Posts Tagged ‘Malakand’

Snowfest: Lighting up Swat with a smile

The festival was inaugurated by Cecilie Landsverk, the Norwegian envoy, in a ceremony attended by civil society members, army officials and a large number of tourists.

Intended to uplift people’s spirits in the region and attract the government’s attention towards winter sports and skiing, especially in Swat, the festival has been organised by the Pakistan Army in collaboration with Right to Play, an international humanitarian organisation.

“We not only want to revive tourism and the livelihood of thousands of people, we also wish to restore smiles in Swat,” said Operation Commander Malakand Maj. Gen. Ghulam Qamar.

Landsverk appreciated the efforts of the organisers, adding that she hoped the festival would help raise awareness about the region and associated winter sports.

“We (Norwegians) are crazy about mountains, but the mountains here exceed the beauty and wonder of ours,” she said. “With over 1,000 years of skiing culture, Norwegians hope to see the culture expand beyond their own borders.”

She invited tourists from all over the world to witness the beauty and serenity of Swat valley for themselves.

Landsverk and other embassy officials later visited the skiing track, impressing spectators with their skiing skills. Paragliders also displayed their talent, diving down from atop Malam Jabba.

Communication Assistant for Right to Play Ali Khyam told The Express Tribune that the festival is an attempt to “support Swat’s skiing school and promote winter tourism, because of the incredible employment opportunities it offers to locals whose livelihood have been crippled by terrorism.”

The festival, which will continue for seven days, offers many other related activities including snow trekking and competitions for children. It has been co-sponsored by the Norwegian embassy.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2012.

Sit-in camp: New entrants swell missing persons’ camp

The Janjua-led missing persons’ camp has been continuously swelling since its establishment last week.

The fresh entrants – hopeful for their loved-ones’ release – are from Parachinar, Kurrum Agency and families of people missing from the areas of the Malakand division.

An old woman from Dir Maidan (Banday) in Malakand – carrying her two grandsons, Adeel (8) and Abu Bakar (4) – came to the camp looking for her son Mairaj Mohammad two days ago. The woman says her family surrendered before the military during the operation against terrorists in Malakand in 2009.

“Mohammad, along with his two nephews, was taken into custody by the security forces. The two boys were released after eight and 15 months, respectively, but my son has still not been released,” says the woman.

Initially, Mohammad’s two minor sons were also on the list of suspected militants wanted by the military. Their names were removed after the security officials saw them, their grandmother tells The Express Tribune.

Since their house was demolished during the military operation, Mohammad’s family has been living in a cowshed with animals in dire poverty.

“We were able to erect a mud room just recently,” she says.

Staying at the camp with the kids, she hopes, her voice would be heard soon.

Another woman from Batkhela, Malakand division, has been waiting for her missing husband. Noor Mohammad went missing from the Adiala jail two years ago. “He was sent to prison by court five years ago and went missing from outside the jail after he was released on bail,” says the woman who remains clueless about her spouse’s whereabouts since that day.

In a small group of men, who recently arrived from Upper Kurram Agency, Gulzar Jan’s brother sits quietly, staring at the cameras, holding no pictures. His brother went missing from Peshwar along with a cousin in March 2010 near Matana.

“He was on his way to see off his cousin to the UAE. Their cell phones suddenly went off. We got to know from certain sources that they were in the custody of security agencies for investigations and would be released soon,” he says, clueless as to why his brother was being interrogated.

Most people at the missing persons’ camp, when questioned, failed to provide information regarding the activities of their missing relatives that could count as evidence for the security agencies against them.

For their mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers and wives, the missing were either innocent or were picked up in ‘misunderstanding’. So was the case of Muhammad Shehzad.

“My brother had only returned from Spain for our sister’s marriage. He was picked up in our presence by the security officials who identified themselves as personnel of Special Investigation Unit of the Federal Investigation Agency,” says Shehzad’s brother.

