PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passed Khasadar and Levies Forces Bill on Thursday. Under the bills, despite merger with KP police two special Khasadars force and Levies forces will be working in tribal districts.
The passage of bills received strong opposition from the opposition parties who said that instead of merging the forces with KP Police, they are creating two different special forces which is unacceptable even to both the forces.
However, the law minister said that both forces have got police powers in tribal districts of the province. “They have got the powers of the police under section 5 of the Lewis Act and section 6 of Khasadar force act,” said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Law. “There was no law before, now the law has been passed.”
Law Minister clarifies the stance of government over the legislation and said that bills reflect the commitment of the provincial government to fulfil all its promises made to tribal people. He said bills were aimed to bring levies and khasadar force of merged districts at par with the KP police. He informed the house khasadar and levies force would have the same authority and powers like police adding rules have been framed that would be notified by cabinet very soon.
The opposition parties strongly protested during the proceedings. the opposition members said that they were not taken into confidence before presenting the bills on the floor of the assembly.
On the other hand, Special Forces personnel serving in the tribal districts protested in favour of their demands in Bagh-e- Naran. They rejected the bills passed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly. All FATA Khasadar Force Action Committee spokesman DSP Jahangir Afridi said the Khasadar Force of the tribal districts had joined the police a year ago.
The Police Act 2017 should be enforced on the Khasadar Force and the new Act is not acceptable Khasadar Forces of the tribal districts. According to Jahangir Afridi, the new act will further tangle up their issues rather than solve problems, the struggle for rights will continue.
He said that the provincial government had promised to integrate Levies and Khasdar into the police. Apart from the direct integration with police, nothing else is acceptable to the Khasadar men. From September 14, they will start a protest movement from Bajaur for their demands.
