Regi a potential base camp for Taliban

Crime Diary

By Riaz Ahmad

Bomb blasts in girls schools, CD centres and internet cafes have again intensified across the district.

In the past few weeks two girl schools were attacked in the jurisdiction of Mattani Police Station in the villages bordering Darra Adam Khel in addition to the blasts in four CD shop and one internet café in Kohati locality not to mention the Babar Road blast inside the cantonment.

It may be mentioned here that in nearly all blasts that occurred along the main Kohat Road in the district, dynamite concealed in a five kilogram empty ghee tin - a trade mark of the unknown attackers.

People of the area are of the view that Taliban militants are behind all these attacks who 'placed a ghee tin in front of all the CD centers and the most unfortunate CD center had attracted three such tins'.

Police in Mathani and Badaber villages are confused and worried about own security rather than providing security to the general public, which has created an interesting situation.

The local residents, however, are not afraid of Taliban -- who had killed the notorious don Churg -- but they are fearful of the blasts, the unseen hands and underground activities in their areas.

On the other hand, there is a widespread belief that Taliban have chosen either Regi or Badaber -- the two most populace villages in the district -- to formally launch their movement in Peshawar.

People of Regi believe that their village has been selected as a future base camp by Taliban as the village has successfully demonstrated its ability to become a no-go-area for the law enforcement agencies in the past.

There are two rivals in this connection - Taliban and Lashkare Islam Bara, for Regi.

Lashkar-e-Islam has even made contacts with some locals and a few families especially the Melo family - the notorious modern-day Robinhood -- who was killed in a mysterious encounter by the police, has already joined Lashkare Islam.

If the Mangal Bagh-run Lashkere Islam joins hands with Batullah Mehsud then there should be no doubts in any one's mind that Regi village would provide a good head-start to Taliban in the provincial metropolis as the villagers would also support Taliban to capture the precious Orkazai estate from its present owners and in return would provide them with an opportunity to use the village as a base camp.

The most feared phenomenon - If the most feared Commondo Group of Regi, led by Namatullah Jan alias Jan Commander, joined hands with Lashkar or Taliban.

The government needs to check such happening to avoid untowards situation.

Remembering Professor Abdul Ghafoor

Crime Diary

By Afzal Hussain Bokhari

In the death of Professor Abdul Ghafoor, Peshawar has lost a brilliant academic, a pleasingly tactful administrator, a stunningly blunt intellectual, a formidable speaker and a highly refined human being. City's educational, social and literary circles will, for a very long time, remain poorer, more insipid and tasteless without him.

An unassuming university teacher, Professor Ghafoor never wore a bureaucratic look and was never unnecessarily stiff-necked even when he rose to become the principal of the Law College or later the vice-chancellor of Peshawar University. Provincial Public Service Commission will miss him as a capable and lively member.

When he was in the administrative chair - as principal of Law College and as vice-chancellor of the otherwise difficult and problematic Peshawar University, the students and even the members of the teaching, non-teaching and clerical staff - class IV employees included - never had to breathe nervously before entering his office. In most cases, he retained his poise and temperamental equilibrium.

It was in great seminars, academic discussions, syndicate meetings, university debates and the high profile meetings of the all-Pakistan level meetings of vice-chancellors that the best in him came out in the form of carefully organised logical rhetoric and greatly pleasing persuasive assertiveness, even if at the risk of defying the ultimate authoritarianism embedded in academic bureaucracy.

Very few vice-chancellors in the history of Peshawar University could match the talent and credentials of Professor Ghafoor. Basically a humble, humane and down to earth man, he could confront the arrogant bureaucrats above him by suddenly becoming a man of steel nerves with little or no flexibility in him to compromise on universally accepted principles of administration.

With plain looks and a frail physical structure, he could unnerve and disarm the smartest of visitors with local or foreign origin. Those close to him knew that he never minced matters. He had no patience to tolerate sycophants, hypocrites and turncoats around him for an extended period of time and people with such tendencies and characteristics were fully aware of this.

