ISLAMABAD: Pakistan mentioned on Monday it was making a nationwide paramilitary pressure, prompting concern amongst opposition events and human rights teams that it may very well be used as a device of political repression. The transfer turns an current paramilitary pressure deployed on Pakistan’s northwestern border with Afghanistan right into a nationwide safety pressure that can be referred to as the Federal Constabulary, state minister for the inside Talal Chaudhry informed a press convention within the jap metropolis of Faisalabad. Its new duties will embrace inside safety, riot management and counter-terrorism, in keeping with a replica of the amended legislation reported by the native Dunya Information TV. The announcement got here after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) celebration of former jailed PM Imran Khan mentioned it will stage nationwide protests beginning on Aug 5, the second anniversary of his arrest. A number of such protests since his Aug 2023 arrest have turned violent, in some instances paralysing the capital Islamabad for days. “This can be a brand new pressure. This can be a stronger pressure. We’d like this pressure for inside safety,” Chaudhry mentioned, including that President Asif Ali Zardari had already authorised amendments within the legislation introducing modifications within the paramilitary pressure. The brand new pressure replaces the Frontier Constabulary (FC), whose cadres had been beforehand recruited solely from tribes within the northwestern province, Chaudhry mentioned. Coaching of the brand new pressure will convey it into line with different nationwide legislation enforcement companies, he added. Khan’s celebration spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari mentioned the modifications needs to be topic to parliamentary dialogue. The brand new pressure “shouldn’t be used as a gimmick to silence political opponents, as has been beforehand witnessed when the federal government utilized such legal guidelines towards numerous the PTI management and supporters,” he mentioned. His concern was echoed by Haris Khalique, secretary of the Human Rights Fee of Pakistan, an impartial physique. “We’re alarmed by the modifications being made to the safety and legislation enforcement construction of the nation with none debate in parliament,” Khalique mentioned. REUTERS
