KARACHI, June 25: The fact that the province’s elected legislators tend to disregard the security requirements in place on their home turf, the historic Sindh Assembly building off Court Road, indicates that the public representatives have scant regard for the law or for making the security personnel’s task easier.
The legislators’ uncaring attitude has embarrassed not only the administration of the assembly building but has also severely compromised the police force’s efforts to ensure the MPAs’ safety.
Building officials and police authorities told Dawn that the MPAs fail to follow the rules and conventions in place inside and on the premises of the assembly building. MPAs from both the treasury and opposition benches enter the Sindh Assembly with dozens of armed, private security guards who are actually not even allowed to enter the building without the valid security pass that is mandatory for crossing the building’s main entrance when the assembly is in session.
Having pursued the matter through various channels, the police sent the assembly administration a 10-point letter that officially asked for the security requirements to be met. Even this desperate initiative has failed to yield results since none of the requests have been met, other than the maintenance of the walk-through gates which were out of order. Meanwhile, other security measures such as mirrors etc are either missing or out of order.
Security nightmare
“While the MPAs attend the session inside the assembly hall, their security guards lounge about in the lawn or in the vehicles parked within the premises of the building,” said an official, pointing out that such presence of armed people who have not been issued security passes is a serious headache for the law enforcers. “Given that we don’t even know in advance how many guards will accompany the MPAs, how can they be questioned on the issue of security passes?” he asked.
Police authorities, to whom falls the task of providing foolproof security, also argue that standard arrangements can neither be planned nor implemented in the presence of un-cleared armed men inside the building.
A senior officer deployed on the location along with other law enforcers recalled that last Tuesday, there was panic amongst the security personnel stationed at the Sindh Assembly after a phone-call threatening an attack on the house was received. “Although that call proved to be a hoax, you can imagine the effort it took to clear the area, given that there were dozens of armed security guards and their vehicles on the premises,” he pointed out.
The official told Dawn that the movement of any armed persons, other than those belonging to law enforcement and official security agencies, was strictly prohibited inside any government building. “Sadly, when it comes to the house of our elected representatives, this rule is not followed,” he said.
Records available at the Central Police Office contain the correspondence between police high-ups and the Sindh Assembly building’s administration regarding effective security measures and proposals to make the law enforcers’ task easier.
“One of the major proposals concerned the restriction of movement in and outside the building,” said an official citing the correspondence between the two sides. “But during each session, several members bring in a brigade of armed security guards who are never checked and never issued any passes. This is a serious violation of the rules.” Similarly, he added, police authorities proposed closed-circuit cameras that would help monitor movement outside the assembly hall and the building, and suggested that the height of the building’s rear wall be increased as a measure against trespassers. “But there has been no sign of any move on these proposals,” he remarked, “although they were suggested to improve the level of security in the building.”
