By Agha Iqrar Haroon
The Tirah Valley Incident, where an unruly mob attacked Brigade Headquarters in Bagh-Maidan Markaz on Sunday, resulting deaths of seven people and injuries to several, has again testified that the Civil Administration is neither ready to perform its duties nor does it have the capacity to manage the situation.
Videos available on social media, statements released by the federal and provincial governments, and post-Jirga statements of JUI should be taken as an example of how things could be averted. Now this incident provides enough material for those who can use it against the institutions and the state of Pakistan.
Security forces working under tremendous pressure and encountering suicide bombing could err in judging whether the approaching person to a restricted area is innocent or loaded with a suicide jacket. Security forces are working in the region where they do not face only the terrorists but also face the crisis of trust deficit of the public that has already been poisoned against security forces by the provincial government, smugglers cum politicians, and foreign propagandists sitting in a neighboring country who are active proxies of Indian intelligence networking.
Living in circumstances where everybody behaves as an enemy can be a reason for security forces to respond sometimes beyond the norm. Sometimes you cannot judge 100 percent when an object is walking towards you and who can be a suicide bomber, and you do not have only minutes to respond to the situation. Such a response can be understood through the phrase “off-the-cuff reaction,” and such a reaction can be a misjudgment.
In the Tirah Valley incident, there are several questions, and for me, the foremost question is how could local civil administration could have kept sleeping when a mob was gathering and moving towards the security force compound. Another question is why civil administration was not present to dialogue and warn the mob to disperse, and why civil administration had been indifferent during the entire scene?
Those who are now talking about the need for invoking the protocol for security forces for responding to such a situation should put themselves in the shoes of a security personnel who is manning a post, he has to respond instantly if he considers any object approaching a restricted area. Will he have time to ask his seniors what to do and what not to do when the object is just yards away? Had it not been sheer vandalism to try entering a restricted area and attacking the security forces’ compound? Can some security personnel allow an unruly mob to gate-crash the Brigade Headquarters and let the mob enter the out-of-bounds areas?
Yes, there should be an inquiry about the death of an innocent girl who, according to tribesmen, was killed in a mortar strike in the Darbar locality of Peer Mela in Zakhakhel. Yes, there should be an inquiry if anyone innocent person is killed. Such incidents cannot be gotten away with as collateral damage, although collateral damage is always a possibility in any ongoing military operations.
The incident of Tirah Valley is a total failure of the mob management of civil administration, who showed the strategy of putting itself out of the situation, and let the mob gather and let the mob attack Brigade Headquarters.
Where was the civil administration during the large gathering that was protesting, and what crowd control techniques did it use to manage the mob before it torched some vehicles outside the restricted area?
What communication strategies were used to prevent escalation, protect individuals, and minimize harm to people and property?
Crowd management is a foremost duty of the civil administration, who should know basics of Crowd dynamics, understand how individuals behave within a crowd, including the influence of others and the potential for rapid shifts in mood and behavior.
Mobs usually do not attack any building until it shows an agitated mode (and mood), and it is the duty of officers of civil administration to respond accordingly, separating individuals who are actively inciting violence or disrupting order and encircling them and segregate them from mob and arresting them if needed. Every sane person knows that Police and other law enforcement agencies play a central role in crowd management, using techniques like containment, dispersal, and negotiation. Alas, none of these techniques was followed in the Tirah Valley incident. There was no early intervention by the civil administration to address potential issues before they escalated into this tragedy.
No technique of communication, negotiation, or non-violent tactics to calm tensions and prevent violence was used during the whole incident. No perimeters were followed for controlling access points towards Brigade Headquarters. No public announcements, clear instructions, and transparent communication with the crowd were established.
Some important takeaways from this incident include that the time has gone when the administration had the pleasure to portray any incident according to its wishes, because this is the smartphone era, and videos circulating on social media show the scenes. An important takeaway for the security forces is that civil administration would not respond to serious incidents, shows indifferent behavior, and lets the pubic attack security forces; therefore, security forces should follow the phrase “Jaagde Rehna– Sade Te Na Rehna” (be awake and do not depend on us).
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this article/Opinion/Comment are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk (DND). Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk.
