.
On Thursday, Mohmand Khasadar force refused to hand over Mohmand prisons charge to KP prison police department, and the KP prison police officials went back to Peshawar.
Two KP prison police officials came to Mohmand lower sub-divisional head quarter Yaka Gund to take charge of Yaka Gund Prison from Khasadar and Levies force. Upon their arrival, Khasadar force official refused to hand over charge of the Yaka Gund prison, and asked the AC to send back the prison police officials.
Later Khasadar official on duty at Yaka Gund gathered in the lawn of the Mohmand Assistant Commissioner’s office and staged protest against the prison police.
“Khasadars and Levies jawans have rendered countless sacrifices for establishing peace in the region, the blood of our fallen comrades has not dried yet and the government wants to take the charge awy from us and hand it over to police,” a representative of the force told the gathering. “We will never allow it,” he said.
They said that there are many educated and competent young officials in the Khasadar force. The government had promised and assured of absorbing Khasadar into regular police.
He said that Khasadar and levies are well qualified and the K-P government instead of sending officials from other districts to here should promote and trained Khasadar and levies officials on the prison police. He told that Khasadar and levies force official all over erstwhile Fata are on one page regarding their rights and will never allow anyone to take our rights. Representing the Khasadars and Levies men, he said the government should give tribal paramilitary forces men status equal to police instead of sending other official to merged districts.
It’s worth mentioning that a paramilitary force, called Khasadar was operational before the erstwhile Fata’s merger with KP. However, now the federal and provincial governments have decided to extend police department to the merged tribal districts alongside other departments including judiciary.
Thousands of Khasadar force members would lose their jobs if government does not form a mechanism to adjust or regularise them.
Like Khasadar, many other departments and the common tribal people have been demanding government to give local people opportunities for serving in government institutions instead of officials from outside the erstwhile Fata.