Whether in office or at home, he never hesitated in entertaining visitors with various problems.

There were visitors who drove into his Chinar Road residence with a fresh tea-cake placed on the dashboard. Similarly, there were visitors with a hard luck story to narrate and seek catharsis, if not a prompt relief. The host greeted both with a smiling face and gave them a patient hearing.

It was a pleasant coincidence, that his wife Professor Waheeda Ghafoor (herself unwell these days) happened to be equally, if not more, sociable and affable with guests. When Professor Waheeda was chairperson of Peshawar University's Urdu Department, her home was frequently visited by female students not only from the departments of Urdu, English, Psychology, Persian, Philosophy and Fine Arts but also occasionally from KMC and Engineering.

Genuinely enjoyable were the moments when poet Ahmad Faraz, an old family friend, happened to pop into the Ghafoors'. The unmistakable flavour of the Hindko dialogues that they exchanged lasted long after the hosts and the guest receded back into their hectic day-to-day routines. Waheeda Ghafoor started out with her familiar welcoming scold: "Way, Faraz, toon kamal keeta!" (O Faraz, you've done something strange). Perfectly relaxed, Faraz came up with his equally stock answer: "Main koi kamal naeen keeta!" (There's nothing strange about it).

Professor Ghafoor's sons Sajid and Sarmad often remained busy with friends, cousins or classmates in their own age group and did not usually bother about the type of guests their father and mother were separately or jointly attending to. One could notice musical instruments, paintings or newly published political books in the house.

Female students that came to Professor Waheeda with samples of their poetry or prose were warmly received but were clearly told with a motherly affection to steer clear of such temptations and concentrate on getting married and running a home in a practical manner. She told the students that girls with literary temperaments often fell into wrong hands and got their future spoiled and stained, if not utterly ruined. She had on her finger-tips a whole list of such victims.

Professor Ghafoor, much like his slightly distant neighbour Professor Dr. Nasir Azam, retired principal of the Khyber Medical College, retained his brilliance and sociability even after he left the vice-chancellor's office. For instance, if invited as chief guest he never hesitated or thought twice about driving as far as the Baragali campus of Peshawar University in order to sit through a long and tiring seminar that least interested him.

Though he never publicised it in any manner but in his private life Professor Ghafoor so rightly guided some relatives, acquaintances and even total strangers in planning or building up their career in practising law or clearing the competitive examination to go into the civil service. Son of a former commissioner late Abdur Rasheed Khan, Professor Ghafoor remained a neat and clean administrator and never at any stage blemished his career with any controversy or the slightest financial scam.

This explains why his male and female students, some of them highly placed in the judicial sector or the jurists' community, still cherish the fond memories of their beloved and inspiring teacher. Privately as much as publicly, they hold him in high esteem and continue to consider him as a role model in their practical lives.

For a political comment or legal consultation, whenever the local or even foreign journalists approached Professor Ghafoor, they found him adequately updated, reasonably relevant and impressively sharp. In giving a political comment, he kept before him the ground realities rather than his status as a government officer.

All through his life, Professor Ghafoor highly valued the sense of timing in his friends. He himself decided to bow out when the nation was passing through a genuine or fake legal crisis.

When I contemplate his abrupt disappearance from the academic and legal scene, I am reminded of his bluntness that bordered almost on eccentricity: "Majnoon jo mar gaya hai to jungle udaas hai!"

Law-enforcers fail in curbing menace of suicide attacks

Crime Diay

By Riaz Ahmad

Busting the terrorist organisations has proved to be an uphill task for the law-enforcing agencies as terrorists are able to carry out their sabotage activities in the shape of suicide attacks unabated across the Frontier province.

The recent attack on the residence of Federal Minister Amir Muqam was a clear example of police failure as the perpetrator managed to enter the house where he was stopped by the security personnel. The minister's meeting room was barely a few feet away from the site where the bomber blew him up, killing three policemen.

