Interior Ministry is not responsible for law and order and terrorism in the country as it is a co-ordinating body between police and other law enforcement agencies, said Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, former interior minister here on Monday. "Law and order was never a federal subject, it has always been handled by provinces and Interior Ministry provides the critical liaison between the provinces," Sherpao said while talking to Business Recorder.
He said that the Interior Ministry is a co-ordinating body that is focused on improving liaison between the police of the four provinces and other law enforcement agencies. However it makes policies for law enforcement agencies, he added. Sherpao said that only Islamabad Police is being directly handled by Interior Ministry and for any lapse of security in the capital, the Ministry should be held responsible.
According to sources, Interior Ministry controls the Islamabad Police, Islamabad Capital Territory Administration, Immigration and Passports Department, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the organisations investigating economic crimes, banking offences, enforcement of immigration and exit control (ECL). It also controls National Police Foundation, National Police Bureau, Civil Defence, Central Jail Staff Training Institute, Lahore, National Police Academy, Islamabad and National Alien Registration Authority (NARA), they said.
Civil armed forces (seven in number) are controlled by Interior Ministry and constitute: Frontier Corps (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Frontier Corps (Balochistan), Pakistan Rangers (Sindh), Pakistan Rangers (Punjab), Pakistan Coast Guards, Northern Area Scouts and Frontier Constabulary.
The Frontier Constabulary is looking after matters related to anti-smuggling, maintenance of law and order and drug control along the borders with Afghanistan and in the federally administered tribal areas. Pakistan Rangers secure/check border crossings on the Indo-Pak border in the Punjab as well as Sindh province and assist the Provincial Governments in maintaining law and order.
Pakistan Coast Guards, Karachi are securing sea coast to prevent smuggling, entry of illegal immigrants and enemy agents/saboteurs. Interior Ministry sources said that National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) is also working under the Ministry and is issuing Computerised National Identity Cards and the Ministry collects, preserves and disseminates data on Pakistani citizens, maintains and updates central data bank.
Interior Ministry sources further said that the primary responsibility of the Ministry is to ensure internal security, besides dealing with national registration of population and issuance of identity cards, nationality, citizenship and naturalisation, immigration, passports, regulation of entry and exit of foreigners, sources in Ministry said when contacted by this scribe.
The Ministry also co-ordinates on policy matters relating to police, and reforms and training of police officers through National Police Academy (NPA). It undertakes anti-smuggling measures and enforcement of anti-corruption laws, they added. The Ministry also formulates policies on the issuance of arms licenses for non-prohibited weapons, besides policy co-ordination and higher training of Civil Defence.