He believes that security agencies picked up his brother mistakenly in place of somebody else. “How could he [Shehzad] possibly be involved in any suspicious activity,” the brother wonders.

And continues to wonder like the many others sitting in this camp.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2012.

Authorities’ ‘apathy’ keeps top slots vacant

MALAKAND – Seven grade-20 seats are lying vacant in Education Department for a long time, as the authorities concerned lack interest in the matter, reliable sources said.
They said on Monday while talking to this scribe that in KP Education Department seven out of 13 seats of grade-20 officials are vacant due to lack of interest of the authorities concerned. They said promotion of the deserving …

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K-P financial relief: Doubts shroud govt decision to extend package

[[IMAGE: Loan write-offs announced for people in Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Shangla.]]

According to an announcement by the Prime Minister House, the premier has extended the facility of loan write-offs to the war-affected districts of Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Shangla. The facility was extended following a request by the parliamentarians of K-P, it added.

Under the relief package, the government will write off up to Rs500000 in loans of the affected borrowers.

The government had announced a financial relief package that included tax waivers and loan write-offs after the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank had released a joint Damage and Need Assessment Report for the areas affected by the military operation launched in 2009. According to the report, the militancy and consequent military operation in those areas had led to a colossal loss of $1.3 billion.

The Revised Relief Package approved in March 2010, intended to rehabilitate business activities in K-P and the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata), was originally extended to the districts of Swat, Buner, Chitral and Malakand.

Some surprises

The decision to extend the package to Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Shangla surprises many since these districts have already recovered from the catastrophe. Observers say the move is aimed to influence voters from these districts.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidates had won seats from Upper and Lower Dir in the 2008 elections, while Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid candidate Engineer Amir Muqam got elected from Shangla.

However, PPP’s Malik Azmat Khan from Lower Dir defended the move. Talking to The Express Tribune, he said that the government had originally announced the relief package for the entire Malakand division, but its implementation in Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Shangla was deferred due to a scarcity of funds.  He added that the prime minister had promised to include these districts three months ago. Khan said the extension would cost Rs350 million and the amount would only be distributed among those who fulfill the basic criteria.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2012.

Poets, writers portray real picture of society

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MALAKAND – Poets and writers play a key rule to expose good posture of society. This was stated by speakers in a programme organized by Pukhtuna Adabi Malgari (PAM) at the launching of two Pashto poetry books of Ali Akbar Sayal “Pa Gul Daro De Warawal Owerona” and of Daidar…

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LHWs’ protest against salary non-payment continues

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MALAKAND – Leady health workers (LHWs) have been protesting against non-payment of their salaries from last four months.
A peaceful demonstration of National Programme for Leady Health Workers Malakand chapter was organised on Wednesday by 533 lady health workers, supervisors, drivers and trainees of health department. The demonstration was…

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4 including two children shot dead

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Our Staff Reporter
DARGAI – Four persons including two children of a family were killed in a firing incident at Kharkai village of Dargai tehsil in Malakand on Tuesday.
According to details, Said Muhammad son of Abdul Jaleel along with his 6-year-old daughter Mahnoor, 10-year-old son Wisal and a…

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Army, govt forcing seminaries to close: Fazl

PESHAWAR, July 28: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman came down heavily on the security forces and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Thursday accusing them of forcing closure of seminaries and intimidating Ulema and students in the Malakand Division. “The state institutions are taking extrajudicial measures and pressurising Ulema to close down seminaries and avoid giving [...]

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Via DAWN.com

Mild Earthquake jolts Malakand

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Mild Earthquake jolted Malakand and adjoining areas here on Wednesday while no loss of life or property was reported till filling of the report.
According to Met office, the epicenter of the earthquake was Hindukash Mountain and the quake was recorded as 4.9 on the Richter scale.
Panicked citizens came…

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Girl from Taliban stronghold tops SSC exam

TIMERGARA, June 18: A courageous and knowledge-loving girl, Mamta Naz, from conservative and Taliban-inflicted Maidan area, got first position among girls in the entire Malakand region by securing 907 marks out of 1,050 in the SSC annual examination. Mamta Naz’s father, Mustafa Kamal, a schoolteacher, died when she was only ten years old. However, her [...]

