According to a press report, a sizeable number of tribesmen suspected of having links with the Taliban as well as Afghans have been moving unchecked from North Waziristan into various southern Punjab cities, creating a security risk. Many have bought commercial and residential properties in the province. Scared local residents and businessmen complain of migrants possessing all types of sophisticated weapons. The police say the tribesmen are involved in some high-profile bank robberies, drug trafficking and kidnapping for ransom, and that they flee to the tribal areas after committing crimes in Punjab.
It would not be surprising if the criminal activity is being used by the Taliban to finance their campaign. In fact, the report mentions the security personnel recovering jihadist literature and USBs from illegal migrants during a recent search operation.
Unfortunately, the ruling party in the province has had a long-standing policy of adopting a soft approach towards religious extremists. Consequently, southern Punjab is already home to violent sectarian organizations which, having made a common cause with the Taliban, are better known as Punjabi Taliban. The present development would be worrisome at any time, all the more so at present because the Taliban are said to be preparing to launch attacks in the province in the likely event of the talks failure. There has been much talk of them activating their sleeper cells in the province that, aside from the known sectarian terrorists, could be these tribal and Afghan migrants.
Having woken up rather late in the day to the security threat the new arrivals pose, the provincial government is reported to be improving security arrangements along the KPK border, setting up check posts at the entry and exit points to various districts and sealing all of the 12 river entry points along the River Indus.
As important as these measures are they alone will not do considering that a heavy influx of tribal migrants has already taken place. Besides, the movement of people to and from North Waziristan through Bhakkar, via the regular bus route cannot be stopped. The Interior Ministry needs to step in to offer a helping hand. Nadra and others concerned should join in to identify all who have taken up residence in Punjab's southern cities and towns during the recent years.
Of course, people from the tribal areas, like citizens from any other part of the country, have a right to live or own property in wherever they deem suitable. The Afghans have no such right. They should either be deported or put in refugee camps where they are supposed to stay pending normalization in their own country. Equally important is the need to strengthen intelligence gathering and sharing mechanism and techniques. Community policing, an effective tool in such circumstances, is already being employed to track suspects and militants returning after receiving training in Afghanistan. There is need though to guard against the danger of people using the situation to settle personal scores.-S.F
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