PESHAWAR: Amid uproar by the joint opposition, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Thursday passed bill on the Levies and Khasadar forces previously operating in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

The government introduced the bills, which were meant to bring 28,000 personnel of the two forces under the command of the provincial police, and got them passed by the house immediately without debate causing pandemonium.

Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani chaired the sitting.

Minister for law and parliamentary affairs Sultan Mohammad Khan introduced the bills.

The government had introduced the Levies and Khasadar Ordinances on June 13, which completed their 90 days constitutional life on Sept 10.

Provincial assembly legislates amid opposition uproar

The government was in hurry to pass the bills from the assembly to avoid any illegality in the functioning of the two forces.

Unlike the Levies Force, the Khasadar Force is a loose force, whose personnel are inducted in light of family grounds.

The opposition members began protesting when the law minister introduced the bills and moved a resolution for their passage. They shouted slogans and encircled the speaker’s dice.

Taking the floor, Opposition Leader Akram Khan Durrani said the government should take opposition members on board before introducing those important bills and that they shouldn’t be passed in hurry.

Awami National Party parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak said the government didn’t discuss the matter with the opposition. He said the personnel of Levies and Khasadar forces, too, protested legislation outside the assembly.

Mr Babak said the government should allow members to study the bills so that some of them could suggest amendments.

He said after Fata’s merger with the province, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan had promised the integration of Levies and Khasadars with police but that promise wasn’t kept.

Minister Sultan Mohammad Khan said the government had already promulgated two ordinances and according to the new bills both Levies and Khasadar forces would function under the control of the police.

He said the relevant department had framed rules for Levies and Khasadar forces and the government would approve those drafts very soon.

According to the new law, the Khasadar Force, which was established in the erstwhile Fata through executive orders and instructions, for management of the said areas within the framework of territorial and collective responsibility, has now lost legal status for working in the merged districts and sub-divisions.

Elaborating on the powers and duties of the Khasadar Force, the new law says the force shall have parallel policing powers as assigned to the police under the Code.

It adds that the commandant shall be the authority for posting and transfer of members of the force within the district. Also, subject to other provisions of this act, recruitment in the Khasadar Force shall be made in the prescribed manner.

About Levies which is a regular force, the Act says notwithstanding anything, contained in any other law for the time being in force, the members of the Levies force may be absorbed in the police, subject to the procedure as may be determined by the government.

The law says the Levies Force shall be an essential service and every member thereof shall be liable to serve whenever he is required to serve by the director general, who belongs to the police force.

Meanwhile, the Khasadar personnel staged a demonstration outside the provincial assembly demanding complete absorption in the provincial police.

They said the government had promised the force’s integration with the police department but that promise hadn’t been fulfilled.

The session was later adjourned until Sept 23.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2019