ISLAMABAD: More than six months after the National Action Plan (NAP) was finalised, the Islamabad Police is still struggling to get the green signal for the special anti- terror force for the federal capital.

Of the 20 points listed for implementation under NAP, number eight aimed at establishing a ‘special anti-terrorism force’.

With this aim in mind, the Islamabad police had proposed a strong contingent of 1,000 highly trained personnel to fight terrorism in the capital.

Sources in the Islamabad police told Dawn that the file for the establishment of the anti-terrorism police force had made its way to a senior government functionary for approval.

“The file was forwarded to the ICT administration and the Chief Commissioner’s office forwarded the file to the interior ministry and now it is with the Planning Commission,” the officer said.

However, background conversations with concerned officials revealed that there is a serious difference of opinion over the plan between the police and the interior ministry.

Despite resistance by the Islamabad police, the ministry has decided that the Rs1.8 billion project would be implemented in two phases.

In the first phase 500 men would be recruited and trained and another 500 would be recruited in the second phase, which would reduce the initiate investment in infrastructure required for training.

“The decision to execute the project in two phases was made because it was difficult to establish barracks, logistics, mess etc for such a large contingent within a few months,” said a senior officer of the interior ministry, adding, “Besides the huge training facility would not be required in the future – therefore the existing facilities are sufficient enough to train around 400 - 500 personnel.”

On the other hand, the Islamabad police are not happy with the idea. Senior officials feel that establishing the project in one phase will ensure a similar standard of training for the recruits.

But it appears that some officers are pressing for establishing the 1,000 personnel force in one go because they are sceptical of the government’s will and interest.

“Many officers are doubtful that the second phase would ever be executed,” said an inspector in the Islamabad police, “Many fear that the fate of anti-terror force too would be similar to that of the anti-riot unit in Islamabad.”

The story of the anti-riot unit is illustrative of the short attention span of governments.

After the January 2013 sit-in by Dr Tahirul Qadri, the officials in Islamabad police and the interior ministry decided that a strong anti-riot force of 2,000 personnel would be established in Islamabad.

However, as the tenure of the government ended a few months later, this plan was dropped as it did not interest the incumbent government of the PML-N.

“But the issue propped up again after the combined sit-in of Dr Qadri and Imran Khan in August 2014, when Islamabad faced a serious shortage of police personnel,” the inspector said adding, “The government had to rely on the Punjab and AJK anti-riot police during those days.”

But once again, the government’s attention span was short lived. The gruesome APS attack diverted the government’s attention again and NAP was born, under which the capital was to be given a commando force of 1,000 personnel.

The new anti-terror force is to be headed by an SSP, and will have two SPs, four DSPs, nine inspectors, 49 sub-inspectors and 76 ASIs.

“The most important aspect of the new force is that it will have specialised units for carrying out raids, trained snipers and those who will be used to carry out security duties,” the police officer said, adding that around 40 trainers from the army would train the new force.

Yet despite all the delays and internal disagreements, there is also an opinion that opposes a new, separate force.

Many senior officers in the police department decry the move to establish a new special anti-terror force for Islamabad.

“This is akin to establishing a small army in the capital – but the government should rather look into filling the vacant posts in the Islamabad police,” the officer said adding, “Islamabad already has a contingent of attack commandoes but an effective unit of snipers is required along with some minor changes such as more resources.”

Indeed, there is no doubt that while there is a consensus on the need for additional man power and resources for the capital, not everyone agrees on how these personnel and resources should be utilized.

Perhaps, the government should first bring all the stakeholders together to decide on what needs to be done than simply announce plans, only to abandon them.

Published in Dawn ,July 13th, 2015

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