Posting of IGP is in violation of Karachi Agreement: AJK PM
IN what could turn out to be another conflict between the Azad Jammu and Kashmir
(AJK) and federal governments, the former has declined to endorse the posting
by the latter of Mr Bashir Ahmed Memon, a BS-21 officer of the Police Service
of Pakistan, as AJK’s Inspector General of Police (IGP).
On
March 4, the Establishment Division had issued a notification whereby Mr Memon
was transferred and posted as AJK IGP in place of Malik Khuda Bakhash Awan.
The
posting of new IGP was made exactly two months after Mr Jalal Sikandar Sultan
assumed the office of AJK chief secretary amid similar concerns, as his name
did not figure in a 3-member panel that the AJK Prime Minister, Chaudhry Abdul
Majeed, had sent to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the slot.
However,
instead of making it an issue, the AJK government had endorsed Mr Sultan’s
posting through a notification in its gazette.
It
was believed that Mr Memon’s posting might also be endorsed on Monday in the
same way.
However,
instead, the government declined to accept him, maintaining that the
Establishment Division notification was in violation of the “legal arrangement
existing between both the governments under Karachi Agreement of 1949.”
The
Karachi agreement was signed by the then AJK President Sardar Ibrahim Khan,
Muslim Conference leader Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas and Government of Pakistan’s
minister without portfolio Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani primarily to handover the
administrative control of Gilgit-Baltistan to the central government.
Among
other things, its clause viii said that the services of the officers loaned to
the AJK government would informally be placed at the disposal of the AJK
government, which would formally appoint them to office by notification in AJK’s
gazette.
“The
said officer (Mr Memon) has directly been transferred and posted as AJK IGP,
whereas he should have firstly been posted as Officer on Special Duty with
subsequent placement of his services at the disposal of AJK government for
formal appointment in our own gazette, as explicitly envisaged by clause viii of Karachi
Agreement,” Mr Majeed has written to PM Sharif in a
letter on Monday.
Besides,
Mr Majeed had also drawn PM Sharif’s attention to Cabinet Division instructions
of May 11, 1971, whereby all Ministries and Divisions of federal government
were conveyed that although AJK was not a part of the federation of Pakistan,
it would, for all practical purposes, be treated like any other province and
that AJK would be brought into the mainstream.
“These
instructions unequivocally stipulate that for all administrative issues, the
matters related to Azad Kashmir have to be dealt in parity with other
provinces... Since the posting of chief secretaries and IGPs etc. are made in
consultation with the chief executive of the respective province, similar
arrangements are required to be reciprocated for our state in line with the
guideline laid down by the Cabinet Division,” Mr Majeed said.
He
maintained that apart from the provision of the Karachi Agreement, the lent
officers were, even otherwise, always subject to the consent of borrowing
government - AJK in this case.
“Since
the AJK general election is being held in July this year, an officer of
impeccable integrity should have been posted in consultation with AJK
government on this very sensitive assignment to ensure transparency and
impartiality of polls,” he wrote.
Describing
the previous service record of Mr Memon as “dubious and highly politicised,”
the AJK premier averred that posting of such an officer in his sensitive area
would be detrimental for peaceful electioneering.
“Since
the posting has been made by the Establishment Division unilaterally and in
contravention of the provisions of the Karachi Agreement, the AJK government is
constrained to endorse this Notification and request for its withdrawal,” he
said.
It may be
recalled that on February 23, 2014, the AJK government had surrendered the
services of the then chief secretary Khizar Hayat Gondal and IGP Awan to the
Establishment Division “for creating a wedge between the people of Kashmir and
Pakistan.”
The order
triggered wrangling with the federal government as well as an administrative
crisis but was ultimately withdrawn by PM Majeed on March 4 after a compromise.
Tariq
Naqash
