Monitoring Desk: The Law and Order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is worsening every passing day as the provincial government has failed to establish its writ even in settled areas, but the provincial government is demanding the withdrawal of Pakistan from the province, which is the only operational institution fighting against terrorism.
If PTI insists on military withdrawal without strengthening civilian law enforcement, it risks plunging KP into chaos.
The highly risky, reckless, and irresponsible demand of the KP government to ask the Pakistan Army to leave the province at the mercy of terrorists is nothing but another dangerous move similar to PTI inviting terrorists back from Afghanistan and resettling them with their NATO military grade weapons they brought with them from Afghanistan.
Law and order is a provincial responsibility, and the Army has no desire to do any task which is police responsibility, but KPK police and other law and order forces are highly politicised, corrupt, and under-equipped. All statistics prove it again and again. It looks like PTI is in bed with criminals, smugglers, and terrorists, and wants the security situation to completely break down. This serves certain objectives: –
- Narrative remains focused on security rather than governance and corruption.
- Blackmail the Federal Government and establishment that, due to the precarious situation, no political change should be attempted, and coerce them to get more and more funds for their plunder.
Once the Army goes out of the province, there are reasons to believe that the province would become a launching pad for terrorism, where BLA and TTP are already collaborating. If the Army goes out of the province and leaves it at the mercy of the terrorists, then it will be a bloodbath of people of KPK who are already paying a high price for the selfish politics of PTI.
The incompetent PTI government is issuing statements and resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Article 245, so the army is taken out of KPK at a time when India and its terror proxies are fully active in the province. This is nothing short of criminal insensitivity and a dangerous, intentional attempt to help the enemies of Pakistan by reversing the gains against terrorism in KPK that the Pak Army has made with the sacrifices of thousands of its brave soldiers and officers while conducting approximately 190 anti-terrorist operations daily.
DGISPR time and again had raised the issue of the pathetic state of affairs of KPK (a terrorism stricken province where PTI has been ruling for 14 years), miserably equipped to maintain normal law and order, let alone fight hardcore terrorists. The provincial government did not establish the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) properly, and only 537 individuals are operating in the entire province. This is an alarming situation and is clear enmity with the people of KPK, wherein they are being continuously used as cannon fodder to achieve PTI’s myopic and most trivial political antics at a heavy cost, which the entire nation will have to pay if the ongoing madness of PTI doesn’t stop. Critics claim this move is reckless given KP’s deteriorating law and order situation and ongoing terrorist threats.
Security Vacuum:
If the Army withdraws, KP could become a Launchpad for terrorism as terrorist groups like the TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) and BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army) are already active and collaborating.
Key Implications if Army Withdraws:
- Security Breakdown in KP and beyond.
- The empowerment of extremist groups threatens national cohesion.
- Civilian casualties and a humanitarian crisis due to increased terrorist activity.
- A political crisis where the civilian government’s inability to manage the province may spiral into broader instability.
Critical Observations:
- While the Constitution of Pakistan envisions civilian control and limits military deployment, Article 245 exists specifically to respond to emergencies, which KP still qualifies for.
- The call to revoke it may be constitutionally permissible, but politically and strategically unwise given the security context.
- If the allegations of resettling militants and weakening CTD intentionally are true, this could amount to gross negligence or even criminal complicity in enabling terrorism.
For a constructive path forward:
- Independent investigations into these serious allegations are needed.
- A joint security strategy between the Army, federal, and provincial governments must be formed—one that strengthens KP’s institutions and gradually reduces reliance on the army, not through abrupt withdrawal, but through capacity building.