So far not a single investigation carried out by the Capital City Police into suicide attacks has proved fruitful including the Dhaki Naalbandi suicide attack, Marhaba Hotel blast, Ring Road suicide attack and now the Hayatabad attack.

The shortage of professional investigators and lack of resources are the two prime factors responsible for this.

Investigation, considered to be an art for a long time, has turned into a science with the advent of computerised technology and introduction of sophisticated techniques. There is, however, no arrangement to train the police personnel into this science in the Frontier province.

Until recently the investigation department was a place where people were being posted for relaxation and enjoyment but after the start of the series of bomb blasts around one year ago the situation should have changed completely and young energetic professionals should have been provided an opportunity to test their mettle in the field of investigation too as it was the demand of the situation.

The MMA government, however, thwarted all such attempts, as one of its ally parties was more than interested in installing its own 'professional members' in the investigation department.

This only contributed towards confusing the whole process as a result the situation has been experiencing a standstill as a far as the investigation in important cases is concerned.

The new interim government must pay attention to this situation by correcting it and paying more attention to the investigation department in the shape of provision of more funds for the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment, training of manpower and ensuring the availability of required number of personnel in different ranks.

Thriving business of boot-legging in a dry city

Crime Diary

By Riaz Ahmad

The death of four people after consuming toxic liquor in the Gulab Khana area of the Kabuli Police Station last week is yet another indication that the drug retailers are widely at large to provide the people with heroin, charas and desi tarra in the provincial metropolis.

Police, as usual, was reluctant to register an FIR in the case, as one of the deceased Nissar Abbas was a retired sub-inspector of police. The relatives of the two of the deceased even beat up a photographer of a local daily and snatched his camera because they had been advised by the local police to keep journalists at a distance at all costs and they silently obeyed the orders.

Or perhaps police were reluctant to register an FIR because it wanted to avoid action against the suppliers of the toxic liquor as such a trade is definitely not possible without the help of some elements in police.

After playing havoc with the innocent lives in some other cities, now the menace of toxic liquor has reached the provincial metropolis too where a bottle of local tarra or wine is available for just Rs 120 and people from the lower segments of the society are its largest buyers who want a few hours of escape under the influence of liquor from the tension and uncertainties of this world.

In an incident of similar nature in Kohati locality of the city, five Christians fell unconscious after consuming toxic liquor five month ago but they were provided with timely treatment which saved their lives. There are reports that some people even lost their eyesight after heavy drinks of the toxic liquor.

Desi tarra is produced on a very large scale by comparatively inexperienced adventurers who do not know the proper recipe and methods that are why they are producing poisonous liquor and providing it to the customers unabated.

These people are the sellers of death who are killing innocent people for the sake of a few hundred rupees but the law enforcement agencies have failed to deal with the situation.

There are also reports that the product is being marketed in medicine bottles and a number of pharmacists are also involved in the illegal business since long without inviting any attention.

It is the responsibility of local government to launch a campaign against the drug sellers by involving local residents in all the union councils.

Murder of Maulana Hassan Jan: Police still clueless

Crime Diary

By Riaz Ahmad

The brutal murder of Maulana Hassan Jan remain a mystery as police has failed to trace the house where he had gone in connection with the so-called nikkah ceremony in Wazir Bagh.

Police, however, believe that the people who took Maulana to 'nikkah ceremony' were close friends and the nikkah was no more than a trap.

The target killing of Maulana Hassan Jan after the murder of Syed Qamar Abass, Syed Mehdi Hussain and three Chinese nationals in the near past in the city speaks volume of the serious flaws in our security apparatus.

Maulana Hassan Jan was not an ordinary man as he was a political and religious figure but even then he always moved without guards all alone as he enjoyed the life of an ordinary man. As a result, he easily fell prey to the unknown predators. People heard only four shots rather than full bursts and when reached the spot found him lying dead in Wazirbagh.