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Via DAWN.com

Security forces retake Dir villages

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UPPER DIR – On the fifth day of clashes with militants that intruded from neighbouring Afghanistan into Upper Dir, the security forces on Sunday regained the control of Brawal, Shaltalu and Nusrat Darra areas.
DIG Malakand Qazi Jameelur Rehman told media persons that 85 militants have been killed, while 15…

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Quake measuring 4.1 jolts KP, tribal region

KARACHI: An earthquake of magnitude 4.1 jolted different area of Pakistan on Monday morning but there were no immediate reports of casualties, DawnNews reported.

Tremors were felt in Chitral, Swat, Mansehra, Malakand, Nowshera and parts of Lower Dir.

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Via DAWN.com

Gilani seeks UN help in flood forecasting, weather warning system

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani talks to Rauf Engin Soysal, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Assistance to Pakistan at the PM House. – APP

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday sought United Nations’ assistance in developing flood forecasting and early weather warning system for Pakistan before the monsoon season.

Talking to Rauf Engin Soysal, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Assistance to Pakistan here at the PM House, Gilani appreciated UN’s support and the Special Envoy’s dedicated work for the flood affected people of the country.

The prime minister lauded the personal commitment of Ambassador Soysal, who extensively visited the flood affected areas to oversee work of all UN agencies during the relief and recovery phases after the unprecedented floods.

He commended Ambassador Soysal for his proactive efforts with Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) partners for implementation of energy sector plan of action, which had been approved by the third FoDP Ministerial meeting in Brussels last year.

The prime minister called for building on the progress achieved in various areas of FoDP process and fast tracking of implementation of Malakand Development Strategy.

Gilani hoped that as Pakistan moves from early recovery to medium and long term construction and development phase, the UN will undertake an impact assessment of the international assistance routed through the UN agencies.

Ambassador Soysal apprised the prime minister that his office was working with the UNDP representative in Pakistan in the flood affected areas to help resume economic activities.

Muhammad Haroon Shaukat, Special Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other senior officials were also present in the meeting.

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Via DAWN.com

The alphabet jungle

There is no doubt that in a country like Pakistan, education should be a top priority. It is believed that the country’s dismal literacy rates over the years has contributed in the rise of frustration and crime in the cities, and kept the majority of people in the rural areas ‘superstitious’ and an easy pray to the trickery of false pirs, and the exploitation of feudal lords, jagidars and maulvis.

A majority of state and government workers, along with various NGOs and donor agencies, who are involved in the uplift of education in the country have suggested that low literacy rates have helped extremist and sectarian organisations in easily ‘brainwashing’ the illiterate young men into committing acts of carnage and bloodshed in the name of religion.

For this purpose, these organisations use a warped mixture of cleverly selected verses from the Quran and sayings (hadith) of the Prophet  (PBUH) – giving it an un-scholarly and distorted interpretation – and an equally twisted worldview about international politics and the ‘sinister’ role being played by Hindus (India), Christians (US/West) and, of course, the Jews.

Nevertheless, there are some prominent intellectuals, educationists and scholars in Pakistan who, in spite of being at the forefront of lobbying for the implementation of far-reaching education policies, have been heading another debate regarding the issue.

Well-known intellectuals and academics such as Pervez Hoodbhoy, Rubina Saigol, A.H. Nayyar and Ahmed Salim along with historians such as Dr. Mubarak Ali and the late K.K. Aziz have for years been highly suspicious and critical of the kind of textbooks being used in schools and colleges across Pakistan, especially since the early 1970s.

Those who were already fretting over the way generations of Pakistani students have been taught skewed history lessons about Islam and Pakistan through state-approved history books, are now worried that the biased and distorted imagery of Muslims and other faiths in textbooks are being given glamorous currency even by certain TV personalities.

