By By Javed Aziz Khan
Education proved to be the worst victim of terrorism in the Malakand Division, where the militants destroyed over 200 schools, mostly for girls, in Swat district alone during the last couple of years, forcing the schoolchildren to abandon their studies. “We have established the SSSW to ensure protection to schools, colleges and university all over Malakand. The wing is headed by an inspector, who is assisted by two sub-inspectors, four assistant sub-inspectors and other cops who would monitor the security of educational institutions in Swat,” Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Malakand, Mohammad Idrees Khan, told The News, expressing his optimism about the establishment of permanent peace in the area.
“Life is returning to normal. The cinemas have reopened in Swat and people can watch movies there. Also, barbers have reopened their shops while women now live without any fear in the militancy-hit areas of Swat and other districts of the Malakand Division,” said the senior police official.
The federal and provincial governments are strengthening and equipping the police force in the division so that the militants are unable to stage a comeback. Besides providing facilities and funds, more vacancies for officers and cops have been created for Malakand. Apart from recruiting regular police, the government has sanctioned 3,725 posts of Special Police Officers (SPOs) at a fixed pay of Rs 10,000 per month. Over 1,800 of the SPOs have started performing duty while 1,200 others would join duty in a few days. The rest would be recruited soon.
Six more police stations have been established in Swat district, which raised their number to 15. Also, the number of subdivisions has been raised from three to seven to help improve the law and order situation.