He had written in a diary, as per routine, the addresses and names of the people he was supposed to visit and meet in connection with the nikkah ceremony and police has taken the diary into its own possession for the sake of investigation.

Maulana Hassan Jan was the teacher of opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman besides many prominent members of Afghanistan's Taliban movement were also said to be among his faithful pupils.

Born on 5 January 1938, Monday, in the house of Ali Akbar Jan, he received initial education from Darul Uloom Nomania, Otmanzai and then moved to Darul Uloom Islamia Charsadda. He did his dora-e-hadith from Jamia Ashrafia, Lahore. In the year 1957 he got his mulvi alam and mulvi fazal degrees and in the year 1971 got MA Islamyat degree from Peshawar University. He also won gold medal from the university and was awarded presidential award for his outstanding performance.

Maulana Hassan Jan was among the firstever 18 lucky students who were enrolled in Madina University, Saudi Arabia and got kulyat-e-sharia degree from there.

He stayed in Madina for four years.

After his return from Saudi Arabia, he was appointed in charge in Darul Uloom Nomania, Otmanzai but he moved to Tall where he taught hadit for three years. Next he joined Darul Uloom Arabia, Kohat and then Haqania, Akora Khattak where he spent two years. During his stay in Haqania, Maulana Fazlur Rehman was also his student.

He spent next five years in Akbar Darul Uloom, Mardan before moving to Jamia Darul Uloom, Peshawar (established in Darwash Mosque) and remained its in charge for 40 years till his death. He was a student of hadith and taught Sahih Bukhari all his life.

He was also an author and politician as he wrote five books and also won National Assembly seat from NA-16 Charsadda in 1990, inflicting a stunning defeat on ANP's president and the successor of Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan, a political stalwart, Khan Abdul Wali Khan. He remained MNA till the year 1993.

He was also a member of Islami Nazriati Council, Roeet-e-Hilal Committee and was the vice president of Wafaqul Maddaras.

Among his well-known students are Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Mufti Badar Munir Swati, Maulana Abdul Qayum Haqani and the chairman Sharit Council Mufti Ghulam Rehman.

His greatest achievement of all, however, was his firm stand against the suicide attacks. He had decreed that the suicide attacks by a Muslim against his co-religionists in the name of Islam were entirely un-Islamic and against the true sprit of Quran.

He stick to his guns till the last breath of his life on the issue of suicide attacks at a time when most of the religious leaders were favoring suicide attacks under the heavy influence of popular opinion.

Unlike most of the clerics in this country, Maulana also avoided issuing Kufar decrees against personalities all his life.

His decree against suicide attacks had made him unacceptable for the jehadi groups and their supporters alike and it could also be a contributing factor behind his brutal murder.

Khazana gangsters: Police have a change of heart

Crime Diary

By Riaz Ahmad

The killing of three proclaimed offenders in Khazana village has put an end to a long saga of barbarity as these criminals had made lives miserable of residents of the locality.

Some local landlords in the area are notorious for harbouring criminals and using them against their opponents. These bandits are widely engaged in robberies and killings in the adjacent villages.

This has turned the jurisdiction area of the former Daudzai police station into interior Sindh where grooming bandits by the local feudal lords is a common practice and a matter of great pride.

Whenever the villagers took arms to boot out these bandits along with their godfathers, these landlords were protected actively by the local police in the past.

This time, however, tables have been turned on these people at last as police raided the hujra of one of such landloards, who for so long a period enjoyed the friendship of local police. There were intelligence reports that a group of bandits was present at the hujra.

Why did police choose to act as a law enforcement agency this time would perhaps remain a mystery for ever as far as the common folk is concerned and we would not be able to know the reason behind this change. Better late than never.

Police killed three of the five bandits when the bandits not only put stiff resistance but also killed a head constable who had taken position on a rooftop.

Needless to mention that this has increased respect for the law enforcement agencies as a whole among the people.