To quote Rubina Saigol: ‘After the 1971 break up of Pakistan and the war with India, educational discourse on nation building in Pakistan became much more introverted. The shock and horror of the defeat in East Pakistan led to the reconstruction of ideological boundaries in a much more narrow form. A violent, militaristic and negative nationalism, which saw enemies on every border, was reconstituted. This nationalism was not so much for progress or development as much as against Pakistan’s myriad enemies lurking behind every door.’

This new nationalism required a re-ordering of the past. Those unacceptable to the newly formed insecure national self had to be violently expunged. The pages of time had to be cleansed of the enemy’s presence. Ram, Buddha, Jesus Christ and several others, who had earlier been allowed in with a generous hospitality, had to make unceremonious exits from the pages of history textbooks. In their stead, the Khulfa-i-Rashideen, belonging to Arabia and to an ‘other’  alternative past, were welcomed warmly into the texts.

During General Ziaul Haq’s dictatorship, religion as an instrument of homogenisation and control became centre-stage in educational policies.

An elaborate study conducted by a group of distinguished Pakistani historians and educationalists in 2003 states the prevalence of a theocratic vision in social studies textbooks.

,The report, noticed the following in Pakistani social studies and history books:

* Insensitivity to the existing religious diversity of the nation.

* Incitement to militancy and violence, including encouragement of jihad and shahadat.

* A glorification of war and the use of force.

* Inaccuracies of fact and omissions that serve to substantially distort the nature and significance of actual events in our history.

* Perspectives that encourage prejudice, bigotry and discrimination towards fellow citizens, especially women and religious minorities.

* Omission of concepts that could encourage critical self awareness among students.

During the Zia era, science too faced the dictator’s Orwellian Islamisation process.

As Professor Hoodbhoy explains in his reveling book, Science & The Islamic World (1988), sullied science and farcical concepts of religion came together in an official conference called by Zia (at the cost of millions of rupees) in which papers on the following, (and absurd) topics were read: The harnessing of Djinns to create an alternative energy source; chemical compositions of Djinns; measuring the temperature of Hell; calculating the formulae for sawab (blessing); and measuring the speed of Heaven!

Further down the hole

Almost every educated Pakistani (after the early 1970s) has received ‘education’ based on the above-mentioned criteria.

However, it is also true that the blatant historical and theological distortions present in school textbooks have been cleverly and subtly built in (mainly by ‘pro-establishment historians and ulema’) into the books.

This means that although many Pakistani children grow up believing certain historical biases and prejudices to be a ‘historical fact,’ there is always room for many to inquire about and revise their understanding through further study and books by genuine historians, progressive Islamic scholars and secular intellectuals.

However, there is now an attempt (mainly by non-state and non-governmental elements) to infiltrate and clog even this space as well.

More than ever, many puritanical organisations which may not necessarily be militant, have started publishing literature to counter the claims of secular historians and intellectuals.

And this doesn’t just stop at Urdu book stores because the religion and history sections of even the most upscale book stores in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad are now graced by books that give so-called historical, theological and ‘geo-political’ arguments for exactly the kind of distortions people like Hoodbhoy, Nayyar, Saigol and Dr. Mubarak have been warning against.

But whereas this particular tussle between the two opposite spectrums has so-far remained intellectual in nature and restricted to middle-class interests, educationists working in the field of schools catering to the lower-middle and the working-classes have been facing an altogether more worrisome phenomenon.

Take the shocking example of a Class-I Urdu book that this writer was made aware of (see picture below).

The contents of the book (being taught to very young children) are all about implanting radical jihadi imagery in young minds (to produce ‘educated jihadis?).

For example, the word and image used to explain the Urdu alphabet ‘bey,’ an illustration of the Kalashnikov and the word ‘bandookh’ (gun) is given.

For the letter ‘tay,’ the word used is ‘takrao’ (impact) and an illustration of a plane hitting the Twin Towers in New York is shown.

