New Delhi: Post the imposition of Emergency and governor’s rule in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, nearly 4,000 police personnel in the restive region have reportedly failed to return to their assigned duties after their sanctioned leave expired.
This happened despite the KPK Police, according to a now-deleted article by the Nawaiwaqt newspaper, issuing a directive Friday asking all police personnel to resume their duties or else face disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, the Federal government has authorised the deployment of Pakistan Army troops and resources in the province to assist the civil administration in maintaining law and order.
In the directive addressed to regional police officers, district police officers, sub-divisional police officers and station house officers, the authorities said that 3,986 personnel had not resumed duty as required.
The absences, the directive said, raised serious concerns about institutional discipline and compliance with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Act of 2017 and applicable disciplinary regulations.
Under the new instructions, senior police officers are responsible for ensuring that personnel remain at their designated duty stations and comply with operational orders. Leave is to be granted only on what the directive describes as “extreme compassionate grounds”.
The directive also warns that unauthorised absence, abandonment of duty, insubordination and deliberate disobedience of lawful orders will be treated as serious misconduct.
Supervisory officers have been instructed to enforce Sections 77 (warrants directed to police officers or other persons), 78 (code of conduct of police personnel), 79 and 80 (withdrawal from duty and resignation) of the provincial police law, along with the relevant disciplinary rules. Personnel found to have violated the requirements could face legal or departmental proceedings under established procedures.
The reported absences raise questions about staffing and discipline within a provincial police force operating under heightened security pressures. However, the directive does not specify how long the personnel have been absent for, whether they have been formally contacted or given an opportunity to explain their absence, or how many disciplinary proceedings have begun.
The federal Pakistani government on Sunday imposed an emergency and the governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, escalating an already tense standoff with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the ruling party in the region. The declaration brings an end to PTI’s rule in the restive northwestern region for now.
The measures were approved by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari following recommendations from the federal cabinet, which met in an emergency session chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to local reports.
The government cited Articles 232 and 234 of Pakistan’s Constitution, provisions governing emergencies and the failure of constitutional machinery in a province.
Article 232 allows the president to proclaim an emergency when the security of Pakistan, or part of the country, is threatened by war, external aggression or internal disturbances beyond a provincial government’s ability to control. Article 234 addresses a breakdown of constitutional machinery in a province and provides for the exercise of certain provincial functions by the president.
Under the proclamation, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants and the provincial advocate general will immediately vacate their offices, according to the declaration.
The decision escalates the standoff between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s federal government and Imran Khan’s PTI. Former prime minister Khan remains in prison. The move came as the PTI was organising a protest march demanding access to Khan and his eventual release, with organisers initially planning to take the demonstration to Islamabad.
The federal government warned that it will not allow protesters to enter the capital.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office accused the provincial government of deliberately disengaging from the fight against terrorism. Cabinet members argued that the security situation required the federal government to exercise its constitutional authority.
In the presidential declaration, the government argued that the scale of militant violence had created an extraordinary threat to public safety. It cited attacks on government installations, infrastructure and law-enforcement agencies, and accused the provincial administration of failing to take adequate action against terrorism and lawlessness.
Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, supported by an 11-member technocratic advisory council, has taken charge of administering Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on behalf of the federal government.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan Wednesday challenged the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before the Peshawar High Court, urging it to declare the measures unconstitutional.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also read: Why the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has defiance baked into its politics