KP civil servants on strike over alleged political interference

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa plunged into an unprecedented bureaucratic crisis on Monday as the entire provincial civil service went on strike against what they described as “unlawful and excessive political interference” in official matters.

The protest was triggered by the alleged armed intrusion of Chief Minister’s Special Assistant for Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement, Nek Muhammad Wazir, into the Elementary and Secondary Education Department last week. He reportedly used abusive language and issued life threats to Secretary Education Mohammad Khalid Khan in a bid to force him to cancel the transfer order of a female teacher.

All associations at the Civil Secretariat - including officers, drivers, stenographers, ministerial staff and support staff - announced a complete boycott of offices. The protesting employees demanded that members of the provincial and national assemblies should no longer bypass political channels and established norms to pressurize officers. They insisted that public representatives must take up their concerns directly with the chief minister and ministers of the relevant departments, rather than dealing with administrative officers.

The employees’ associations warned that if any adverse action was taken against the secretary - who allowed officers to work from home following the incident - assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners would stop fieldwork, and Secretariat staff from class-IV employees to secretaries would cease work entirely.

The issue began on September 12, when Nek Muhammad, accompanied by armed bodyguards, allegedly stormed into the office of the Secretary Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE), Mohammad Khalid, while he was absent.

According to an official order issued by the secretary, the special assistant forcibly occupied his office for nearly half an hour, intimidated staff, made a threatening phone call, and demanded the cancellation of a woman officer’s transfer order. The report described his conduct as “shamefully abusive, life-threatening, intimidating and completely nonsensical,” in violation of Sections 186 and 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Sources told The News that Nek Muhammad was pressuring the secretary to replace the District Education Officer (Female) of North Waziristan with a junior officer of his choice, a demand the secretary refused.

Though entrusted with relief and rehabilitation, the special assistant remained conspicuously absent during the recent floods and natural calamities in KP. Instead of leading disaster response operations, he has been accused of focusing on manipulating transfers and postings of female teachers, the sources added.

Following the incident, the E&SE Department declared its premises “out of bounds” for armed visitors and allowed officers to work from home. What began as a departmental protest soon swelled into a province-wide strike, with associations across the bureaucracy - long frustrated by mounting political interference - joining in solidarity with Secretary Mohammad Khalid.

“We are not against elected representatives. We serve the masses and will continue to do so. But we can’t make any compromise on our honour and integrity. We respect everyone but want respect in return,” said a senior officer while addressing protestors.

The official communication from the E&SE secretary has been forwarded to the governor, chief minister and chief secretary, requesting strict disciplinary action against Nek Muhammad and the registration of a First Information Report.Civil servants are also demanding legal safeguards and security arrangements to ensure that government offices are protected from political strong-arming.