For the letter ‘jeem,’ an image of a white jihadi flag and the word ‘jihad’ is used.

For the letter ‘khay,’ an image of a hunting knife (with blood dripping from it) and the word ‘khanjar’ (knife) is used.

For the letter ‘hey,’ an image of a woman fully covered in black cloth and the word ‘hijab’ is used.

For the letter ‘zey,’ the obscure word used is ‘zunoob’ (sin) and the illustration is that of a bonfire made from a pile containing a TV set, a satellite dish, a board game and a guitar.

According the available information, these pages were from books found in certain low-income schools in Karachi’s lower middle-class areas.

On further inquiry it was found (by this writer) that these books were first printed in Karachi (about seven years ago)  for the purpose of being sent to places like Swat, Hangu, Malakand and Waziristan in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

It is not known how many schools these (or similar) books were used to teach school children or whether – especially after the government’s and the Army’s successful operations against jihadi groups in Swat a year ago – they are still being taught.

It is also not known how many schools in Karachi are (or were) using such books. It is however believed that these books were introduced in schools and madrassas being run and funded by certain militant organisations or their ‘front organisations that mainly function as ‘charity outfits.’

When the schools that this writer visited (in some of the city’s working-class and lower middle-class areas), no such literature was found, even though some teachers did acknowledge the fact that some schools were using such books (but they declined to give any further information).

Whether such books are still in use or were being taught during the height of jihadi activity in Pakistan (between 2003 and 2009), one has to continue keeping an eye not only on what is going on in the militant-infested hills and mountains of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the remote plains of South Punjab, but also in certain educational institutions where extremist outfits have found ways  to preach violence (in the name of religion) to young children.

Jihad (Pvt.)

More so, even many private colleges and universities are not free from this malaise.

Whereas politics on state-owned campuses is still a highly charged ‘Islamist/conservative vs. progressive/liberal affair between student organisations, on private campuses it is being subtly and silently penetrated by some elusive socio-political groups.

These groups were unsuccessful in gaining a foothold on state-owned campuses mainly due to the presence of conventional student parties.

The target audience of these new groups are the urban middle-classes.

These groups (at least in educational institutions) do not operate like the conventional student political outfit. In fact, they claim to shun politics and pretend to help students become better and more successful Muslims.

The two main groups having access to private-owned campuses are both Islamic in orientation. One is the apparently harmless but ultra-conservative Tableeghi Jamaat and the other is the controversial Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

The Tableeghi Jamaat and the Tahrir have been making deep inroads into privately-owned universities and colleges for the last decade or so.

The consequences of this are not entirely apolitical because at least the Tahrir is a political organisation with an agenda to ‘unify the ummah’ (through a modern-day caliphate). It is also supposedly banned in Pakistan.

Even though it was Abul ala Maududi’s ‘political Islam’ that was introduced into the once secular Pakistan Army by Ziaul Haq, by the early 1990s the Tableeghi Jamaat began having a bigger impact, turning the politics of the institution into a strange fusion of Maududi’s political Islam and the Jamaat’s social aspirations.

That is why the political impact of the Tahrir and the Tableeghi Jamaat’s preaching in private universities and colleges sees the affected students eventually coming close to the worldview peddled by some in the conservative military establishment.

,,Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com.

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn

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Via DAWN.com

Widespread rains lash KP, Fata

PESHAWAR, April 10: Widespread rains lashed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal area on Sunday while some valleys in northern parts of the province received light snowfall.

Heavy rains, scattered snowfall and hailstorm brought the mercury down forcing the people to take out their warm clothes in plain areas of the province which is very unusual in April. Average maximum temperature in the low altitude areas in April is about 35 degrees centigrade.

In Peshawar, where Met office recorded 10mm rain, maximum temperature was 20 degree and minimum was 17 degree Celsius. Officials said that downpour would continue in many areas of the province and Fata on Monday.

