PESHAWAR, Dec 28: Senior provincial minister Sirajul Haq has asked his fellow MPAs to offer proposals for the improvement of law and order situation and help the government in stemming the rising tide of lawlessness in the province.
Responding to the points raised by the members in their speeches during the debate on law and order in the provincial assembly here on Friday, he said if a police official failed to maintain law and order in his respective jurisdiction, he should resign and go home.
The session was presided over by Speaker Bakht Jahan Khan.
The minister opposed the suggestion of forming convoys escorted by the police on unsafe routes, and said it was the duty of the police to provide protection to the people.
In his speech Qazi Mohammad Asad Khan from Haripur drew attention towards small number of police force manning his district and demanded increase in force’s strength from the existing 549 to the required 1,525.
He said that Haripur had a total population of 681,469. In addition, 100,000 Afghan refugees also live in camps and nearby villages. The area spreads over 1,756 sq-km. “For an area which also includes Hattar industrial estate and Tarbela and Khanpur dams, a small force of 549 has been policing the population for the last many years,” he added.
Qazi said: “District Kohat has a population of 562,804 while it has a strength of 1,418 policemen, district Nowshehra has a population of 874,373, but it has 1,276 cops to look after the area. The other districts, including Chitral, Swabi, Bannu and Abbottabad also have more police force than Haripur.”
The crime rate in Haripur was higher than many other districts owing to its limited police strength and presence of several link roads connecting the area to Khanpur-Hattar Road and Karakoram Highway, he added.
On a call attention notice, Anwar Kamal Khan of the PML-N spoke on the mounting tension in various tribes over the kidnapping-for-ransom incidents in Lakki Marwat.
He said some 34 years ago, the Mehsood, Wazir, Marwat and Banosi tribes reached an accord that none of them would provide refuge to kidnappers, robbers and murderers, but now some of the tribes had started violating the accord which caused a resentment in the area.
The incidents of kidnapping-for-ransom were increasing day-by-day and his tribesmen had lost their patience, he added.
Anwar Khan showed a copy of the accord to the House and demanded of the government to take notice of the situation and saved the situation before it was too late.
Atiqur Rehman and Qari Abdullah, members from Hangu, portrayed a gloomy picture of their district regarding the law and order situation, and asked the government to take notice of the situation in view of the sensitive nature of the area. They said in the past their area had witnessed bloody sectarian violence.
They also complained about the rising incidents of kidnapping for ransom, dacoity, robbery and murder in their area.
Jamshed Khan from Buner suggested to the government to begin a convoy system to be escorted by the law enforcement agencies on the Buner-Pir Baba Road.