MINISTER for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has announced that the Government was going to take a strong action against armed wings of the political parties. The Minister made the announcement during a news conference in Peshawar on Friday, touching on a host of subjects and issues relevant and irrelevant to his Ministry, but did not explain further on the proposed plan of the Government against armed wings of the political parties.
No one would object to any action against armed wings of the political parties as long as it is done in a transparent and across-the-board manner and without creating an impression of use of another tool against the opposition. Already, the opposition is complaining about the alleged misuse of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against political opponents and the JUI(F) has also been critical of intentions of the Government to place curbs on Ansarul Islam, which they claim is highly disciplined and not involved in militant activities. Theoretically speaking, there should be no room for creation of student or militant wings of political parties as this runs contrary to the true principles of democracy. Educational institutions are places of learning and they should not be politicized at the cost of studies on which hinges future of the country and similarly establishment of militant or armed wings of the political parties is a direct challenge to the writ of the state. However, the fact remains that almost all parties have their own student or armed wings and attempts by successive governments to get rid of the menace have not succeeded due to lack of sincerity. It is to be seen whether or not Sheikh Rashid succeeds as a fair approach would mean action against militant wings of existing or former allies of the ruling party. We hope that this announcement would not meet the same fate as that of curbing smuggling of oil for which the Minister was given a deadline of a week but no progress is visible as yet except another briefing on the issue, where one Minister expressed helplessness by saying oil smuggling cannot be checked hundred per cent.