Reports said that the upper parts of Hazara and Malakand divisions received heavy rains. The rain, which started early in the morning in Mansehra, Battagram, Kohistan and Torghar continued intermittently all the day.

Kaghan road was blocked at various places in the valley by landslides caused by heavy rains in the region. The mountainous area of Kaghan, Allai and Kandia valleys received snow. Heavy rains have also been reported from different areas of Swat including Mingora.

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Via DAWN.com

Customs officers facing corruption charges, Senate told

Minister of Finance Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh. – AFP File Photo

ISLAMABAD: As many as 18 officers of BPS 16 to 19 of Customs Collectorate Karachi were facing disciplinary proceedings due to their alleged involvement in corruption cases, Minister of Finance Dr. Hafeez Sheikh told Senate here on Tuesday.

The Minister informed the House in a written reply to a question of Talha Mahmood said that two Deputy Collectors Imran Sajjad Bukhari and Javed Sarwar Sheikh and one Additional Collector of BPS-19 Syed Tanveer Ahmed and one Assistant Collector of BPs-17 Aamir Nawaz Hamid were involved in the cases of M/S Bawan Shah Group of Companies regarding issuances of fake/flying refunds.

Inquiries are underway against the officials, he added.

He further said the other officials include Deputy Collectors of BPS-18 Habib Ahmad Jawad Zafar Malik, Salra Khan, Muhammad Saqif Saeed and Nawabzadi Aliya Dilawar. The other officials were Principal Appraisers of BPS-16 Maimutullah Alvi, Shahid Hussain Rizvi, Qamaruddin Semajo, Irshad Khan, Syed Hamid Umar and Mehtab Ahmed.

Answering another question, he informed that in December 2008, huge quantity of tyres were detained in two private godowns of M/s Junaid Brothers and M/s Syed Brothers in Karachi by Directorate of I&I-FBR, Karachi while suspecting that these goods were imported in Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) and were off loaded in these godowns by misusing facility.

He said the probe revealed that deliberate in-action in supervising and handling the whole operation to establish smuggling of tyres under the garb of ATT, adding that disciplinary proceedings against the officials involved were initiated under government servant rules 1973.

To another question of Maulana Gul Naseeb, he said out of seven districts of Malakand Division bank loans of residents of four districts that included Malakand, Swat, Buner and Chitral have been written off under the Prime Minister’s fiscal relief package of KP, FATA and PATA.

He said the relief package was extended to only four districts and division in pursuance of the recommendations finalized after consultation with all stakeholders including the government of KP, Chamber of Commerce and industries of KP and State Bank of Pakistan. – APP

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Via DAWN.com

Row over release of suspects by ATCs

Officials associated with the anti-terror effort attribute the recent surge in terrorist attacks in KP to the acquittal of militants by anti-terrorism courts. — File Photo

PESHAWAR: A row between anti-terrorism courts and security agencies over the release of militants by anti-terrorism courts, coupled with the federal government’s inability to push through a critical anti-terror amendment bill, may paralyse Islamabad’s effort to root out terrorism, officials familiar with several briefings given to the government and the military establishment revealed.

“We are heading for a paralysis,” a senior official commented. “The entire effort to catch these scums is going for six. You catch them and the next thing you know is they are out and back in business,” another frustrated official said.

Officials associated with the anti-terror effort attribute the recent surge in terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, among other things, to the acquittal of militants by anti-terrorism courts.

After a relatively long spell of quiet in terrorist activities, militants have struck back with a vengeance.

Official figures reveal a staggering spike in terrorist attacks in KP from December to March 20 with a total of 96 incidents, claiming almost two hundred lives and maiming hundreds of others. This is against a total of 101 acts of terror last year.

“Everyone worth knowing we had arrested is out, fighting us again,” a senior police official said.

At a briefing on the internal security situation last month, the government was informed that of the 1443 militants arrested, 695 had been bailed out mostly by appellate courts, while 48 others had been acquitted by anti-terrorism courts.

