Sakhakot attracting criminal gangs? By Jan Assakzai
(Frontier Post)
Sakhakot, a small town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, located on the main road that leads to most of the northern areas of Pakistan, and the starting point of Malakand district, is gaining notoriety in crimes like car snatching and kidnapping. There are several complaints made to various media outlets by concerned citizens that Sakhakot is becoming a new hub for illegal activities.
For the benefits of readers I am reproducing the letter sent by a victim of the alleged gang in Sakhakot: “It is an open secret in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that, God forbid, if you have your loved one kidnapped or your vehicle stolen, do not do anything, just wait for the ransom demand call from Sakhakot. Yes, Sakhakot is not a very big village in Malakand District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but big enough to host a secretariat of intra and inter-provincial kidnapping rackets. Those kidnapped from Peshawar, Swat, Dir and even other provinces end up in Sakhakot”.
The complainant adds: “What are the authorities doing? Nothing. And that is precisely the reason that despite the large number of daily kidnappings, very few of these are reported and hence nothing appears in the media...It has been quite a few years now since we heard from our government about a soon-to-be launched crackdown on the criminal gangs, but then the government went silent and the criminals stepped up their activities”.
There are allegations that these rackets are being run by some influential personalities and that they are also well connected with a powerful network. A local politician is alleged to be backing these criminals. The provincial government which came to power on the back of people’s vote, can ill afford to allow any such rings to operate right under its nose.
The government needs to come hard on these criminal groups and explain to the people of the area that it is not only taking action but also seen to be taking action. The two political coalitions partners ANP and PPP were perhaps the two parties that issued election manifestos.
They are committed to the manifestos, and will face the electorate again in 2013 general elections. Unfortunately, the perception makes huge difference between fiction and reality. People at grass root level are already fed up with problems like, electricity, unemployment, uncontrolled price hike and poor law and order.
One can give benefit of doubt to the provincial government on meeting out challenges like provision of basic facilities as they might involve huge economic resources, strong state institutions, law enforcement capability and coherent policy of the all the state functionaries.
However, the last thing the government needs to see the residents of a particular area associating some political actors with organised crimes. It is high time the government take action on these complaints and not let deteriorate its image in the public relation battle.
Let the law take its course and bring these gangs to book.janassakzai200@gmail.com
Sakhakot, a small town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, located on the main road that leads to most of the northern areas of Pakistan, and the starting point of Malakand district, is gaining notoriety in crimes like car snatching and kidnapping. There are several complaints made to various media outlets by concerned citizens that Sakhakot is becoming a new hub for illegal activities.
For the benefits of readers I am reproducing the letter sent by a victim of the alleged gang in Sakhakot: “It is an open secret in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that, God forbid, if you have your loved one kidnapped or your vehicle stolen, do not do anything, just wait for the ransom demand call from Sakhakot. Yes, Sakhakot is not a very big village in Malakand District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but big enough to host a secretariat of intra and inter-provincial kidnapping rackets. Those kidnapped from Peshawar, Swat, Dir and even other provinces end up in Sakhakot”.
The complainant adds: “What are the authorities doing? Nothing. And that is precisely the reason that despite the large number of daily kidnappings, very few of these are reported and hence nothing appears in the media...It has been quite a few years now since we heard from our government about a soon-to-be launched crackdown on the criminal gangs, but then the government went silent and the criminals stepped up their activities”.
There are allegations that these rackets are being run by some influential personalities and that they are also well connected with a powerful network. A local politician is alleged to be backing these criminals. The provincial government which came to power on the back of people’s vote, can ill afford to allow any such rings to operate right under its nose.
The government needs to come hard on these criminal groups and explain to the people of the area that it is not only taking action but also seen to be taking action. The two political coalitions partners ANP and PPP were perhaps the two parties that issued election manifestos.
They are committed to the manifestos, and will face the electorate again in 2013 general elections. Unfortunately, the perception makes huge difference between fiction and reality. People at grass root level are already fed up with problems like, electricity, unemployment, uncontrolled price hike and poor law and order.
One can give benefit of doubt to the provincial government on meeting out challenges like provision of basic facilities as they might involve huge economic resources, strong state institutions, law enforcement capability and coherent policy of the all the state functionaries.
However, the last thing the government needs to see the residents of a particular area associating some political actors with organised crimes. It is high time the government take action on these complaints and not let deteriorate its image in the public relation battle.
Let the law take its course and bring these gangs to book.janassakzai200@gmail.com
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