Customs authorities again seek security for offices in Malakand

Say provincial government ignoring request

PESHAWAR: The Customs authorities have once again sought security for the infrastructure and staff in Malakand district after mobs attacked its offices twice in a week in protest against the implementation of the Customs Act 1969 in the region.

Sources in the Customs department told The News that they wrote to the commissioner Malakand division and secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Department for the second time after enraged protesters ransacked the Customs Facilitation Centre (CFC) in Batkhela. This was the second time during last week that the centre was attacked.

The activists of various political parties and traders have been protesting the government’s decision to implement the Customs Act 1969. The notification issued to this effect on March 28 caused resentment among the residents of the Malakand division, particularly those dealing in non-custom-paid vehicles in the region.

The charged protesters in one such protest on April 11 ransacked the CFC Batkhela and torched the furniture there. The protesters had earlier attacked the same CFC on April 4.

The sources added that the provincial authorities were informed about the incident and security was sought, but their request was ignored.

Referring to the correspondence in this respect, the sources said the Collector Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) via letter C. No: Tech.09/2016/13224 had written to the commissioner Malakand division and secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Department on April 5 after the CFC in Batkhela was attacked by a mob led by activists of a few political parties.

They said secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Department and commissioner Malakand were informed in unambiguous words that the mob led by Shah Raz Khan, former member Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly (MPA) of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Shakeel Khan, MPA of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Shakirullah, president of local shopkeepers union, attacked the CFC and broke the signboard outside the offices.

They were further informed that there were threats to the lives of the Customs staff and property of the federal government and security should be provided to the CFC to avoid any untoward incident, the sources said.

However, the provincial authorities ignored the request and no action was taken against those identified in the letter until the fresh wave of protests broke out in the Malakand division on Monday, the sources added.

The protestors, enraged by speeches of the leaders named in the first letter of the Model Customs Collectorate, ransacked the same offices and set the fixtures ablaze. However, they said that after the first attack, the computers, important files and other record was removed to a safer place.

About the withdrawal of the March 28 notification regarding the implementation of the Customs Act, the official sources said, there was a proper way to handle this and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had already sent a summary to the President of Pakistan through the Governor in this regard.