The acquittal rate was particularly high in the once-militants’ redoubt of Malakand, the briefing was informed.

The only conviction so far was delivered by an anti-terrorism court early this month where a militant, Noorani Gul was handed a sentence of 120 years in jail.

The overall conviction rate in terrorist cases, the official added, stood at five per cent. The situation became so alarming that officials from KP held a long meeting with senior military officials at the GHQ to find ways to overcome the problem.

Government officials cite several cases where, they believe, the courts refused to accept the prosecution evidence and set free extremely dangerous terrorists.

One such case, cited as an example, involved the arrest of two alleged suicide bombers along with a suicide jacket, 650 grams of high explosives, a detonating cord and a hand grenade in Peshawar.

The court in its judgment handed out in November last noted that any action must involve the use of explosives.

“In the instant case, there is no allegation that the accused used the explosives or were caught while using it or they threatened to use the same.

“So the inference here is that so long as the terrorist did not explode his suicide vest and kill people, it does not constitute a crime,” said a frustrated police investigator.

“And that the possession of a suicide vest does not mean that the bomber wanted to or threatened to use it. This is bizarre,” the official said.

The court in its judgment continued that explosives must be in the shape of a device and that the prosecution did not furnish any report to substantiate its case.

“A suicide jacket with a primer and a hand grenade are explosive devices. Do we need a report from any expert to prove that?” the official asked.

Also, the court noted that there was no allegation of a bomb blast and therefore, no case could be constituted under the ,1997 Anti-Terrorist Act,.

“Does this by implication mean that the suspect should have been allowed to explode the bomb?” the official said with a tinge of cynicism in his voice.

NO HOMEWORK: But legal experts blame police investigators and the prosecution for poor performance. “They don’t do their homework,” a legal expert said.

“The law requires them to submit examination report of explosives recovered and they don’t do that,” he pointed out.

In another case, an anti-terrorism court in Nowshera acquitted a man captured during a police raid in which a suicide bomber had blown himself up. The reason, according to the police, was the failure of a police official to appear before the court on account of his wedding.

But that may be just be the tip of the iceberg. Officials acknowledge that of more paramount concern is the trial of over two thousand suspected militants rounded up following the military operation in Swat in May 2009.

The militants – 50 per cent of them having been declared as black or extremely dangerous _ were captured by the military and continue to be in their custody.

“They were captured by the army, when the police was nowhere present in Swat,” a senior military official said.

There are many others who were seized by the intelligence agencies and later handed over to the police for legal requirements.But the problem, according to military officials and legal experts, is bringing the circumstance of the militants’ capture on record to fulfil requirements of the Anti-Terrorist Act.

The law requires witnesses and incriminating evidence to convict the militants while officials said that witnesses were usually too scared to come forward and testify before the courts.

Also, courts as a matter of law do not accept confessions made by militants to police and intelligence officials.

In one case, a security official said, the accused in a bomb explosion case in Peshawar had confessed to his crime and a copy of his video confession was submitted to the court, but he was acquitted and a statement by a police officer to testify as to the veracity of the confession was not entertained.

At the root of the entire issue, legal experts said, was the failure of the federal government to incorporate suitable amendments in the Anti-Terrorist Act, 1997.

An ordinance promulgated by President Zardari expired in May last year and a bill containing new amendments is still stuck in the Senate.

The KP government has informed the GHQ that it has no legal powers under the Constitution to amend the law on its own and that the federal government would have to push through the proposed amendments in the ATA, 1997 and also introduce a new counter-insurgency law to provide for the army’s role in the arrest, detention and transfer of militants to civil law enforcement agencies.

The counter-insurgency law, a senior government official said, might take two to three months to take effect.

“We have been pressing the federal government for the early passage of the amendments in the ATA. All state institutions, including the military, have weighed in to highlight the urgency of the matter. But somehow the federal government seems to be least bothered,” the official said.

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Via DAWN.com