Centre asks provinces to check use of military-like uniforms by private militias

ISLAMABAD: The interior ministry has written to all provincial chief secretaries to take action against the militias, established by certain political and religious parties, and the use of uniforms with ranks [on their shoulders] like the country’s armed forces and the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs).

In this regard, a letter, a copy of which is available with The News, has been written to chief secretaries of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) and chief commissioner Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

The letter said it had been observed even by the security agencies that members of such militias wearing uniforms “depict themselves as military organisations, which is a gross violation of Article 256 of the Constitution and point 3 of the National Action Plan”.

The ministry said that if such developments went unchecked, they might aggravate the complex security situation in the country. “The issue also has a negative impact with regard to the national and international image of the country,” added the letter.

The interior ministry said such organisations were setting a wrong precedent for other political and religious parties, who might also resort to similar practices, further compounding the law and order situation.

The ministry directed all provincial governments to “take immediate cognizance of the threat and adopt effective necessary measures to check the functioning and further development of such militias”. The interior secretary offered all help from the federal government to tackle the issue on urgent basis.