- The whole change agenda is in danger at the Interior Ministry
A government has been very attractive for our educated youth for a long time. Every person graduating from a college or university wants to get a government job, preferably in a lucrative department. There are many filters while recruiting a person to any public office, but unfortunately after induction, there is no system while promoting or transferring a public servant. In recent years many public servants were found involved in such illegal activities as corruption, corrupt practices, misuse of authority and even terrorism. The main reason being there is no mechanism to keep a check on their inside and outside office activities.
There is a complete lack of coordination even among the government offices. Due to this communication gap, the officer of one department can easily take undue advantage of his position by deceiving and misleading the officers of other departments. Taking the example of the Ministry of Interior will show that many government officials are able to get passports without disclosing their official position. Many public servants of attached organs of the Interior Ministry acquire long leave in the name of studying inside Pakistan but after availing it, they immediately go abroad for some business or pleasure trip. Due to this lack of coordination within different strata of the Interior Ministry, many public servants are able to acquire dual nationality easily. Similarly inquiries and investigations may be pending against a government officer under this Ministry in a law enforcement agency but his own department remains completely ignorant of it. Officers mat be convicted by courts of law yet they keep enjoying their official perks and privileges. Such officers get lucrative postings and even get promotions by evading the due process.
The Interior Minister should review how many officers and officials spend their entire service at one station although the structure of FIA is entirely federal. The officers of one province should be posted to other provinces as well. Moreover a centralized database should be maintained at the Ministry level to check the track record of posting, transfer and promotion of all FIA officers. Only this way FIA can be purged of any nepotism and favouritism
A strange phenomenon is that of the Federal Investigation Agency under the Ministry of Interior. Here one FIA circle may be conducting an enquiry against its own officer yet the same officer might be heading another important circle of FIA. The most alarming part is the issue of FIA promotions. The persons with tainted record are not only considered for promotion but even assigned lucrative postings as well. Interestingly the policy makers at the FIA headquarters are so strong that they don’t even bother to inform the Interior Ministry about the departmental proceedings pending against some of FIA’s notorious officers. The promotion board for inspector to Assistant Director is going to be held this week in the Ministry of Interior. There are some inspectors against whom departmental inquiries are pending at the orders and instructions of courts and even the Senate’s Standing Committee on interior. However, some FIA high ups are so bold that they have deliberately concealed this fact from the promotion board. One can imagine that such corrupt officers will become bolder after getting promotion. It is an established government policy to suspend an officer under enquiry so that he cannot misuse his official position to influence the ongoing proceedings. On one hand such corrupt officers are being facilitated, while on the other hand some FIA officers are being grilled simply for not obeying the illegal commands of their high ups. Prominent officers like Bilal Aslam, Rizwan Aslam, Afzal Niazi, Mian Sabir and many others have been sidelined for last couple of years for no good reason.
But here the name of one Assistant Director FIA, Shahid Ilyas Khan, is worthy to mention, who is not only a well-educated and competent person but also an honest and upright officer. He is a shining star of FIA who remained the first ever in-charge of Pakistan’s foremost cybercrime police station. The gentleman has many achievements to his credit, such as arresting the notorious human trafficker Moula Bakhsh Irani who was involved in sending thousands of illegal immigrants through the Pak-Iran border. But his biggest achievement so far may have been playing an active role in the Joint Investigation Team of the famous Mashal Khan Public Lynching case which occurred in 2017 at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan. He made day and night efforts for ensuring justice to the devastated family of Mashal Khan against all odds. Unfortunately it was some unscrupulous elements in FIA who played a dirty role by maligning his career through fabricated and concocted allegations. Shahid Ilyas Khan is not only a man of action but a man of letters as well. But instead of taking advantage of his literary and investigative skills, his great talent is being pushed into oblivion. There seems dual standards for different officers within FIA.
Luckily both the incumbent Interior Minister Brigadier (R) Ijaz Shah and Secretary Interior are very honest and dedicated persons. It is hoped that they will take notice of the illegalities going on in FIA. They must devise some scrutiny mechanism at the ministry level to counter the nepotism and favoritism pursued by FIA while recommending officers for posting and promotion. Because FIA needs a massive operation clean up within its ranks. The main slogan of transparency and corruption-free Pakistan seems in doldrums at FIA. The Interior Minister should review how many officers and officials spend their entire service at one station although the structure of FIA is entirely federal. The officers of one province should be posted to other provinces as well. Moreover a centralized database should be maintained at the Ministry level to check the track record of posting, transfer and promotion of all FIA officers. Only this way FIA can be purged of any nepotism and favouritism.
