Monday, March 03, 2008

Law and order to be ANP’s biggest challenge in NWFP

* Analysts claim that foreign role in bombings cannot be ruled out
* ANP info secretary says party won polls by calling for peace

By Manzoor Ali Shah

PESHAWAR: The incoming Awami National Party (ANP)-led government in the NWFP is expected to face an uphill task in maintaining law and order, in addition to a myriad of other problems, security analysts and politicians said on Sunday. The ANP candidate for NWFP chief minister, Ameer Haider Hoti, announced after his nomination that his government would seek a dialogue with the Taliban to ensure peace in the province. However, incidents of terrorism have surged in the past few days and several people have died. According to analysts, the law and order situation is now being seen as a test for the new government. Dr Azmat Hayat Khan of the University of Peshawar’s Area Study Centre told Daily Times that the recent attacks on police in the province were meant to create instability and demoralise the police force. Foreign hands: “The involvement of foreign hands in these incidents can not be ruled out. They want an unstable and weak Pakistan. No religious or political forces could be involved in such things,” he claimed. He said the new government would face several challenges, but the foremost would be to restore law and order in the region. Former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Security secretary Brigadier (r) Mahmood Shah said the ANP government could solve the menace of terrorism. “Pakhtoon society is a traditional society and they have to use jirgas and other traditional elements to restore peace in the area,” he said. He said the clerics are a force to be reckoned with in Pakhtoon society, adding that they were still subordinate to the ‘Khan’. “The leading factor behind their (the ANP) getting votes was anti-terrorism efforts. It is crucial for them to control the province’s law and order,” he added. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Secretary General Maulana Shaujaul Mulk claimed that President Pervez Musharraf’s slogans of ‘Pakistan first’ had caused anarchy in the country. He alleged that the current lawlessness was a result of the former government’s faulty policies. He said the ANP had shown a willingness to hold a dialogue, and if they were to turn to force it would be a tragedy. “There are also external elements that do not want peace in the country, and the recent spate of blasts is a part of this,” he said. For peace: ANP Information Secretary Zahid Khan said that the ANP had won the election in the name of peace. “The party will do its best for the restoration of peace in the province and will foil any conspiracies [against peace],” he said. He said the hidden hands that had become active in the province would be defeated through jirgas. The Pakhtoons could not be oppressed by cowardly acts of terrorism, he added.
Courtesy Daily Times

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