This has been a real success for the poor residents of Khazana who suffered enormous losses at the hands of these bandits in the past few years.

They blocked roads, took arms by taking law into their own hands to protect their rights and sacrificed precious lives at a time when the police was also a party in the war between criminals and villagers.

The efforts and change in the attitude of police towards these landlords who harbour criminals and bandits is a welcome development and this change ought to be the cornerstone of police policy in the days to come.

Street crimes haunt City dwellers

Crime Diary

By Riaz Ahmad

PESHAWAR: Street crimes in the posh localities of the City has become a real problem for dwellers as there is no end to snatching of mobile sets and robbery attempts in broad daylight.

Now residents of these areas are reluctant even to send their children outside homes and many have taken away the mobile sets from their kids so as to ward off any untoward incident.

Gulbahar and Hayatabad, to mention few, are the prime examples where street crimes have become order of the day and the local police stations in these localities are reluctant even to register an FIR.

This has forced the people not to report such attempts any more and as a result there is no proper record of street crimes even with the law enforcement agencies.

The individuals and gangs involved in these crimes are mostly using motorbikes and auto-rickshaws and they are equipped with small arms like pistols and daggers so resisting any robbery attempt could cost the residents their precious lives. In the past government had provided the police stations with motorbikes too as a counter measure but even then the number of mobile squads available to the police are too small to tackle the problem head on.

The extra burden to provide personnel for other duties like anti-terrorism activities has left most of the police stations with little manpower to control their respective area of responsibility.

But despite all these mentioned problems it is the responsibility of police to protect the property and life of the people and it is a ground reality that police have failed and to protect the people against robberies, car-lifting and other street crimes.

Law & order gone to the dogs

Crime Diary

By Riaz Ahmad

PESHAWAR: The killing of four policemen in Jani Garhi area of the Mattani police station, followed by the brutal murder of the three Chinese engineers and the failed attempt to blow up the Askari Commercial Bank's Saddar branch are but a few examples of the worsening law and order situation in the Frontier province after the Lal Masjid operation in Islamabad started against the clerics who wanted to establish their own state within State in the capital.

This is a perfect example of a small group of armed extremists who want to impose their own will on a vast majority in this country.

Until recently, their only mission was to fight American and other foreign forces in the war-torn Afghanistan but whenever the federal government tried to stop their cross border movement, they hit back by means of suicide attacks and bombing the public places, killing those committed and ardent officers who could bust their underground organizations and put a stop to their activities.

Some people still believe that DIG Bannu Abid Ali and CPO Peshawar Malik Saad were killed by local Taliban as these two were perhaps the only people in the entire province whose bravery and ability to solve the complex problems was unquestionable and they were a direct threat to Taliban.

After the death of DIG Abid Ali a Taliban group in Darra Adam Khel was organised. The structure of the organisation bears resemblance with a sophisticated criminal gang rather than the pure Taliban as the members of the organisation wear masks and the leadership is unknown even to the members.

The Jani Garhi killing is believed to be the handiwork of this group. Jani Garhi is a village in the jurisdiction of Mattani police station bordering Darra Adam Khel. The topography of the village with large dunes makes it a perfect place for robbers, car snatchers and kidnappers.

There are several slops and turns long the main road where one has to slow down the speed of the vehicle and the criminals take full advantage of this. They appear in front of the slow moving vehicle and deprive the passengers of their valuables and even vehicles on gunpoint.

It is almost impossible to arrest the criminals as some parts of the village are wooded that provide perfect places for escape and hiding and the militants had selected the area very carefully. The police patrol, unaware of this, was caught in the trap so cleverly prepared for them.

As far as the killing of Chinese is concerned, it is also clear that eyewitness had spotted the Taliban like people in three cars.

Unfortunately, the Chinese men were also involved in the illegal business of turtle meat exports despite the fact that the hunting of fresh water turtle is banned under the wildlife act in the country.

