MUZAFFARABAD: Intense pressure from the public and police personnel on Thursday forced the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government to withdraw a notification regarding the postings and transfers of some police officers, including an SSP Muzaffarabad.

The notification was issued by the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) at about 3:15 pm, reshuffling six police officers of the SSP rank.

They included SSP Muzaffarabad, Irfan Masood Kashfi, who was made Officer on Special Duty (OSD) and attached with the S&GAD for further posting. He was replaced by Rashid Naeem Khan, Chief Security Officer to the Prime Minister.

However, as the news of Mr Kashfi’s transfer spread in the town, not only the general public but also police personnel came out onto the streets in protest against it.

Transfer, posting notification of certain police officers withdrawn after protest

Police and protesting public believed that Mr Kashfi’s “unceremonious exit” from the SSP’s office was the outcome of a recent arrest of Shaukat Javed Mir, a ruling Peoples Party leader serving on a post in the AJK Prime Minister’s office.  

Mr Mir and another person were arrested by SHO Zahid Umar of City Police Station on Monday afternoon from the Airport Road as they were allegedly drunk. Both were released on Wednesday, after a judge granted them bail.

Witnesses said all eight police stations and six police posts in the district were locked by the police personnel, most of whom assembled outside a building on the premises of district headquarters complex, which is home to the offices of senior police officers, including two DIGs and the SSP.

The protesting police personnel took off their belts and caps, as a mark of protest, something unheard of in the history of AJK police.

Outside, on the main road, people from different walks of life, including traders, students and activists of some opposition parties, chanted slogans against the government.

Reports said similar demonstrations were held elsewhere in the city as well as in the suburbs, causing uneasiness in the ranks of the government.

Interestingly, when contacted by some mediapersons, IGP Malik Khuda Bakhash Awan claimed that he had not been taken on board with regard to the official move for transfers “at this particular point of time.”

However, bowing to the pressure, the government finally withdrew the entire notification about the transfers “with immediate effect” at about 8:30 pm.

In the meanwhile, Mr Mir, the accused discretionary officer of the PM secretariat, told journalists that he had resigned from his official position, for the sake of his party’s government.

“I have sent my resignation to Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed and Zardari House. I don’t want to put my party and its government in AJK in any trouble. My commitment with my party however remains unwavering,” he told Dawn by telephone.

Published in Dawn March 13th, 2015

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