Because of this business they had rented a house in Landay Sarak area to ward off attracting the attention of the concerned departments and the suburban locality once again entirely favoured the attackers.

Luckily, the car bomb, made of anti-tank mines in the parking lot of the Askari Commercial Bank was found and defused on time because the mines needed pressure to explode and the terrorists had failed to produce such pressure as a result the vehicle caught fire and the bombs were uncovered.

Masses bearing brunt of foreign policy

Crime Diary

By Riaz Ahmad

PESHAWAR: Another bomb blast at Peshawar Bus Terminal on Saturday night has put the total number of such blasts in the terminal at three in the year 2007 alone.

Luckily there was no loss of life in all these blasts providing the police with a golden opportunity to describe it as tyre burst or compressor blast instead of an act of sabotage.

The bad law and order situation and the series of bomb blasts has made this year comparable to the 1980s when our shortsighted rulers decided to intervene into the internal matters of a neighbouring country in the name of Islamic brotherhood, thus kick starting a chain reaction which crossed all the barriers, destabilising the entire region.

Time is a good master if one is intended to learn one's lessons.

Fighting the war for others has once again forced the rulers of this country to focus on fulfilling US agenda instead of working for the stability, economic and industrial prosperity of Pakistan especially when they are incapable to retaliate in the event of such terrorist activities.

In the 1980s the military rulers of the country carried out such a massive propaganda campaign in the Urdu press of Lahore and in some selected English newspapers in favor of their Afghan policy and Jihad that now the general opinion is hundred and one percent against the government.

The Urdu press followed the pro-jihad policy even in the 1990s on self help basis as a result no one is willing to accept the moderate policy and as a result Pakistani youth is being used by the terrorists as suicide bombers against their own countrymen - again in the name of Islam.

Government is unable to change the public opinion that could effectively cease the root cause of terrorism for good on the one hand and on the other its security agencies are also ill equipped to fight this war of nerves.

It is also unfortunate that in the recent federal budget a nominal increase in the internal security budget was announced which is not sufficient enough to fulfill all the requirements of the security agencies.

A multi-faceted policy is required to fight the terrorists in addition to that fact that we should fight our own war instead of fighting for others sack.

People on tenterhooks after Mehdi Hussain’s murder

Crime Diary

By Riaz Ahmad

The brutal murder of information director, Syed Mehdi Hussain is yet another high profile killing which has been going on parallel to the deadly bomb blasts for quite some time in this part of the country.

It is to be noted that both Syed Qamar Abbas and Syed Mehdi Hussain were Shia Muslims and their murder invites the suspicion that some sectarian groups could have their hands behind both the incidents.

The law enforcement agencies, on the contrary, have their own version as from the day first they termed the killing of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) leader, Qamar Abbas, an outcome of personal enmity, passing the buck to someone else instead of acknowledging their own failure to protect the precious human lives.

The most tragic part of the whole episode is the fact that the murder was committed in broad day light in the middle of a crowded market and the shopkeepers and passersby, instead of trying to catch the culprits, panicked and runaway for cover despite the fact that the culprits were armed with pistols who were not able to target everyone in the busy market place.

This provided the attackers with an opportunity to secure a safe escape in the narrow lanes of the city.

Throughout his life and career in the information department, Medhi Hussain had been considered a moderate who was miles away from religious extremism neither he had any personal enmity with any one.

The series of the target killing after the suicide attacks and bomb blast is certainly not a good omen for the residents of this city where armed robberies and street crimes are also on the rise, making life difficult for people.

Police has been employing many tactics with complete success to hide the robberies as the Police Post in the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) has been directed to show all the injured men in the robberies attempt as the victims of stray bullets and those killed by the robbers are being showed 'killed as result of the family feuds'.

At a time when a single cartridge of Kalashnikov rifle is pricing at Rs 27 people have stopped firing in the air even on the occasion of marriages now-a-days but in police records stray bullets are still hunting people across the Frontier province on a very large scale which is more than surprising.